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Cold Heart
From an electrifying new voice in suspense fiction comes a chilling, edge-of-your-seat thriller as terrifying as a gunshot in the frozen air...and AS merciless as a sadistic killer’s
COLD HEART
The shooting has started. For the next four hours a killer will stalk the inhabitants of a remote Alaskan village hidden in a wilderness of awesome beauty. And Micky Ascherfeld, a burned-out ex-cop, is the only person who can stop him. Without a gun, cut off from the outside world, Micky plays a deadly game of hide-and-seek with a man on a killing rampage.
Moving from cabin to cabin, she finds her once-familiar world turned into a landscape of sheer horror. To survive, she must confront the demons in her own past–even as she becomes the focus of a madman’s sick obsession and a terrified girl’s only hope. With another life to save besides her own, Micky has found a new reason to endure...if only she can.
COLD HEART
The shooting has started. For the next four hours a killer will stalk the inhabitants of a remote Alaskan village hidden in a wilderness of awesome beauty. And Micky Ascherfeld, a burned-out ex-cop, is the only person who can stop him. Without a gun, cut off from the outside world, Micky plays a deadly game of hide-and-seek with a man on a killing rampage.
Moving from cabin to cabin, she finds her once-familiar world turned into a landscape of sheer horror. To survive, she must confront the demons in her own past–even as she becomes the focus of a madman’s sick obsession and a terrified girl’s only hope. With another life to save besides her own, Micky has found a new reason to endure...if only she can.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 26, 2002
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Chandler McGrew
26 books21 followersChandler McGrew,who began writing after he had turned forty lives in quiet seclusion in the mountains of Maine. He writes ten to twelve hours a day.
Born in Texas he lived for almost a decade in Alaska where his first novel, Cold Heart, is set. He followed with Night Terror and then The Darkening and In Shadows.
Born in Texas he lived for almost a decade in Alaska where his first novel, Cold Heart, is set. He followed with Night Terror and then The Darkening and In Shadows.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 9, 2023
Heute vermische ich Inhaltsangabe und Rezension mal, denn das Buch ist alles in allem ziemlich durcheinander strukturiert.
Der Prolog beginnt mit zwei Polizisten, Micky und ihrem Freund, die von einem gnadenlosen Killer gejagt werden. Ihr Auto wird dabei schwer beschädigt und nur Micky kann lebend, aber schwer verletzt, entkommen. Die Jagd ist damit aber noch nicht vorbei.
Der Handlungsspielraum der Protagonisten ist sehr dünn, die Gewaltszenen sehr schnell abgehandelt und auch wichtige tote Personen werden gar nicht weiter erwähnt. Schade ist, dass die Motive des Psychopathen absolut im dunkeln bleiben und unantastbar sind.
Die Geschichte sieht aus als wären die einzelnden Handlungen einfach aneinenader geklatscht worden. Einige wichtige Punkte, wie z.B. der Grund warum Micky nach Alaska geht, hätten mehr thematisiert werden müssen.
Die ersten Seiten sind ein Rausch an Zeit, die so schnell vergeht. Auf den restlichen knappen 400 Seiten kommt es zu einem Szenenwechsel nach dem nächsten, wo die Metzelei beschrieben wird.
"Eiskalt" ist kein Buch womit ich mich anfreunden konnte. Zu sprunghaft und kaum informativ. Der schlechteste "Thriller" den ich je gelesen habe...
Der Prolog beginnt mit zwei Polizisten, Micky und ihrem Freund, die von einem gnadenlosen Killer gejagt werden. Ihr Auto wird dabei schwer beschädigt und nur Micky kann lebend, aber schwer verletzt, entkommen. Die Jagd ist damit aber noch nicht vorbei.
Der Handlungsspielraum der Protagonisten ist sehr dünn, die Gewaltszenen sehr schnell abgehandelt und auch wichtige tote Personen werden gar nicht weiter erwähnt. Schade ist, dass die Motive des Psychopathen absolut im dunkeln bleiben und unantastbar sind.
Die Geschichte sieht aus als wären die einzelnden Handlungen einfach aneinenader geklatscht worden. Einige wichtige Punkte, wie z.B. der Grund warum Micky nach Alaska geht, hätten mehr thematisiert werden müssen.
Die ersten Seiten sind ein Rausch an Zeit, die so schnell vergeht. Auf den restlichen knappen 400 Seiten kommt es zu einem Szenenwechsel nach dem nächsten, wo die Metzelei beschrieben wird.
"Eiskalt" ist kein Buch womit ich mich anfreunden konnte. Zu sprunghaft und kaum informativ. Der schlechteste "Thriller" den ich je gelesen habe...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2008
Thriller! What's good about this book is the killer is slaughtering townspeople in the middle of nowhere, Alaska. About 10 residents. One phone. Even though you know who's going to live/die, it was fun to read a different take on a serial killer novel. I resented going to work because I wanted to keep reading. Would make a good movie (or made-for-TV movie).
September 26, 2023
4,5 Sterne. Mich hat es im Urlaub am Strand sehr gut unterhalten
March 29, 2025
It grabbed me and kept me to the very end. Lots of action and mystery. The characters were well developed. It went back in time a few times but wasn't too hard to figure it out.
October 20, 2016
Not really a murder mystery. Did get better as it went along.
April 23, 2015
I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review.
What intrigued me about Cold Heart? When I was asked to read it the first thing I did was check out the sample on Amazon because I wasn't sure if this was something I was really interested in, but the sample really made me want to keep reading, so I said yes.
It is set primarily in a tiny, remote village in Alaska which is pretty isolated from the outside world. The only way in is via the weekly supply plane. This village is so small that transportation is by foot; only the store owner uses anything else and that is merely a quad bike. There are no phones, except for a public one at the tiny store. This is the perfect isolated setting for a madman's killing spree.
Micky Ascherfeld has endured a lot in her life to date. Her parents were murdered by a madman. She survived only by hiding. Now a police officer, her partner and lover, is also murdered by madmen and she barely survives this too. Broken and needing to find a way to go on, she visits her friend Damon when he invites her to the paradise he's found in Cold Heart, Alaska.
Turning her hobby of making stained glass art into a living, Micky stays and finds the healing she needs amongst new friends in this tiny village. Until the day one of her neighbors decides to go on a killing spree. Can she survive a murderous onslaught for the third time?
This book is a solid thriller. Sometimes when reading a suspenseful novel when the tension builds I actually have to set the book down for a few minutes before I can pick it back up and continue, and with this book that happened to me several times. McGrew excels at building this tension.
One tiny thing that I didn't like (there's always something, right?) is that as the characters are running around the village on the fateful afternoon, they keep running through the freezing river/creek, yet there is never any mention of their freezing feet/legs after they leave the river or the possibilities or symptoms of hypothermia from wearing wet clothes in the cold and their failure to find anything dry to change into. Seemed a bit extraordinary to me.
Ignoring that though, this book probably won't knock your socks off or make it to your top ten best books of the year, but if you like thrillers I think you will really like Cold Heart.
What intrigued me about Cold Heart? When I was asked to read it the first thing I did was check out the sample on Amazon because I wasn't sure if this was something I was really interested in, but the sample really made me want to keep reading, so I said yes.
It is set primarily in a tiny, remote village in Alaska which is pretty isolated from the outside world. The only way in is via the weekly supply plane. This village is so small that transportation is by foot; only the store owner uses anything else and that is merely a quad bike. There are no phones, except for a public one at the tiny store. This is the perfect isolated setting for a madman's killing spree.
Micky Ascherfeld has endured a lot in her life to date. Her parents were murdered by a madman. She survived only by hiding. Now a police officer, her partner and lover, is also murdered by madmen and she barely survives this too. Broken and needing to find a way to go on, she visits her friend Damon when he invites her to the paradise he's found in Cold Heart, Alaska.
Turning her hobby of making stained glass art into a living, Micky stays and finds the healing she needs amongst new friends in this tiny village. Until the day one of her neighbors decides to go on a killing spree. Can she survive a murderous onslaught for the third time?
This book is a solid thriller. Sometimes when reading a suspenseful novel when the tension builds I actually have to set the book down for a few minutes before I can pick it back up and continue, and with this book that happened to me several times. McGrew excels at building this tension.
One tiny thing that I didn't like (there's always something, right?) is that as the characters are running around the village on the fateful afternoon, they keep running through the freezing river/creek, yet there is never any mention of their freezing feet/legs after they leave the river or the possibilities or symptoms of hypothermia from wearing wet clothes in the cold and their failure to find anything dry to change into. Seemed a bit extraordinary to me.
Ignoring that though, this book probably won't knock your socks off or make it to your top ten best books of the year, but if you like thrillers I think you will really like Cold Heart.
May 11, 2015
The story starts with a deadly shoot out with robbery gone wrong. Micky barely survives but her partner/lover getting killed. This and other events in her past has Micky going to Alaska to spend some down time with her friend. The town of McRay is very small, very secluded, almost all transportation is done by foot, and there is only one phone. What better setting for a psychopath to start killing his neighbors.
Micky will have to use her police training to stop the killer and save the residents of McRay. But she has more baggage than just loosing her partner/lover. She is fighting against time and her memories. The real challenge will be if she can hold out long enough for help to get to her.
This story starts out with a bang and just keeps going. I felt for Micky, she had been through so much but she didn’t give up. I also liked who the killer was, I didn’t expect that one. The story was fast paced and I had a hard time putting the book down.
This is a great mystery that you need to read. I can’t wait to read other books by Chandler McGrew.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Micky will have to use her police training to stop the killer and save the residents of McRay. But she has more baggage than just loosing her partner/lover. She is fighting against time and her memories. The real challenge will be if she can hold out long enough for help to get to her.
This story starts out with a bang and just keeps going. I felt for Micky, she had been through so much but she didn’t give up. I also liked who the killer was, I didn’t expect that one. The story was fast paced and I had a hard time putting the book down.
This is a great mystery that you need to read. I can’t wait to read other books by Chandler McGrew.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
May 11, 2015
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, Cold Heart starts off quickly and doesn't really slow down. There is a chapter or two where you get a chance to experience some of the peace that Mickey moved to Alaska for but afterward it really didn't stop. And it was scary, and disturbing to think about that actually happening. I had goose bumps.
Cold Heart grips you and doesn't let you go. The writing draws the reader in and you find it hard to stop. And there are at least several things that you never expected or never want to know about and wow. I seriously needed to take a break and just read some romcom to make things a bit better.
Cold Heart doesn't have any romance so if you're a romance only person then I wouldn't suggest it but if you're looking to take a break and don't have too much of an overactive imagination you'll probably really enjoy it and not need a night light to sleep.
Find this review and many more at Reading Shy With Aly
Wow, Cold Heart starts off quickly and doesn't really slow down. There is a chapter or two where you get a chance to experience some of the peace that Mickey moved to Alaska for but afterward it really didn't stop. And it was scary, and disturbing to think about that actually happening. I had goose bumps.
Cold Heart grips you and doesn't let you go. The writing draws the reader in and you find it hard to stop. And there are at least several things that you never expected or never want to know about and wow. I seriously needed to take a break and just read some romcom to make things a bit better.
Cold Heart doesn't have any romance so if you're a romance only person then I wouldn't suggest it but if you're looking to take a break and don't have too much of an overactive imagination you'll probably really enjoy it and not need a night light to sleep.
Find this review and many more at Reading Shy With Aly
May 1, 2010
At the book’s opening Houston cop Micky Ascherfeld survives a brutal shootout with two heavily armed robbers; her partner does not. Burned out and full of self-doubt, Micky visits a remote Alaskan village to recharge & ends up staying. Her refuge turns into a nightmare when one of the town’s residents goes on a rampage that threatens to wipe out the village unless Micky can stop it.
Great wintry Alaskan setting, smart character behavior, amazingly well portrayed opening shootout, and there’s even a nice map of the village included for you to follow the characters’ movements as they play their deadly game of hide-and-seek.
Great wintry Alaskan setting, smart character behavior, amazingly well portrayed opening shootout, and there’s even a nice map of the village included for you to follow the characters’ movements as they play their deadly game of hide-and-seek.
July 6, 2011
Very suspensful book with lots of spots where you want to yell "look out!" or "don't go in there!" I had trouble putting this one down and am glad I had a block of time to read it. Don't look for great writing here. Rather, read for the chills and thrills.
January 14, 2008
Typical suspense thriller, but it didn't do much for me. It was okay, a way to pass the afternoon. No really memorable characters, though.
September 16, 2009
Nice quick pace. My mom couldn't put it down, and that's saying something, since she's not a reader.
August 14, 2014
Really enjoyed this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2015
Easy to read with a fever although I reread a lot of it
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews