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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
He thought he'd killed her - now he'd do anything to protect her, October 18, 2005
Eighteen years ago, Josh Kendall was a young AFT agent. Part of a team surrounding a compound run by the psychotic, compelling leader of the Young Believers cult, Mordecai Young, Josh is involved in a disastrous shootout. Many of the teenagers held captive by Young are shot, including Elizabeth Marcum, seventeen years old, who is critically injured by a bullet traced to Josh's weapon. When he visits her in hospital, she's in a coma and the staff tell him that she won't survive the week.
Unknown to Josh, Elizabeth did survive. Seventeen years later, she faced Young again - told in THICKER THAN WATER - and as a result of that confrontation the FBI has given her a new identity. Now, she's Beth Slocum, living in a small Vermont town, always vigilant, trusting no-one but Maudie Beckham, the 70-something owner of the former Blackberry Inn. What Elizabeth - Beth - doesn't know is that Young has discovered where she's living and he's on his way to get her...
Tipped off, the feds have to do something, and Josh's former boss, now Beth's government contact, knows what. Every agent sent to protect Beth has been sent home with his tail between his legs - she knows a fed when she sees one, and she wants nothing to do with them. Josh was made a scapegoat by ATF after the raid and has owned his own security consulting business ever since. He's not a government man and, more importantly, will do anything to keep Beth alive. Hired to guard a woman he doesn't know, he gets the shock of his life when he recognises Beth Slocum as Elizabeth Marcum.
Lying to her from the moment they meet, Josh tells her that he's Maudie's grandson. In order to win her trust, as their relationship develops he tells her that he's attracted to her and, later, that he loves her. Although Beth is always suspicious and convinced that Josh is lying - despite another reviewer's comment that she believes Josh's thin tales - she hasn't enough to go on and, once she realises that Young is indeed in the area, she has to decide whether or not to trust Josh regardless that she knows he's lying to her. Besides, she's attracted to him. But will the truth, if and when it finally comes out, destroy her feelings for him? And will Young get to Beth and her loved ones despite Josh's vigilance?
I don't normally read romantic suspense, but I enjoy Shayne's writing and am not sorry that I picked up this book (though I now need to read the prequel and sequel too!). Themes of atonement and forgiveness are well addressed in here: is it possible to start over? Josh has to find that out not only in relation to Beth, but also with his son Bryan (a well-drawn secondary character). The villain is also not a cardboard cut-out nasty guy. Young is clearly psychotic, hearing voices in his head which tell him what to do. While he obviously has some psychic ability, he could have done with psychiatric help a long time ago. Convinced that everything he does, including commit murder, is for a greater good, serving the god who rules his life, he can't conceive of any of his acts as evil. And, in the end, he finds some good in himself by saving a life the `voices' intended him to kill. Redemption as a theme, indeed.
With a cast of interesting, lively and well-portrayed secondary characters, COLDER THAN ICE was an entertaining read and I look forward to reading the other books in the trilogy.
-wmr-uk
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cult madness, April 19, 2005
When Joshua Kendall was a young rookie in law enforcement, he was a member of an ATF squad who took part in a raid on a cult gathering, facing armed resistance and responding with answering fire. In the confusion, Josh accidentally shot a young girl and spent weeks by her hospital bedside, willing her to emerge from the coma in which she had existed for months.Years later, the authorities hired Josh, who by now was head of his own security firm, to present himself in the small town where the girl, Beth, is now living in hiding from the cult leader.The police had given her a new identity, but a chance photo in her small town newspaper, gave away her location to her former lover and mentor, Mordecai Young, a deluded man who obeys the voices he claims come from God. Josh is given a cover story by an elderly female friend of Beth and, with his son accompanying him, moves in with the old lady as her supposed grandson. Young disguises himself and stalks Beth, plotting to hurt her as much as possible by destroying her friends before killing her. It's a real nail biter and a story that I couldn't put down.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Colder than Ice: A Hot Must Read, January 10, 2005
Colder than Ice is a hot must read for any fan of romantic suspense. The story grabs you the moment you open the cover and from then on you are ensnared in the world, and unable to put it down even for a moment. This is more than a page turner, it's an on the edge of your seat thrill ride that will have you rooting for the hero and heroine, and biting your nails to the quick as the story unfolds.
The tale is actually the second part of a series, though it stands alone well. It's a much fuller read if you invest the time to check out Thicker than Water, the first book in the series. It's an equally worthy read and guaranteed to satisfy.
The heroine is a sympathetic fighter who is plagued by a tortured past, and haunted by a villain so vile and so devious, he'll make you break out into a cold sweat. Enter the hero with a closet full of skeletons, a hidden agenda, and a tie to the heroine's hellish past that has him on the brink of his own personal destruction. The heroine decides to stop running, and a small Vermont town becomes ground zero for a phenomenal end game with the ultimate stakes of life, death, love and redemption.
The relationship between the hero and heroine develops in a believable way, and the connection between the two scorches the page. The villain in particular is not the garden variety threat so common these days in romantic suspense. He is powerful and charismatic, intelligent, and crafty. His intentions are guided in a unique way, and there are parts of him that a normal person can relate to, making him all the more dangerous. Secondary supportive characters are fully fleshed out and integral to the plot, yet never overshadow the true story.
This is a complex, emotional book that plays out themes of love and madness, guilt and redemption. If you're only reading one book this year, Colder than Ice should be that book. Me, I'd suggest you be daring, and invest in Thicker than Water as well. You won't be disappointed!
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