Silent Snow

Weatherman #2

by Steve Thayer

Rick Beanblossom is the Twin Cities' top investigative reporter. He has a devoted wife. A brand-new son. He is contented. But on the March 1st anniversary of the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, all that will change -- when history repeats....

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Adult, Thriller, Historical Fiction

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

STEVE THAYER is the New York Times best-selling author of Saint Mudd, Silent Snow, and The Wheat Field. He lives in Edina, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this suspenseful mystery, from beginning to end, it does not let you put it down! A new author for me, and I wish that I had read "The Weatherman" first, so I could know the character, Richard Beanblossom from the beginning. I have it on hold at our library and will read it too. The characters and an amazing storyline keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat with so many twists and turns.

From Amazon:
The majestically shifting Minnesota weather that dominated Steve Thayer's acclaimed novel The Weatherman swirls eerily through his second equally sophisticated thriller. March first finds Rick Beanblossom, hero of The Weatherman, now St. Paul's top investigative reporter, looking out on the icy, brooding night city. Rick, known as the man without a face--a face he lost to napalm while saving lives in Vietnam--is now married to beautiful anchor Andrea Labore, queen of Sky High News, and father of an infant boy. On Beanblossom's desk tonight lies a strange piece of anonymous mail, a memento of another March first--the date, in 1932, of the famous Lindbergh baby kidnapping.

But this night, at the height of a savage blizzard, Rick's own beloved child will be snatched from his nursery, with his mother only a room away. All Beanblossom's newspaperman instincts tell him the secret of his son's disappearance lies in his past--and so he begins a war on two fronts: to track every lead in the present while he delves into the tortured Lindbergh history and the history of another hard-boiled St. Paul reporter, Grover Mudd for a clue--any clue--that could bring his son back. His investigation, racing through snow against time makes Silent Snow a brilliant new blend of history and fiction for readers of Caleb Carr's The Alienist and Robert Harris's Fatherland.

[Eric Kalenze · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are so much fun. I am so glad I stumbled on Steve Thayer's novels.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent novel that combines true events with thriller. I loved it!!

[Roxana · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say about this book? It was excellent, I enjoyed reading it.
A compeling thriller. A kidnapping of a child imitating the famous case of the Lindbergh's child. Is it possible that the monster that kidnapped and killed Baby Lindbergh, also took away the little child of one of the most famous woman of the tv news...? Is it just an imitator?
Her husband, a man that was injured with napalm in Vietnam and as a consecuense is force to use a mask, and is also a very famous newspaper columnist, known as "The man without face" is determinated to safe his child. For that, he has to learn more about the old famous case, in order to have his child back.
You can't put the book down once you start with it.
I'm not very familiar with the Lindbergh's case, anyway, I believe most of the story that you will find in this book is the writer creation, anyway, now, I will probably read more about that case and what actually happened, if it ever was actually solved. I believe that the solution given in this book was just the solution adapted to the story, and I found it somewhat fanciful, but anyway, I enjoyed the book.

[PrairieReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh earlier this year and knew I had a mystery / thriller about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby somewhere on my bookshelf, so dug it up and read it over the course of a few days.

I generally shy away from stories that have multiple time frames and this book is a good example of why that is: I invariably enjoy one time frame over the other(s). In this case, I found the present day plot to be less interesting than the one set in the 1930s, so was less engaged reading it (not to mention the resolution of the present day story was underwhelming and implausible, to say the least). I liked the use of the Lindbergh kidnapping as a jumping off point, but be warned: the author takes a TON of liberties with the actual facts of the kidnapping and makes it into a plot point.

This was a pretty easy read, with a pretty easy-to-solve mystery.

[Barbara Dougherty Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend left this book at my doctor's office for others to read. I was luck enough to be able to borrow the book and read it! Wow! It is an incredible book, that will get your heart pumping. It tells the story of a kidnapping copycat of the Lindbergh baby. Which happened in 1932. The baby that is kidnapped in Minnesota in 1999 is snatched from his crib. His mother is a famous actress and his father is a reporter. Both of the parents are successful and famous. The book is a fast read and will keep you up at night! Don't miss it!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, both because I love St. Paul history and I'm interested in the Lindbergh kidnapping. My father was questioned in the Lindbergh kidnapping because he and his brother-in-law were parenting my father's nephew after the death of the baby's mother, my Dad's sister.

The story is about a kidnapping of a newscaster's baby. The kidnapping is modeled after the Lindbergh kidnapping and is predicated on Bruno Hauptman having had a female accomplice who is still alive. Some parts of the book involve a stretch of imagination but overall it was a good story.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for a few reasons. It is written by a Minnesota native and set in Saint Paul, referencing places I've been and local landmarks. At times, I felt like I was part of the action. The plot toggles back and forth between the present and 1934. I always enjoy that feature in a book. Thirdly, this book is full of action. I couldn't put it down. Thayer is able to keep the mystery "close to the vest." The clues to the identity of the kidnapper were nebulous. Even when I thought I was getting close, things didn't add up.

[Lilac Blossom · Rating 2 out of 5]

3.8/5 ⭐
I didn't guess the plot twist at all. But one thing is that this book requires a lot of your brain power when reading it.
If your weather is rainy and you just want to be cozy in bed reading a mystery then I will recommend this book. But there are a lot of books which is like kind of better than reading this one. It is not simple at all and if you -13 then I don't recommend you read it.

[Inge VH · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, not for me. This novel was poorly constructed, really stretching to link two events together and ending up with a muddled mess. Saying the main character’s full name almost every single time the author referred to him was irritating beyond belief. The whole ghost in the fire thing was ridiculous.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kidnapping of the son of a newspaper reporter and celebrity TV newswoman in Minnesota becomes a big story. In the course of the investigation, eerie similarities emerge that are connected with the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Interesting.

[Michell Salgado · Rating 2 out of 5]

La traducción fue mala, muchísimas faltas de ortografía, tediosa y enterada, por momentos no había sentido en lo que leía, atrapa por momentos pero creo que es muy predecible. Cumple su función de entretener pero no más.

[Roger Scherping · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book but really didn't follow everything in it. I don't know if it was just me or if the plot was flawed. It was enjoyable, though, to read a book set in St. Paul, where I knew every street he described.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Minnesota thriller that takes a ride through the Lindbergh kidnapping to solve a current kidnapping. Never a moment I wanted to leave this book.

[Sue Shipley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of action and gruesome details. I almost lost interest in the middle with all the snow and descriptions of it and the cold.

[Judy Seguin · Rating 5 out of 5]

History, fiction, and suspense all mixed together in a “can’t put it down” thriller. Loved it!

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought it was a little too far fetched and some times violent so I skipped to the end to see who the kidnapper was.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1999. A quirky and complex mystery thriller.

[Linda Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great contemporary mystery with history of the Lindbergh Kidnapping as its background. A real page turner.

[Evelyn Pecht · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too far-fetched for me. Found myself skipping paragraphs towards the end.

[June Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good suspenseful thriller. Keeps you guessing as to who the kidnaper/killer is. Murder, mystery, love, caring all in one good read.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The twin cities and a kidnapping that mirrors the Lindbergh baby one.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book, but in the end, I didn’t like the ‘why’ of the crime.

[Mary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a couple of twists. Since I grew up in St Paul it was very easy to visualize what was happening. Hard for me to put it down.

[Jayne Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book because I wanted a winter read, and liked that it was based in Minnesota. Started off slow, found myself getting distracted through some parts but glad I stayed until the end.

[Julie Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a highly entertaining book set in modern times involving a journalist caught up in a reenactment of the Charles Lindbergh baby kidnapping of 1932. St. Paul, MN journalist Rick Beanblossom unwittingly sets off a personal tragedy when he writes about the death of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author and wife of Charles Lindbergh and mother of the murdered baby. Days later he receives a copy of his obituary in the mail along with a $20 bill. Bemused, he sets the bill and piece aside and works on other writings, but keeps coming back to it as something arouses his curiosity. When he calls a confidential source and they realize, from the serial number, that the bill is actually a gold certificate recorded as part of the original kindapping ransom money paid for the Lindbergh baby, Beanblossom feels the hairs rising on his neck and rushes home to his St. Paul Summit Avenue house to check on his own newborn son, only to find the window of the nursery open and the baby gone. The author has fun leading us on paths that recede back to the gangster-infested St. Paul of the 1930s and a fictional visit by a woman linked to the kidnapping. Through another journalist's own experiences in the thirties, we see the colorful past of St. Paul, the media frenzy over the Lindbergh kidnapping that might have established the unending coverage of events that we see today, and how crimes were investigated in the days before CSI. The past comes back as Rick and his wife, herself a modern media celebrity, look into the present and the mysteries and secrets from the thirties as they desperately try to find their son. Clearly Thayer enjoyed writing this book and dropping in little pieces of the Lindbergh story--we meet a German in the trenches of World War I whose initials are observed to be RBH (Richard Bruno Hauptmann, the kidnapper?)-- and the plot is very well plotted and laid out. We are given several plausible suspects and unbelievable coincidences, and complications ensue worthy of Lucky Lindy himself, a complicated man who was a Nazi sympathizer and racial bigot at the same time as an international hero. The writing itself is somewhat pedestrian although at times the style rises when it elevates journalism rather than fiction. It is also hard not to react every time one reads the name Beanblossom. Why Beanblossom? But overall the pacing is sophisticated, and any one from Minnesota will enjoy the shout outs to St. Paul locations and history. Worth the time to read.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby in 1932 forms the backdrop for this very well written thriller/mystery. In Minnesota in 1999, Rick Beanblossom's baby boy is kidnapped from his nursery crib just as the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped 67 years previously. Beanblossom's wife, Andrea Labore is a television media star, while Rick is a well-known print media reporter. They both are celebrities, and they both, by virtue of what they do for a living, have numerous contacts thanks to work associations both currently and from previous jobs. However, when their son is kidnapped they are just as much at the mercy of those who took their son as anyone else in their position might be.


By shifting the action back and forth between 1932 and the present, we follow the parallels between the two different kidnappings. There are many similarities between the two cases. In 1932 the Lindbergh case was closed when Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty and executed for the crime. However, because of the uniformity of the current crime to the former one, serious doubt is placed upon the assumption that Bruno Hauptmann committed the kidnapping of Baby Lindbergh alone. Beanblossom begins to suspect Hauptmann had an accomplice and that this accomplice is now working out of Minnesota on a similar plan to extort money from wealthy parents.


Once I began reading Silent Snow, I found it difficult to put the book down. Steve Thayer maintained a level of tension throughout the book that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could read them. Apparently Thayer had one book before this one, The Weatherman, in which the characters who appear in Silent Snow make their debut. Based upon this book, I'd be willing to read anything more Thayer has written. He's created some interesting characters, and it would be interesting to see where he takes them from here.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this one up rather at random off a library shelf, while searching for some beach/summer reading. It's an unusual mystery story, interweaving the kidnapping of a child in the late 90s in St. Paul, MN, with recollections of the Lindbergh kidnapping in the 1930s. It's at least the 2nd novel written by this author involving the same characters, so I read it out of order and can only judge it on its own merits, and not as part of the series.

Overall it's entertaining, and mostly held my attention, though despite the precipitating crime occurring with in the first couple chapters, it felt slow to get off the ground. It only gets a 2-star "I'ts OK" rating from me, though, because even though the premise is creative, the present-day sections are uneven, overdone in some places -- overdramatized and overwrought -- and underdone in others, where characters and events are underdeveloped and too much is taken for granted. However, I found the sections dealing with the 1930s crime mystery to be much better written and much more interesting -- the primary villain of those sections is deliciously fiendish, and the primary hero appealing and relateable, with all his flaws. I'm sure it would have been a better book without the whole present-day connection, actually.

Still, it was an OK read and a nice change of pace from my standard go-to paperback mysteries, and I'll be interested in reading Thayer's other books at some point as well.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So so so many spoilers.

I had a lot of problems with this piece of crap.

1.) It was really two half-baked books in one. The connections between Part 1 and Part 2 were so tenuous and shoddy that by the end of Part 2 I'd felt like my time had been totally wasted.

2.) A goddamn ghost. In a kidnapping mystery. Completely out of the blue.

3.) Not all of the facts of the Lindbergh case were right.

4.) You don't need to say the main character's full name every time he's mentioned.

5.) Terrible motivation for the kidnappers. Horribly explained. By that, I mean, "Not at all."

6.) This was billed as a kidnapping mystery/thriller, not a love letter to St. Paul, but that's how it read.

7.) I didn't care about any of the characters. Saying that he was a Marine and got gassed doesn't make me like him automatically.

8.) The noir-ish flashback was a generic caricature with no soul and nothing original or interesting to present.

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On the plus side, the prose was snappy and visual and moved along at a great clip. I just wish it had a better story to tell.

[Samyann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook read by David Birney, a 10 plus hour listen. The story is about the modern day kidnapping of a baby with a paralell to the Lindbergh case of 1932. The author mixes fact with fiction, creating a historical scenario of wild speculation. If you’re looking for factual detail regarding the Lindbergh case, please don’t depend on this book. Some of it is true, most is not and is a fictionalized version of actual events. If you take historical fiction seriously, you may take a pass on Silent Snow, there really is no detail about the world as it was in 1932, only fictionally created characters. If your interest is simply a good mystery, the book is well worth a purchase. It may take time to get into the voice and rhythm of the reader, David Birney, as a few characters sound a little too decrepit.