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Release date: October 3, 2017

Publisher: Seventh Street Books

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife’s death, even when he believed that a reckless hit and run driver was the cause. But when he learns that in fact she was murdered, he devotes himself to hunting down her killers. Most of his life he had thought of himself as a decent man. But now he’s so consumed with thoughts of retribution that he questions whether he will take that last step and enact the vengeance he longs for. 

On a frozen lake near the US-Canadian border, he wrestles with a decision that could change his life forever, as his hatred threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent a career bringing to justice. 

Review:

Last year I read my first Eskens book, The Heavens May Fall and was completely blown away. He is an insanely talented writer and his heroes are deeply flawed and vastly interesting and unique. While the characters in each book are the same, it’s not completely necessary to start at the beginning, they each work perfectly fine as a standalone. BUT, they’re so good that I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend reading them all. 

For five years Max has been haunted by his wife’s death and he’s finally tracked down her killer. This opens with Max and an unknown man locked in an intense situation in the middle of nowhere near the Canadian border and Max finally has the chance to get justice for his Jenni. It’s tense and thrilling, the frozen atmosphere lends to the chilly scene becoming a character all of it’s own and adding a layer of danger to an already deadly story. It flips back to three days prior as you follow Max as he tracks down the killer, then flips back and forth throughout all the way up to an explosive conclusion. 

I loved the moral struggle Max was facing throughout as he tried to bring revenge to a man who shattered his entire life. There was something poetic about him having a moral battle with himself while in the frozen wilderness that was both hauntingly beautiful and chilling. Vengeance and retribution is the name of the game here, this one kept me on the edge of my seat and flipping pages at a steady rate. If you haven’t read Eskens work you’re missing out, he’s a superbly talented author not to be missed.

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.