Friday
means Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted here by Patti Abbott. This week I thought
I would do something a little bit different than normal. Clearly, Cover Of Snow, published last year is
not really a forgotten book. This debut novel by Jenny Milchman was one of my
five favorite books of last year. It is now up for the Mary Higgins Clark Award
from the Mystery Writers of America. If you have not read it you really should.
Especially since the next book from this talented author is coming in the spring…
Everything changed for Nora Hamilton that January
morning when she woke up alone. Brendan, her police officer husband, was not in
the bed with her. The normal morning sounds he would have made were not
present. No sounds of the shower, no smell of morning coffee, no nothing as the
strange silence stretched on and on. She will soon discover the silence exists
for a good reason-- the man who made love to her the night before has committed
suicide.
Devastated and distraught, Nora just wants to know
why he did it. The “why” of it threatens to destroy her and makes her question
everything. What drove him to this act--so out of character with no warning at
all--and left her alone in the frozen small town of Wedeskyull in upstate New
York. A frozen old place---literally and metaphorically--- she moved to for Brendan
and where she is very much an outsider. An outsider not to be trusted and who does
not understand her place in the community as well as the fact that things are
the way they are because they have always been that way and will always be that
way. Nora’s quest to get answers to why Brendan killed himself will take time
and come at great cost to nearly everyone.
Cover
of Snow is the debut novel of Jenny Milchman. Like
any good mystery, nothing is what it seems and everyone has secrets to hide. Deceit
is an art form long practiced by all and such is the case here. Nora is
surrounded by smiling and friendly enemies who expect her to go back where she
belongs in the wake of her husband’s death. Her unwillingness to just quietly
go away sets the stage for a steady increasing level of suspense as the reader
turns the pages.
This is a powerfully good book where the setting is
just as alive as the other characters.
What legendary author James Lee Burke has done for Louisiana, author
Jenny Milchman has done for upper New York in winter. The cold frozen landscape
is always present lurking, waiting to kill throughout the suspenseful read. A
living breathing force that is present on every single page where the
characters are inside and warm for the moment or outside in the elements.
Much is at work here in this complicated read. This
review does not give the book justice. You simply have to read it.
Cover of Snow
Jenny
Milchman
Ballantine
Books (Random House)
2013
ISBN#
978-0-345-53421-7
Hardcover
(also currently available as an e-book and audio book)
330
Pages
$26.00
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano
Texas Public Library System.
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5 comments:
Kevin, I can never read this review without getting goosebumps of the sort Nora might've had. Thank you for honoring Cover of Snow, more than a year ago, and now. Your taste in books has led me, and I am proud to be a part of it now.
That was me commenting, not the mysterious guy back there in the corner :)
lol....thank you. An amazing compliment.
Wow! What a great review! I was immediately sucked in to the story line. I have been blog hopping around trying to find a good book to read... I just finished a great thriller, "Chasing A Miracle" book one in a trilogy, by Eliot Hartford Bailey. It was a great read and had little bit of everything that I love – Action, adventure, conspiracy, religion, drama, love, government, travel, sci-fi http://eliothbailey.com/. Now its over and I am desperately looking for something new to read. Looks like I found my book! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I am heading to the library tonight to see if I can track it down!
Cover of Snow sounds excellent - great review! I will check that out. Thank you, Ashley, for your share as well. Looks like a really good thriller as well.
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