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A Cold Season Paperback – November 4, 2014

by Alison Littlewood (Author)

69 customer reviews

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A dark and unsettling tale from a bold voice in horror writing, British writer Alison Littlewood's first novel was decreed "hugely enjoyable--perfect reading for a dark winter's night," by the influential Richard & Judy Book Club. "A scary read that will chill you to the bone," said Library Journal.

After the battlefront death of her husband, a soldier, in the sands of the Middle East, a distraught Cass decides to move to the bucolic village of Darnshaw--a place she once knew and loved--with her teenaged son, with the hope that a change in scenery will be just the thing to help her family heal. But the locals aren't as friendly as she had hoped and the Internet connection isn't as reliable as her work requires. Ben begins to display an uncharacteristic hostility. A blizzard strikes Darnshaw, marooning it in a sea of snow, and Cass begins to despair. She finds a sympathetic ear in the person of her son's substitute teacher. But his attentions can't put to rest her growing anxiety about her son and her business. And soon, she finds herself pitted against dark forces she can barely comprehend. The cold season has begun.

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A Cold Season

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Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books; Reprint edition (November 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1623658608
ISBN-13: 978-1623658601
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,142,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8058 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Occult
- #157742 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States

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Customer Reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars

5 star		6%
4 star		35%
3 star		40%
2 star		16%
1 star		3%

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

When Horrible Supernatural Things Happen to Dumb People

By Woolfhound on December 1, 2013

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

Do you know that feeling you have when watching a horror movie when you're thinking, "No! No! Don't go through the door into the mysterious dark room! Don't wander off into the woods!"

Now imagine that going on for hours, and after a while you're thinking, "Fine, you nincompoop - go through the door. If you can't figure out what's going on despite it being blindingly obvious, I don't really care what happens to you."

That's what reading this book feels like.

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

Tense and atmospheric chiller.

By Bâki on March 1, 2012

Format: Paperback

A Cold Season is the first full length novel from Alison Littlewood whose short fiction has featured in a number of genre magazines such as the award winning, Black Static. This novel was also chosen by the Richard and Judy Book Club, a rarity for a supernatural horror novel.

I can see why too, this is a very engrossing story. Littlewood wastes no time in drawing the reader into a well crafted atmosphere of menace. From the opening chapter where lead protagonist, Cass, drives into the village of Darnshaw through moorland shrouded in fog and picks up an apparently stranded stranger, there is a pervasive sense of threat and paranoia. And something a little bit retro too. This tale of the picture postcard English Village hiding a sinister secret has touches of the Wicker Man, as well as some of the religious overtones of notable seventies horror movies, like The Omen or Rosemary's Baby.

There is, however, a fine line between retro and cliché, and there were times when I thought this novel strayed a little close to the mark on that front. The brilliantly helpful and charmingly seductive (for which read - obviously evil) school teacher, and the equation of paganism with devilry, for example. But overall, the combination of well pitched tension and compulsive narrative, mostly alleviated what gripes I had in this area. Some of that tension was achieved by the general uselessness of the main character, which frustrated me at times. I really wanted her to make a decision and stick with it, to trust her instinct, and I was constantly frustrated by her ineffectual meandering. It seemed to me that every time, even the sanest, most rational person would think, hang on a minute, there's something clearly a bit wrong here in this village, she managed to convince herself otherwise.Read more ›

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Predictable

By Miss Barbara TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on February 28, 2014

Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )

A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood should have and could have been better. The set-up is classic: After losing her husband in war a mother takes her young son to her childhood home, an idyllic but remote mill town.

Almost as soon as they get settled the little community is cut off from civilization by a winter storm. No phone, no internet, no roads in or out. But, is it really the storm that has isolated the newcomers or something more sinister?

Cass and her son, Ben, meet the odd town folks, some of whom shun her but welcome Ben into their fold. Amid his new friends Ben soon changes into a child his mother no longer recognizes or can deal with. The temporary principal of the school makes advances towards Cass that both thrill and repulse her.

Something is going on but unfortunately, the reader has figured out what’s happening from the moment the two of them drove into town. The descriptions of the converted Mill in which Cass rents the only apartment; the church on the hill; the surrounding country that somehow doesn’t let her escape are vivid and well done. But - there is just no mystery or suspense as the story unfolds exactly as the reader predicted. This is just a so-so read.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Save your money. Watch the movies that are being ripped-off instead

By D. Matlack VINE VOICE on January 12, 2014

Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )

Okay I'll begin with everything this book is clearly a rip-off of: Village of the Damned, The Wicker Man and Children of the Corn. All movie versions as this is conveniently written in a format that could pass for screen-play notes.

I was actually very hopeful for this book, the premise was a sound choice for good horror as it puts the life and soul of a child on the line which is a tried and true element for scare success. And the fact that the book only runs 290 pages I figured the author would leap right into the thick of things for a real page turner.

Unfortunately this was one of the most plodding novels I have picked up in recent history and admittedly I did a lot of skimming. There was only so much of Cass' feelings that I could deal with. Yes there is very little action in this book and a lot of very hurt feelings at play instead.

On the one hand it is obvious that things are not quite right from the very first page and the reader will pick up on the sinister undertones of Darnshaw immediately. And Little Ben begins a disturbing transformation almost the very second he lits into town. The atmosphere and set-up is lifted from the aforementioned titles. The plodding occurs with Cass, who evidently picked up her parenting skills from barn cats. While her child takes a very clear and dangerous turn for the worst Cass worries more about why he doesn't like her anymore rather than focus on Ben and what is going on. It is truly bizarre to read of the level of narcissism this character has! Seriously despite the obvious clues she wanders about in a self-involved fugue state: Her husband went missing in Afganistan but hey, how soon can she hook up with the not-so-good-looking teacher at the school (Who is very clearly NOT a good guy.).Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Genuinely chilling, as good as Stephen King

What a scary novel. I think this even outdoes Stephen King in some ways.

Cass has lost her husband, Pete, in Afghanistan, and she and her son Ben move to her old home... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Robert J. Newell

A Cold Season

A Cold Season didn't seem to thrill me all that much. I was expecting the "bone chilling" story in the official description, but what I was left with was a feeling of... Read more

Published 9 months ago by SevereWX

This hits you like a axe between the eyes! Very good... and surprising...

Wow!! This book is like being hit in the head by an axe. It starts off quick and keeps steady., Cass and Ben move to Darnshaw after the MIA of her husband in the Desert of the... Read more

Published 9 months ago by 4fabfelines

Get Out!

Cass has been widowed by the recent war and in her grief makes some really bizarre decisions. Like taking her son to her hated childhood hometown in the remote moors of England in... Read more

Published 10 months ago by E. B. MULLIGAN

Chilling

he Cold Season - book review

This book is weird from page one. There is this oddly-evil undercurrent the main character, Cass senses and you too feel as the reader,... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Keleigh Crigler Hadley, author of Revenge Inc.

Liked It But Not Over The Top Crazy About It

"A Cold Season" by Alison Littlewood fell short for me. The book sounded better than it actually is. I found the writing to be rather thin and almost forced. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Wilhelmina Zeitgeist

So so

I haven't read a horror title in awhile so I was looking forward to this. The writing as far as descriptive language was really good. But the story line and plot were flat. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Jeanette Stingley

Snow as a Hostage taker.

As a new author, Alison Littlewood has certainly done her homework on how to write a book. Everything flows slowly, chillingly from one scene to another. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Susannah St Clair Foxy Loxy

A thriller without the thrills

If you’re looking for a tamer version of “Rosemary’s Baby” without the colluding husband and with a grade-school kid subbing for the baby, look no further—this is the novel for... Read more

Published 11 months ago by James R. Gilligan

Why does catholicism inspire so many horror stories?

This book reminds me a bit of a John Saul book, with its small town setting, Catholic church-type undertones, and very slow (not negative) unveiling of the plot. Read more

Published 11 months ago by MussSyke

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