Narrated by Eric G. Dove
In this fifth instalment of Toni Anderson’s Cold Justice: The Negotiators series, we catch up with a couple of the secondary characters from a previous book in the series. In book two, (Colder Than Sin) CNU (Crisis Negotiation Unit) operative Eban Winters had been part of the team sent to effect the rescue of Darby O’Roarke, an American Ph.D student in Indonesia who was kidnapped and held hostage by an extremist group and subjected to violence and sexual abuse. (Note: this story references Darby’s experiences several times, although there is nothing graphic on the page). Since surviving her ordeal, Darby has, with the help of extensive therapy, been putting her life back together and has resumed her studies (she’s a volcanologist) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
When Cold as Ice begins, Darby is waking up in strange surroundings, her mind a bit foggy, and it takes her a while to work out where she is. She remembers being at a party with colleagues the previous evening, and is and lying on a sofa in someone’s living room, relieved to find herself fully dressed. Darby then recognises the room as belonging to a fellow grad student, Martin Carstairs, and recalls dancing with him and a group of friends at the party and generally having fun – but she doesn’t have any recollection of much after that, and has no idea how she got to Martin’s place. Maybe she had too much to drink and he was looking out for her? Trying to get her mind straight, she tidies up a little and then makes her way cautiously upstairs to see if Martin is in the house. He is. On his bed. With a hunting knife sticking out of his chest.
Darby panics and runs from the house, intending to call Quentin Savage, a Unit Chief at the FBI who has become a friend since the kidnapping the previous summer – but accidentally dials Eban Winters’ number instead. Her relationship with Eban is complicated; she’s been more than half in love with him since the rescue, but he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship. Still, he’s always been there for her, and hearing his familiar voice helps to calm her as she tells him she’s worried she might have killed someone. Eban tells Darby to sit tight until he gets there; she should call the local PD, request a lawyer and say nothing else.
Eban may have told Darby he wasn’t interested in a relationship with her – but he wasn’t telling the whole truth. He’s strongly attracted to her, but worried that she had simply fixated on him as her rescuer, and believed she needed time and space to come to terms with the traumatic events that occurred. He’s tried to be a good friend to her, and they’ve spoken often over the intervening months – but there’s no way he’s going to let her face this fresh ordeal alone.
When Eban arrives, things aren’t looking too good for Darby. The detective who’s caught the case, Signy Torgersen, immediately pegs Darby as her prime suspect, and doesn’t buy her story of not knowing how or why she was at Martin’s house, or that Darby didn’t kill him. Torgersen is harsh and judgmental, totally convinced that Darby is guilty and content to ignore some of the key elements of procedure in favour of a bringing the investigation to a speedy conclusion. Thankfully, Darby’s friend Hailey (Quentin’s fiancée) sends one of the best lawyers in the country to represent her, and once Eban arrives, he wastes no time in letting Torgersen know he’s not going to let her get away with not conducting a proper and full investigation.
It’s a nightmarish situation for Darby, who is, to start with, not completely sure she didn’t kill Martin, but as her conviction that she’s not guilty grows, so does the realisation that she has no way of proving her innocence. But then comes a lucky break – one of Jorgersen’s officers (at Eban’s suggestion) returns to the scene and turns up evidence which is likely to exonerate her – but just as she’s being released from custody, news comes in of another murder, of the woman who helped out at the therapy group Darby attended. There’s no doubt about her innocence this time – but both victims being connected to her in some way must be more than coincidental… and then Eban receives news that the FBI has been tracking a serial killer through Alaska for some time now, and that the recent murders bear the hallmarks of that killer.
Cold as Ice is an entertaining, twisty thriller, and the author does a great job of ratcheting up the tension from the moment Darby opens her eyes on the first page. There’s a real sense of the walls closing in on her as, in her increasing panic and confusion, she finds herself unable to fill the gaps in her memory and even wonders if she did, indeed, kill Martin Carstairs.
Deftly woven in and around the suspense plot is the slow-burn romance between Darby and Eban, who are clearly both head-over-heels for each other and struggling to keep their distance. Darby has realised that she needs to let go of her dreams of a relationship with Eban and move on, while he has at last admitted to himself that he made a mistake in rejecting her all those months earlier. He did it out of the best of motives, but he hopes maybe there’s still a chance for them… if he can keep her from a murder conviction, of course.
Both characters are well-written and likeable. Darby has been through some awful stuff, but she’s a survivor and is determined not to give up without a fight, although that element of her character does jar somewhat with the part of her that’s constantly mooning over Eban. Perhaps he’s a bit of a stereotypical strong-jawed, stoic and protective romantic suspense hero, but he’s also resourceful and considerate, firmly in Darby’s corner and won’t take any crap from anyone.
I wasn’t able to guess the identity of the villain, which is a good thing – but when the big reveal came, I realised it was because there simply weren’t all that many clues pointing to them, and their motivations felt… odd and weren’t that convincing. So the conclusion of the suspense plot was a bit of an anti-climax, and I’ve knocked the story grade down a bit accordingly.
Eric G. Dove has narrated all the books in Toni Anderson’s Cold Justice and Negotiators series, and I’ve enjoyed his performances in the titles I’ve listened to so far. His narration is well paced and clearly enunciated, he differentiates effectively between a fairly large cast, and his female voices are especially good, very clearly feminine but not over-exaggerated or too high-pitched. Mr. Dove does a really good job of conveying Darby’s disorientation and inner turmoil in the early sections of the book without going over the top and having her sound hysterical, and knows how to inject just the right degree of tension into the story. I also liked his interpretation of Eban, who sounds very much the clear-headed, in-control operative, except with Darby, when his softer tones and gentle humour convey his affection and concern for her.
While Cold as Ice isn’t my favourite book in the series (and I didn’t think it was as strong as the previous couple) it’s nevertheless a solidly entertaining tale of romantic suspense with plenty of twists, turns and red-herrings to keep you guessing, and a sexy slow-burn romance with a well-earned HEA. Despite the reservations I’ve expressed, fans of romantic suspense should be sure to check it out.
Caz
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