Customer Reviews

On Thin Ice

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ellen Kramer left law school on a leave of absence for the opportunity to work as a legal clerk in the Boulder County District Attorney's Office. However, her reason is different than most people. She wants an opportunity to look into the archives of the John Crandall case. John was Ellen's father who was set up to take the fall in the rape and attempted murder of Stephanie Morris. Although her father is dead, Ellen plans to prove his innocence.

During a nasty wintry storm, the office shuts down. Ellen stays late and manages to attain the file. She takes it home and over the weekend reviews the known facts. No question, the to rookie cops, Michael Calles and Finn Rassmussan did an impeccable job, but if her dad did not do it than only a cop could have committed the crime. Ellen uses the high profile Zimmerman case to meet Michael. However, to her chagrin, she begins to fall in love with the brooding detective who finds himself stunned by his attraction to the legal clerk.

ON THIN ICE is an exciting romantic suspense. Although the climax seems weak, the story line moves forward rather quickly. The lead characters are a wonderful duo struggling between their demons and love. Readers will enjoy Lynn Erickson's latest thriller and want to obtain some of her previous novels like THE ELEVENTH HOUR and NIGHT WHISPERS.

Harriet Klausner

On Thin Ice is a romantic suspense novel by Lynn Erickson and it is beyond me why I haven't read anything by this author before. Ms. Erickson takes an almost unbelievable plot and makes a terrific story out of it.

Ellie Kramer is a chameleon. On the surface she is a law student taking a year off from school and working as an upcoming law clerk in the district attorney's office. She is pretty, smart, and has the uncanny ability to make herself fit into whatever situation she finds herself in at the moment. Perhaps this comes from the years of practice. You see, Ellie has spent years concealing her identity and past. Ellie has spent the last twelve years working toward her goal in life--to find out who framed her father for a brutal crime that ultimately cost him his life in prison and made an old woman out of her mother before her time. Now it is all finally coming together. Ellie has crafted a plan that will allow her access to the records of her father's trial. She then sets out to ultimately find out everything she can about the two rookie cops that helped convict her father. Ellie is convinced that one of the two rookies is the man who actually committed the crime. Is it Michael Callas, a brooding detective who is so emotionally stunted that his coworkers call him "Robocop" or is it his former partner, Finn Rasmussen who is now a security expert who moves in the finest circles?

While I truly enjoyed this book, I found it hard to believe in some parts. For example, how could a law student set events into motion to find a killer when the police couldn't? At the same time, I found myself rooting for the heroine even while thinking "she is doing something so dangerous and stupid--why doesn't someone stop her"? All in all, this is a good book and I will be looking for Ms. Erickson's previous books.

To be honest I am absolutely shocked by the rave reviews given to this
book by Amazon customers. I hated it, absolutely hated it!

Let me
say I am a great fan of the author, having read most of her books. I
loved The Eleventh Hour and Searching for Sarah, but this book did
absolutely nothing for me.

I found the plot unbelievable, the
dialogue stilted and the ending PATHETIC. There seemed to be no real
warmth betwenn Ellie and Michael, none that I could feel anyway. I
thought the author revealed far too quickly into the story, who was
the good and who was the bad guy, ruining the suspense of the
storyline - what suspense - I ask myself?

I was so disappointed with
this book, it's not true, and was truly amazed when I came online to
give my opinion of this awful book and saw all the five stars! Maybe
it's because I'm English -I truly don't know.

Taking a year off law school to clerk in the DA's office, Ellie Kramer uses the opportunity to investigate her father's case. New Year's Eve all those years ago, she and her father stayed up making popcorn to welcome the New Year. Then he was arrested, and four months later her father was sent away for a crime he didn't commit. The lawyers didn't even let Ellie testify, because no one believes a twelve-year-old. Her father died in prison, but Ellie still believes she can prove his innocence. She believes one of the two investigating cops, Michael Callas, or Finn Rasmussen, committed the brutal crime that put her father in prison.

Ellie is a chameleon. She has the marvelous ability to fit in, whatever her surroundings, whatever lie she must tell. When Michael meets her, he immediately recognizes her ability to fit her surroundings, and yet he also recognizes how she remains guarded, concealing secrets she refuses to reveal. When Finn Rasmussen sees her for the first time, even spread out in the snow from a fall, she still seemed natural in her surroundings. Ellie possesses a radiance that pulls both men to her. She doesn't know which one is guilty, or even if one of them is. Maybe she's spent all these years on a useless quest.

It was easy to catch Michael's attention. She had only to be young, fresh, open, and show him a little warmth. His kisses leave her feeling vulnerable, making her want him. Finn is much more difficult. Wealthy, attractive, he can have anything money can buy, and any woman who wishes to be associated with his exotic playboy aura.

The dark, brooding detective wanted to tell her what he feels, but keeps those words locked away in the place he keeps all his hopes and fear and questions. He knows Ellie isn't what she seems. There's something more than a simple law student clerking for the DA. Michael wants to know her secrets. But when he realizes why Ellie seemed interested in him, Michael feels that he's fallen victim to the ultimate betrayal. Oh how she must be laughing he believes. She had searched him out, chosen him, set out to get him, but he can't figure out why.

Her common sense warns her that Finn Rasmussen could be dangerous, but her heart won't believe it. The more time she spends with this security systems entrepreneur, the more difficult it is to imagine him as a mad, calculating killer. Finn doesn't want a woman like Ellie in his life. He doesn't need some law student cluttering up his well-ordered existence. He equates her with trouble. Yet he can't stay away, no matter how he tries.

Lynn Erickson creates a masterful suspense with ON THIN ICE. While she reveals the killer fairly early, she also slowly peals away the layers of these fascinating characters, bringing them vividly to life and making them frightening real. As the tension builds and the pages turn faster and faster, the reader will be swept away in a dangerous world where Ellie steps very carefully ON THIN ICE. Very highly recommended.

I agree with one of the other readers about this book being a let down. This was in my opinion not a great romantic suspense as stated by yet another reviewer. Where was the warmth and romance between Michael and Ellie? The concept was interesting, but the suspense was lacking. At some points the book did peek my interest only to loose me shortly after. Overall I was disappointed.

One of Erickson's best yet. I found I couldn't put the book down, and my stomach was in knots wondering what would happen next. The story came together and the end, well,a surprise to say the least. Loved it. I will keep this one for my own personal collection. Look forward to more by Erickson. Great Work. I found the romance just right, it wouldn't have worked any other way.Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

This book starts by introducing the lead character, Ellie Kramer who is taking a year off from law school to work as a legal clerk in the Boulder County District Attorney's office. Ellie has spent the past 12 years working toward a goal - to prove her father's innocence by finding the proofs that he wasn't a rapist and a murderer of a 16-year-old girl twelve years ago. Ellie grew up listening to the hatred and anger expressed by her mother on the two rookie cops who arrested and put her father in jail.

The storyline and the setting of background have all the potential for a great suspense novel except that the author revealed too early in the book who the bad guy is. I feel that after the bad guy is known, the main purpose of the story is gone and all that is left in the story for the reader is to concentrate on the interaction between Ellie and her two suspected targets - Michael and Finn. The interactions between these characters are complex, painful, and all too human. The author is good at showing that the lead characters are not without flaws and that makes them very real. They are not some blown-up heros and heroine that we are so used to reading in other novels. However, I feel that more pages could have been spent on developing the depth of these characters.

Overall, "On Thin Ice" is a good and enjoyable read. I wouldn't mind reading other works by this author.

Ellie Kramer has spent the last thirteen years dreaming of clearing her father's name of a rape/murder charge. After all that time, she finally found herself on the way to reaching her life long goal. Taking a year off from law school, she got a job clerking at the DA's office in Boulder, CO. Her investigation leads her to the two rookie cops who responded to the call about the missing girl.

Michael Callas is a detective with the BPD. He is a loner who likes his solitude. He doesn't know what to make of Ellie, who seems like a bundle of contradictions. He sees secrets in her eyes, and as a cop he distrusts and disklikes secrets. But he feels more for her than he's felt for anyone woman before. For some reason, Ellie is able to pull him out of his self-imposed isolation.

Finn Rasmussen left the police force to start his own security company. He is a charming and charismatic man. When he meets Ellie, he finds a woman that can hold his intrest for more than a month. He is intrigued in spite of himself. He finds himself wanting her more and more with each passing day.

On Thin Ice is a story about revenge, love, betrayal, and sickness. It is a book where you know early on who the killer is, and I have to say that this writing pair did a great job of making it believable since the reader didn't have to play the guessing game. You will like On Thin Ice if you enjoy romantic suspense!!

Law student Ellie Kramer has spent her life living a lie and trying to clear her father's name. Years earlier, John Crandall was convicted of a rape/murder and sentenced to prison where he subsequently died. Ellie, whose real name is Crandall, is clerking at the Boulder DA's office and secretly learning information about the case and the two rookie cops whose testimony jailed her innocent father.

Finding Michael Callas is easy, and soon she begins a relationship with the man known as Robocop. Michael hides a tragic past as he becomes fascinated with Ellie. And Ellie wonders if the man whose bed she shares is a murderer. Then she learns the whereabouts of Michael's old partner, Finn Rasmussen. Finn owns a home security system business and leads a moneyed lifestyle, one impoverished Ellie finds attractive. But one of these men is a calculating killer, and Ellie must discover which one it is?

This is my third Lynn Erickson book. I was so fascinated by the story, the characters, the suspense and Ms Erickson's mastery at layering her stories that I stayed up all night reading it. Highly recommended.

My first Lynn Erickson book, certainly not my last. The plot line might not appeal to everyone but to a former foster parent who has known children like Michael and Finn, it was quite real. Ellie wants to redeem her father's reputation, even though he died in prison serving time for a crime he did not commit. The "rogue cop" character was suspenful-- even knowing the bad guy, suspense was maintained by whether he would slip up and be caught. Ellie did not plan to fall for Michael, "good cop" but wounded child, but she could not help herself. For beneath his armor he is a vulnerable man who wants to love but is afraid he does not know how and wants to be loved but what woman could love him if his mother could not? One also gets the impression Finn would like to know normal love between a man and a woman but cannot trust himself to take a chance. Of course, knowing him for the villain he is, we as readers are torn between hoping he will find the redeeming love of a good woman and hoping he will be caught before he kills again. Definitely a keeper and worth staying up until 2:00 a.m. to finish.