I will admit this right up front. I bought this book because I wanted to listen to Eric Dove narrate another book since I'm completely besotted with his voice. I saw this was a romantic suspense and decided it sounded decent enough that I would give it a shot.
The short of it is I love listening to Eric narrate but the story is a little too graphic and gruesome for me.
It's very difficult to tell you how I feel about the two main characters in the story as this is one of those romantic suspense stories which focuses more on the suspense than the romance and building the relationship between the hero and heroine, though there are a number of rather sizzling encounters between them. Throughout the story, I had a hard time trying to come to terms with who Mallory and Alex were as people.
Mallory is an FBI agent and she's suffered a terrible loss in her childhood which she is still trying to solve. These two things define her and because of it, she is single-minded, driven and married to her work. She lived for the sole purpose of solving the mystery of her sister's disappearance. To me, those things do not give her character enough depth for me to connect with her and get to know her. I found this made her a very single dimensional character for me. I would have liked her to have been more multi dimensional but I also understand that was what drove her and made her who she was.
I adore Alex. He's so many things. Soldier, war hero, prisoner of war, security consultant, friend, assassin, lover and protector. He's so troubled and honorable at the same time. He is conflicted about what he has to do and while he's not crazy about what he has to do, he's honest about it and he's honest with himself. I loved that he was so protective and caring of Mallory, right from the beginning. He was a man marking time until Mallory came into his life, then caring for someone change the meaning of his life and even when things got crazy and he was in an untenable situation, he was strong enough to do what was right for Mallory first and foremost. That made him a hero for me.
Here is a favorite moment of mine in the story:
Her mouth went dry. How could she not fall for a guy who went out of his way to protect her while also giving her the space she needed to do her job? Just looking at him made her ache. “Tell me you aren’t as perfect as you seem, Alex.” “Not even close to perfect.” His blue- gray eyes darkened. “Not a complete a--hole either.”
The suspense aspect of the story is very well researched and written. In fact, some of it is so graphically described it makes me sick to my stomach. Certain things happen in the story that leave me feeling rather unpleasant, one of which to Mallory when she gets interrogated by a distrustful colleague, to cite one of the milder instances.
Listening to this story being narrated to be, even with listening to Eric's wonderful voice, left me feeling slightly nauseated. This story should have come with a warning label that says "Warning: Graphic content. This story contains scenes that some people may find disturbing!"
I would have liked to have seen some more time spent on developing the relationship between Alex and Mallory rather than the detail in describing some of the dead bodies they were finding at crime scenes.
I would also have liked better insights into Mallory as a person which gave her character greater depth. It would also have made the romance much more credible if they spent more time together in order for their relationship to develop as they got to know each other. This didn't happen till a good way into the second part of the story and then it felt rushed. As it was, the story spent most of its time jumping between both characters, most of which with them spent apart. How can you build a relationship when you spent more than 60% of the story apart?
If you like a really good romantic suspense, heavy on the suspense, you will enjoy this. There were parts of it that were thoroughly heart pounding.
I think I will wait a while before tackling the other books in the series just for a bit of a breather from the excitement, even if they are all narrated by Eric. I'll move on to some other things he's narrated and take a break from the gruesome.
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![A Cold Dark Place: An FBI Romantic Mystery and Suspense (Cold Justice Book 1) by [Toni Anderson]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ulb1dOJdL._SY346_.jpg)
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Popular Highlights in this book
“We’re supposed to miss them. That’s their gift.” Huge amber eyes met his. “Pain is a gift?” He nodded. “It proves they meant something to us. That even years after losing them we still feel them. Here.”Highlighted by 162 Kindle readers- The FBI had once estimated there were approximately two hundred and fifty serial killers active in the US at any one time. Alex’s job was whittling that number down, one murderous asshole at a time.Highlighted by 147 Kindle readers
- She was a federal agent who lived to uphold the law. He was a killer who’d die to keep her safe.Highlighted by 142 Kindle readers
From the Publisher
“Powerful suspense and sizzling romance,” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Toni Anderson
Cold Justice - The Negotiators
Check out the award-winning spin-off series...
"Wow, just wow! This book got me so pumped up I just couldn’t put it down. This is my first book by this author, I love her style of writing she had me on edge all the time." —Anna Kindle Friends Forever.
"Quentin Savage is the hero you’ve been waiting for.” —Adriana Anders author of WHITEOUT.
"Cold Wicked Lies is a propulsive thriller wrapped in a searing hot romance." —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author.
- Cold & Deadly
- Colder Than Sin
- Cold Wicked Lies
- Cold Cruel Kiss
- Cold As Ice
Toni Anderson
NYT & USAT Bestselling Author
In a former life Toni Anderson was a Marine Biologist and research scientist. Nowadays, Toni writes gritty FBI Romantic Thrillers and Mysteries.
Toni's novel, Cold Silence, was shortlisted for The Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers in the 2023 Romantic Novel Awards. Both Cold As Ice and Cold Deceit finalled in the Romantic Suspense category of the 2023 New England Readers’ Choice Awards.
Cold Justice books include...
- A Cold Dark Place
- Cold Pursuit
- Cold Light of Day
- Cold Fear
- Cold in The Shadows
- Cold Hearted
- Cold Secrets
- Cold Malice and more...
About the author
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Top reviews from other countries
katie_83
Fantastic romantic suspense story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 28, 2019
J. Vance
Same story as many others
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 11, 2022Kath Mardle
Very disappointing, more like soft porn than a good thriller.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 7, 2022
TillyTillzz
Wow, everything you could need in a book! Amazing from start to finish!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 3, 2019
Wealie
Fantastic series opener, must read for romance suspense/crime and thriller fans
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 20, 2018
