Customer Reviews

Silent Snow

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Top investigative reporter, Rick Beanblossom has it all...a great job, a wonderful wife and a brand new baby boy.

During a savage blizzard, and on the anniversary of the Lindbergh kidnapping his life will change.

Someone has kidnapped Rick's son, and to find him he must retrace the original crime of the Lindbergh kidnapping, and come full circle in the present day to bring his son back alive.

"Silent Snow" is an original thriller, blending historical fact with amazing suspense, that will leave readers breathless. The pacing is fast and the plot is chilling and surprising.

Steve Thayer, bestselling author of "the Weatherman" has taken a chance on creating a different type of suspense novel and he has succeeded.

Readers looking for an intelligent thriller that will keep them turning the pages should enjoy this!

Nick Gonnella

Most enjoyable book I've read in the past couple of years. Hats off to Steve Thayer...I read it from cover to cover. The complete horror of having their baby snatched from his crib could have been described with a bit more intensity, but this cast of characters kept me turning the pages. Can't wait for the next book. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I drove by the St. Paul Cathedral on my way to work this morning...I may have to take a different route tomorrow.

Thayer weaves the parallel storylines of the Lindbergh kindnappings with the Beanblossom plot well, with the period-setting of old St. Paul enhancing the quality of a good old mystery. Through it all, St. Paul is shrouded in the protective (although spooky) shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral, the central heart of the plot. Unlike some other readers, I did not guess the culprit until Thayer threw in some blatant clues, giving the reader a terrfied omniscience as the characters put the pieces together. This is clever and well-written. I only wish he would have gotten more in depth with the characters of Rick and Andrea--I felt like I knew Grover and Esther better.

I'd forgotten I'd read one of Thayer's books before, but I recognized his writing immediately. This was a terrific who-done-it. Unlike many mysteries I am having a more difficult time getting through lately, this book was difficult to put down (especially when I am stuck on my dissertation process!) Thayer is a good writer, and the info on the Lindbergh crime was terrific. I've read quite a bit of it, but I am determined to read more of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's writing from that time. The compassion with which this story is handled is necessary. I hate to see anyone make money off of a horrific crime, even with most of the individuals involved dead. I wish other authors of true crime would have half of the awareness to spare those family members of both the victim's family and the perpetrator of the crime, rather than focusing on their own need to make money or tell a tale.

I liked this book much more than the Weatherman. The plot is unique (someone wants to do the Lindbergh crime over again and get it right this time)...and the characters are better drawn. At some places in the book, it does get confusing because of so many people drawn into the account. I also figured out about half way through who the perpetrators probably were, but it was not a disappointment when it was confirmed, since I wanted to know the reasons why anyone would do something like that. Talk about twisted logic! Hope Thayer doesn't give the whackos out there any ideas!
Karen Sadler,

University of Pittsburgh

I bought this book because I like stories set in snowy, wintry places and because I love plots that include real historical events, such as the Lindbergh kidnapping. I was quite swept up by the events of both 1932 and present day and found Rick B. to be an unusual and interesting kind of hero. The foray into the Grover Mudd era I also liked. But as the book went on, I became a bit confused (too confused) by the twists and turns; still, I was hoping for a terrific and believable denouement. Alas, the story finally collapsed into a fantastic and definitely not believable ending. For one thing, Esther Snow (young and old)seemed like some sort of Nazi fembot, not a real person. The fact that I liked the initial storyline so much only increased my sense of disappointment. I'm giving it three stars because I was so intrigued by the first three-fourths of the book and the information on the Lindbergh case (it prompted me to check Anne Lindbergh's book Hour of Gold Hour of Lead out of the library). Also by what seemed a good description of the St. Paul area which I don't know. And all that wonderful silent snow, of course. I liked this one better than The Weatherman, which also had, I believe, a pretty poor ending.

This is the third in a line of exciting,tenseful, thrillers. I'm from St.Paul, and the places and areas Steve talks about are brilliant! After reading the books, it makes you want to just "walk the town". I surely hope Steve keeps up the entertaining work.

It was a fascinating and well-told story, but how many times does the author have to write "Rick Beanblossom". "Rick" would have done just fine. For what that's worth, why "Beanblossom"? Why not Smith, Garvey, Jones?

Minneapolis author Steve Thayer once again returns to the protagonists he used in his bestsellers "The Weatherman" and "Saint Mudd", this time including both the present as well as the past combined to create a unique and mostly exciting thriller.

Mixing fact and fiction about the Lindbergh kidnapping and a copycat baby-taking, "Silent Snow" starts out as a hugely entertaining novel. 1930's character Grover Mudd and present-day hero Rick Beanblossom appear to have more in common than can be explained rationally, and the author brings this off quite well. The grim scenery, the wintry climate and the characters are described excellently throughout; Mr. Thayer is certainly an accomplished writer.

What I found very disturbing are the mild supernatural topics as well as a lot of threads that are never cleared up during these 400 pages. Also, of the dozen or so German phrases Mr. Thayer incorporates into his narrative, he didn't get a single one right. You should imagine that a well-researched novel as "Silent Snow" ought to try to get these details right as well.

The violent ending of this book is way over the top, and spoiled a lot of this novel's charm for me.

This is a rather dark story of evil personified by beauty. I think. There are several flaws within this writing. The actions and motivations of most of the characters are not well understood, with the exception of Grover Mudd. Justifications for behavior are given in the final chapter, but they feel contrived. Especially disconcerting was the juxtaposition of logic, emotion and (conveniently) the supernatural. The story would have been much more interesting if either the solid reasoning powers of a seasoned reporter and his ex-cop wife OR the distilling of psychic information (the supernatural, the resurrected, tortured soul) to solve the mystery. There was no solid, believable process for the characters to work through, again, with the exception of Grover Mudd.

Still, this story flows well and the characters are interestingly diverse. The gratuitous sex scenes are put to good use and provide an important glimpse into the psyche of the two alter-ego characters. I can't help but mention that the naming of those two characters as Mudd and Snow is just too cute.

The Birney reading is good, but I would recommend the reading by George Guidall on the Recorded Books label. It is masterful, making the story great fun.

I really enjoyed this book and am here to buy Weatherman. The way Mr. Thayer combined a very interesting factual historical mystery with his modern day who-dun-it kept me awake page after page, way past bedtime.