Dead of Winter
Darcy Coates
341 pages
Poisoned Pen Press
published July 11, 2023
Darcy Coates is easily one of my favorite thriller writers that I choose when I want a true thriller that won’t let me down and turn into a psychological thriller without the adrenaline and suspense. This did not disappoint. First I was reading about a winter storm when it is so hot and sticky here. Can’t beat that. It was kind of a locked location, meaning that due to the storm and the remote location, there are not a lot of suspects and you know them all. And one of the best reasons I loved this one is it gave me an Agatha Christie And Then There Were None vibe. I don’t read a lot of synopsis before I read the book, because with thrillers, they have a tendency to spoil things. So as soon as I was finished with this one, I ran to read other reviews and couldn’t believe there weren’t more mentions of this vibe. It was expertly done.
And kudos to the author because I picked up on a couple of somethings pretty quickly and with all her twists, suspects and then killing off who I targeted as the killer, I dropped my thoughts and was shocked at the end. Hence the other reason I ran to read reviews. I see it listed as horror in a couple of places and I am not sure if that is because the thriller genre is going softer or there were just a couple of gruesome descriptions, but really nothing that bad.
The setting really plays a huge part in this one and felt like an additional character. You know it wasn’t killing directly killing anyone but is big enough that it is mentioned over and over at the end discussion. That end discussion is the only thing taking away points in my mind. I am such a fan of showing me how things unwind nstead of telling me how it happened but I’ll give this one a pass since there is a lack of characters at the end and if I was shown this as the story unfolds, then there wouldn’t be the buildup.
Seriously I don’t get how we don’t see more readers talking about and recommending the author. I’ve read quite a few of her stories and I have never walked away disappointed. If you are in need of a pulse pounding thriller, you need to read this one.
About the book
When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she’s hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they’ll be safe as they wait out the storm.
She couldn’t be more wrong.
Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing…only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport…and they’re far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.
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