Customer Reviews

A Killing Frost (River Dance, Book 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you grow up in a small Midwest town like the one where Hannah Alexander's book, A Killing Frost, is based, everyone knows your past. Burdened with a secret that threatens her future with the man she loves, Dr. Jama Keith is returning to the homey Ozark town of River Dance to pay off a school loan from the town by staffing a new medical clinic. From the minute Jama steps into town, the action quickly develops. A family friend who helped her through the tragedies of the past shows up on the steps of the clinic with the symptoms of a heart attack. Compounding that, the new director of the clinic is a cold, determined woman that Jama may not be able to work with.

If that isn't enough trouble, a little girl is kidnapped by two killers on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list--and they may be headed to River Dance. The clinic is not even open for business when a serious accident and fire at a local business sends injured patients their way. As night falls, a killing frost threatens to destroy the local wine crop vines, freeze a missing little girl presumed lost in the woods, and hamper the efforts of the FBI to track the kidnapper/killers. Dr. Keith is torn with a secret that could destroy the faith of the townspeople and the man she loves. The crises are piling up and time is running short as Jama attempts to meet each obstacle with her indomitable spirit.

The action in this book kept me turning the pages as the author brings to life a new set of well rounded characters and aptly describes this small town in the Ozarks. Hannah Alexander's knowledge of medical practices, her thriller-type action sequences, and real life spiritual dilemmas mesh well in this first of the new River Dance series.

by Rhonda Esakov
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Dr. Jama Keith didn't want to come back home to River Dance, Missouri, but she didn't have a choice. The town had financed her education so she was obligated to move back and work at the new clinic. Her main problem now is trying to avoid her former fiance, Tyrell Mercer. Unfortunately that proves to be impossible when his father has a serious heart attack and Jama has to ignore the clinic director, Dr. Ruth Lawrence's instructions in order to care for him. The situation is complicated because Jama has a secret she can never tell Tyrell.
Tyrell's niece, Doriann, has been abducted by two of the FBI's most wanted criminals. Doriann is a very smart, very plucky little girl, who is determined to get away from Clancy and Deb, her kidnappers. Tyrell and Jama are searching for her, but time is running out.
Hannah Alexander has written a roller coaster of a story with a twisted plot that will keep the reader guessing to the very end. Romance, suspense, and a strong faith message. Their many fans won't want to miss this one. Recommended

A Killing Frost is one of the best Christian romantic suspense novels that I have read. I am already wishing the second book in the Riverdance series was ready to read NOW! I recommend you read this book right away.

I enjoy Christian themed fiction, but the Christian theme in this book just about slaps you over the head. The characters have strong faiths, but this really gets in the way of the story because they are constantly coming up with the "sunday school answer" for their problems.. which involve heart surgery and a kidnapping. When the child that was kidnapped starts to worry about the salvation of her kidnappers, I thought "ok, thats plenty". I mean, those are incredibly idealistic ideas that are completely unrealistc.

I truly enjoy reading everything I have found by this author pair, and I have gone back as far as I can by purchasing used books off of Amazon. I am a family physician in small-town Missouri and am familiar with the locations and types of people in the novels. The medical scenarios are well done, though sometimes I find it odd that the medical professional would rapidly jump to the unusual diagnosis based on the presenting symptoms. The interplay between medical personnel is realistic and the reality of the limitations of rural care is spot-on. In A Killing Frost there are tensions between two professionals and I would swear I know at least one physician these could be based on; that has occurred to me with previous novels as well. I thought the character of Doriann was well-developed as a gifted child who is able to solve problems but has some inflated ideas of her own abilities.
My overall feel for Alexander through all their novels has been that the Christian element comes on rather heavily. I understand that for these books to be "Christian" the theme has to be there and explained to the reader. However, I am Southern Baptist and I know a lot of other people who are too in this part of the world, and the thought processes and interplay around this theme often strike me as contrived. I would say that Alexander has been inconsistent in this heaviness through the years. That being said, there are few better messages to be sending out in a work of fiction. I finish each book feeling uplifted and pleased with the time I spent reading it. In fact, Tyrell's time spent reading scripture near the end of the book when he was struggling with an issue struck me as very real, as did Jama's explanation of her personal Christian development. I will continue to read everything available from Hannah Alexander and I commend them for winning the Christy. Hideaway was indeed an excellent book and so was A Killing Frost.

Dr. Jama Keith comes back to her Ozark town, River Dance, with a debt to pay and a secret that's driven her from the man she loves. The debt is for her student loans that the town paid for her and the secret, well, she isn't telling. Jama arrives at the new clinic early, just in time to catch symptoms of a heart attack in her foster father, who also happens to be her ex's father.

Tyrell Mercer is back in town to implement new farming techniques at his father's farm. He's still mourning the loss of his sister, Jama's best friend, and Jama, who turned down his marriage proposal. Jama and Tyrell are thrown back together when visiting his (their?) father at the hospital. While there, Tyrell gets a call from his sister telling him that his niece, Doriann, is missing and that she fits the description of a little girl who was kidnapped.

Jama and Tyrell try to keep the news from his mother and father while they go out to search for the girl themselves. The FBI finds them and tells them to leave. Jama confesses her deep, dark secret to Tyrell. He's upset with her and they part. Jama manages to find Doriann, but so has one of the two kidnappers. Can Tyrell save the day?

I'm usually a fan of Cheryl and Mel, but this book didn't do anything for me. Things were so glossed over that the book wasn't as realistic as it could have been. For instance, the director of the clinic is having issues with her estranged husband, but it's barely mentioned until the end when suddenly everything is fine and she has to talk to him again. Yes, these are minor points, but they could have really impacted the novel. This isn't a book I'll read again and again.