Published by Poisoned Pen Press Genres: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, suspense, thriller
Format: ARC, eBook
Gripping, chilling, tense, and eerie. I did not want to put Dead of Winter down! It all comes down to a bus forced to stop, travelers seeking shelter, a frozen landscape, and danger – lots of danger. Who doesn’t love a good finger pointing “It was you with the Axe!” book that keeps you on your toes, flipping the pages and on the edge of your seat? I love it and Darcy Coates delivered!
Christa and her boyfriend along with a group of travelers are heading deep in the snow-covered Rocky Mountains to a lodge for a getaway. As the wind and snow continues to hammer the area, their bus must stop when there is a tree blocking the road. Stranded in the bitter cold, the travelers must find shelter and fast. They find an abandoned cabin and take shelter hoping to wait out the storm.
I do love that trapped in a cold environment trope in a book! Woohoo!!!
After she is injured and her boyfriend goes missing in the snow, Christa wakes up in the cabin with the other. Sometime that night, their tour guide goes missing. Did he go for help? Has he found a way to get to the lodge? NOPE! His severed head is found impaled on a tree outside the cabin. This was not the getaway they signed up for! Let the finger pointing begin.
Tension mounts as anger flies. The travelers begin looking at each other knowing they are the only ones there. One of them must be the killer! As the snow keeps piling up so do the bodies. One by one, they are being killed. Why, how and by who???????
WOWZA! This was so good. I loved the tension and watching as the travelers/survivors being looking at each other as their suspicion grows. No one is safe and all are afraid. How do they cope? Who can they trust?
This was so nicely done! I had no idea who the killer was. Darcy Coates takes readers on a snow filled, twist filled, shocking ride! I also loved how the cold landscape was very much a character in this book as well. It was unrelenting, unforgiving and the perfect tomb. The characters are an interesting bunch and had me pointing my own fingers at them while reading. Very nicely done!
I can see this being made into a movie. That is how it played out in my mind while reading.
Well thought out, well written, and perfectly paced. This was such a chilling page turner!
#DeadofWinter, #NetGalley, #DarcyCoates
Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.