What do you think?
Rate this book
La mia vendetta
Pam è stata una moglie devota e leale per vent'anni. Con John ha condiviso tutto – gli amici, la carriera, un figlio – e ha vissuto il matrimonio esattamente come previsto dai voti nuziali: in ricchezza e in povertà, nel bene e nel male... Fino al giorno in cui una tragedia ha cambiato tutto.
Allora, dopo averla tradita pubblicamente nel modo peggiore, John se ne è andato. Nei tre anni successivi è diventato ricco sfondato mentre lei vive sulla soglia della povertà; la sua vita non fa che migliorare, mentre quella dell'ex moglie peggiora di giorno in giorno.
Poi la fortuna gira di nuovo, e tutto a un tratto Pam ha l'opportunità di pareggiare i conti. E in un modo che nessuno avrebbe mai potuto prevedere.
Allora, dopo averla tradita pubblicamente nel modo peggiore, John se ne è andato. Nei tre anni successivi è diventato ricco sfondato mentre lei vive sulla soglia della povertà; la sua vita non fa che migliorare, mentre quella dell'ex moglie peggiora di giorno in giorno.
Poi la fortuna gira di nuovo, e tutto a un tratto Pam ha l'opportunità di pareggiare i conti. E in un modo che nessuno avrebbe mai potuto prevedere.
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 23, 2006
1156 people are currently reading
4541 people want to read
About the author
Karin Slaughter
128 books86.5k followersKarin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular storytellers. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty- five novels, including the Edgar nominated COP TOWN and standalone novels PRETTY GIRLS and FALSE WITNESS. An international bestseller, Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. PIECES OF HER, based on her novel, debuted at #1 worldwide on Netflix as an original series in 2022. Her bestselling thriller series, Will Trent, is now a television and streaming sensation in its 4th season. THE GOOD DAUGHTER will soon be a limited series starring Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy, and further projects are currently in development for film/TV. Karin Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.
Facebook: Facebook.com/AuthorKarinSlaughter
Website: http://www.karinslaughter.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinslaugh...
Facebook: Facebook.com/AuthorKarinSlaughter
Website: http://www.karinslaughter.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinslaugh...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 360 reviews
July 5, 2019
Pam was a loyal and dedicated housewife for twenty years. She was dedicated to her family and then one-day tragedy struck and it changed her and her marriage forever. Now years later, she has received a phone call from her ex-husband, a man who betrayed and humiliated her in a very public way. Now, he wants to see her again, and Pam finally agrees to go. What happens next......
Karin Slaughter is the queen of chilling and thrilling books and this short little piece of work by her is no exception. Call it what you like - payback or revenge - Pam gets her chance in this book!
Karin Slaughter is the queen of chilling and thrilling books and this short little piece of work by her is no exception. Call it what you like - payback or revenge - Pam gets her chance in this book!
August 4, 2016
Cold, Cold Heart by Karin Slaughter is a 2016 Witness Impulse publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, this is one wicked little tale for such a short story. If you have ever been treated poorly by an ex-husband, got the short end of the stick in the divorce, and lived with the humiliations he bestowed on you, then you will love this story.
This story only has forty pages, but it is a real chiller and a diabolic tale of revenge. Some may even close the book with a little self-satisfied smirk on their face, because they are secretly living vicariously through Pam. This story is pretty dark, but humorously so, especially in the end, knowing someday John will get his just desserts, just the way Pam planned.
Fans of Karin Slaughter will appreciate this one, as will those who enjoy dark, twisted tales, especially those told in short form.
3.5 stars
Wow, this is one wicked little tale for such a short story. If you have ever been treated poorly by an ex-husband, got the short end of the stick in the divorce, and lived with the humiliations he bestowed on you, then you will love this story.
This story only has forty pages, but it is a real chiller and a diabolic tale of revenge. Some may even close the book with a little self-satisfied smirk on their face, because they are secretly living vicariously through Pam. This story is pretty dark, but humorously so, especially in the end, knowing someday John will get his just desserts, just the way Pam planned.
Fans of Karin Slaughter will appreciate this one, as will those who enjoy dark, twisted tales, especially those told in short form.
3.5 stars
February 24, 2018
A word to the wise - if you feel like you want to smirk at someone, it might be best to stifle it. It could really set a person off. You could end up losing something you hold near and dear.
April 22, 2018
Clever little short story from the master of crime fiction!
December 23, 2020
This book is the reason why I’m not a fan of short stories.
January 10, 2018
3.5 stars
The reader meets fifty-two year-old Pam as she’s en route to California. She thinks about her deceased ex-husband and how they were married for twenty-nine years, before he became a successful author and millionaire. Pam can’t help but think about how John was was financially controlling, unfaithful, and argumentative. How negatively he painted her in one of his bestselling books while negating to paint himself with the same broad stroke. Some of her thoughts?
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had known it all along that she wanted to watch him die, watch John succumb to something over which he had no control. She had wanted to see death wipe that knowing smirk off his face and she wanted to be standing over him while this happened, watch him realize that there was one thing out there that he could not get the better of. Let the World think of him as their loving healer, but let Pam watch him die with them both knowing what a lying, conniving piece of shit he was.
◈ I was quite entertained by this narrator! Pam was a bit devious, mostly bitter, and had a cynical attitude because her ex-husband was a douchebag to her, even on his deathbed. But she finally got her revenge in the end!
The reader meets fifty-two year-old Pam as she’s en route to California. She thinks about her deceased ex-husband and how they were married for twenty-nine years, before he became a successful author and millionaire. Pam can’t help but think about how John was was financially controlling, unfaithful, and argumentative. How negatively he painted her in one of his bestselling books while negating to paint himself with the same broad stroke. Some of her thoughts?
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had known it all along that she wanted to watch him die, watch John succumb to something over which he had no control. She had wanted to see death wipe that knowing smirk off his face and she wanted to be standing over him while this happened, watch him realize that there was one thing out there that he could not get the better of. Let the World think of him as their loving healer, but let Pam watch him die with them both knowing what a lying, conniving piece of shit he was.
◈ I was quite entertained by this narrator! Pam was a bit devious, mostly bitter, and had a cynical attitude because her ex-husband was a douchebag to her, even on his deathbed. But she finally got her revenge in the end!
December 31, 2018
HA! What an absolutely perfect end for a dirt-bag of a man!
"Revenge is a desert best served COLD!" Hehehe......
COLD, COLD, COLD HEARTED super short story!
June 29, 2019
Dam, What a despicable an arrogant character even in a few pages he got what he deserved.
”I knew I would have my revenge someday.”
-Mike Murphy-
”I knew I would have my revenge someday.”
-Mike Murphy-
August 25, 2016
Bit disappointed with this one. Didn't really like either character. He was a wanker. She was a bit of a pushover ... should have stood her ground and showed him what he was missing. Very short read. I probably expect more from KS.
Hopefully, my KS fan friends will read it and find more to it than I did. I think it was originally published as part of a Crime anthology.... if they are originally published in that format, why, oh, why, go and release them as Stand-alones?
Hopefully, my KS fan friends will read it and find more to it than I did. I think it was originally published as part of a Crime anthology.... if they are originally published in that format, why, oh, why, go and release them as Stand-alones?
January 2, 2016
Cold Cold Heart is a fairly dark short-story written by the amazing Karin Slaughter. Ms. Slaughter included a surprising amount of story/character building for the brief 30 page ebook/50 minute audiobook. This piece is perfect for any disgruntled women who want to live vicariously through a vengeful first wife. Enjoy!
December 28, 2021
4 Stars for Cold, Cold Heart (audiobook) by Karin Slaughter read by Shannon Cochran.
The title says it all. This is a cold revenge story. The premise is kind of twisted and it helps justify the revenge. Karin Slaughter’s female characters are great, no matter what crazy situations they get themselves into.
The title says it all. This is a cold revenge story. The premise is kind of twisted and it helps justify the revenge. Karin Slaughter’s female characters are great, no matter what crazy situations they get themselves into.
December 31, 2018
Pam has a cold, cold heart indeed. In a few pages the slow unraveling of Pam and Jon's marriage is detailed. The death of a son and a controlling husband that has degraded Pam for years has left Pam bitter over Jon's financial success. She doesn't want any part of it, but as he is on his death bed he asks her to visit him one last time. She has reservations, but decides to go. He gives her a journal to read that makes one last hurtful stab at her. After he passes away and she is on her way out of the house she has the last word.
Well played Pam, well played!
Well played Pam, well played!
June 29, 2017
This is the second short story of Slaughter that have disappoint me.
The writing was brilliant as always, it's the content of the stories that I don't like. As with Thorn in My Side the subject of this story is just plain weird, okay maybe Thorn in My Side was a lot more weird, but still.
Cold Cold Heart gave me that WTF feeling. I'm still not sure if I liked either of the characters.
The writing was brilliant as always, it's the content of the stories that I don't like. As with Thorn in My Side the subject of this story is just plain weird, okay maybe Thorn in My Side was a lot more weird, but still.
Cold Cold Heart gave me that WTF feeling. I'm still not sure if I liked either of the characters.
May 17, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
I gave this a 3.5 because i didn’t really care for the story until the end 🤣 it’s a short story so I’m not complaining, but the ending is the ultimate revenge!!
I gave this a 3.5 because i didn’t really care for the story until the end 🤣 it’s a short story so I’m not complaining, but the ending is the ultimate revenge!!
January 19, 2020
This quick short story is exactly the kind of vindictive pettiness I needed right now. Karin Slaughter excels in creating characters with an axe to grind, and I never tire of reading about them. There’s no familiar faces, like some of the Will Trent novellas, or anything that references other novels of hers—just the same, brilliant writer who lets women wear scorn like a fashionable accessory.
January 1, 2026
RTC ❤️!!!!
September 22, 2016
YAY! I was so happy to get my hands on Cold, Cold Heart, A Short Story, by Karin Slaughter. I love her novels and I am curious to see if she can draw me in and leave me wanting more with this short story.
They couldn’t get past the tragedy, so after twenty years of marriage, she was on her own.
I wonder, is she out for revenge?
I love that she is her own person, doing the things she had denied herself to stay in shape. Don’t we all do that, wanting to look different, wanting our older bodies to look like it’s twenty?
She is strong, stronger than John, her ex.
And John, I really don’t like him. He’s a jerk and makes it easy not to like him! The more I read about him, the more pissed off I get! When you read about him, I think you will agree.
As morbid as the book gets, I can’t help but laugh at Pam’s thoughts, at times. To me that speaks to Karin Slaughter’s ability to write a great story.
OMG. I didn’t see that coming. I am really pissed now. What a…oh man, I can’t say it. I can’t give away too much. BUT, I so badly want to talk about my feelings of hatred and disgust.
I LOVE it. Cold,Cold Heart is filled with cruelty, vengeance and, at least for me, some laughter. The twisted ending left me with a smile on my face and a feeling of satisfaction.
I had some difficulty getting my review copy, but seeing it is Karin Slaughter, I broke down and bought it. I read it in an hour and it is worth the ninety nine cents I paid for it!
To see more visit fundinmental
They couldn’t get past the tragedy, so after twenty years of marriage, she was on her own.
I wonder, is she out for revenge?
I love that she is her own person, doing the things she had denied herself to stay in shape. Don’t we all do that, wanting to look different, wanting our older bodies to look like it’s twenty?
She is strong, stronger than John, her ex.
And John, I really don’t like him. He’s a jerk and makes it easy not to like him! The more I read about him, the more pissed off I get! When you read about him, I think you will agree.
As morbid as the book gets, I can’t help but laugh at Pam’s thoughts, at times. To me that speaks to Karin Slaughter’s ability to write a great story.
OMG. I didn’t see that coming. I am really pissed now. What a…oh man, I can’t say it. I can’t give away too much. BUT, I so badly want to talk about my feelings of hatred and disgust.
I LOVE it. Cold,Cold Heart is filled with cruelty, vengeance and, at least for me, some laughter. The twisted ending left me with a smile on my face and a feeling of satisfaction.
I had some difficulty getting my review copy, but seeing it is Karin Slaughter, I broke down and bought it. I read it in an hour and it is worth the ninety nine cents I paid for it!
To see more visit fundinmental
July 8, 2020
Entretenido
September 18, 2016
COLD COLD HEART, is yet another deliciously evil, witty, and satisfying short story by Karin Slaughter, as fans anxiously await her upcoming THE KEPT WOMAN (5 Stars). Both are Must Reads! If you haven’t already read 2015 Pretty Girls , please do so. No one quite like the "queen" of crime thrillers.
John had been dead for almost two years. They had been married for many years and had met at a young adult Sunday school class some twenty-four years earlier. They dated, became lovers, married, taught high school chemistry and biology, and had a beautiful son Zachary. Everything was perfect at first.
Pam was now alone at age fifty-two, and for the first time in her life she did not care about her appearance. Her marriage had not been good. She recalled when he was dying and asked her to come.
Zachary was gone, too. At age sixteen. He died too young. She had warned her husband about their son’s drinking. Would her son be alive today if she had stood up to her husband?
John had said he wanted to be put into stasis. He wanted to be cryogenically frozen, so he could be reanimated one day. Who wants more of the sucker?
His book Biological Healing had been on the bestseller list. He wrote about his son and his ex-wife. Nine years earlier, she had caught him cheating with one of the other secretaries. He was mean, and hateful, and never mentioned the real truth in his stupid book. He had been with some woman the day before their son died, she discovered when reading his journals. The smirk on his face, when he was dying and the other wife, half his age.
However, now with his body, is her chance to get REVENGE once and for all! She will make sure he knows.
Even Slaughter’s clever short stories are entertaining! A sneak preview included of The Kept Woman. Do not miss the Will Trent/Sara/Angie saga!
In addition to the e-book, also used an Audible credit and Shannon Cochran was a perfect voice for the protagonist!
JDCMustReadBooks
John had been dead for almost two years. They had been married for many years and had met at a young adult Sunday school class some twenty-four years earlier. They dated, became lovers, married, taught high school chemistry and biology, and had a beautiful son Zachary. Everything was perfect at first.
Pam was now alone at age fifty-two, and for the first time in her life she did not care about her appearance. Her marriage had not been good. She recalled when he was dying and asked her to come.
Zachary was gone, too. At age sixteen. He died too young. She had warned her husband about their son’s drinking. Would her son be alive today if she had stood up to her husband?
John had said he wanted to be put into stasis. He wanted to be cryogenically frozen, so he could be reanimated one day. Who wants more of the sucker?
His book Biological Healing had been on the bestseller list. He wrote about his son and his ex-wife. Nine years earlier, she had caught him cheating with one of the other secretaries. He was mean, and hateful, and never mentioned the real truth in his stupid book. He had been with some woman the day before their son died, she discovered when reading his journals. The smirk on his face, when he was dying and the other wife, half his age.
However, now with his body, is her chance to get REVENGE once and for all! She will make sure he knows.
Even Slaughter’s clever short stories are entertaining! A sneak preview included of The Kept Woman. Do not miss the Will Trent/Sara/Angie saga!
In addition to the e-book, also used an Audible credit and Shannon Cochran was a perfect voice for the protagonist!
JDCMustReadBooks
August 5, 2023
This was altogether rather boring and not very inspired.
Divorced woman takes revenge on her ex-husband. *huh* - not much of a revenge if he doesn't know about it - and will never know.
Divorced woman takes revenge on her ex-husband. *huh* - not much of a revenge if he doesn't know about it - and will never know.
February 14, 2013
Extremely short but very good. My goodness but I hated her ex husband and thought the ending fit the crime.
April 8, 2017
An ex-wife bent on revenge comes face to face with the dying husband that caused her so much misery. A short story that delights in pure evil!
January 3, 2024
2 stars
Not very original premise, execution could’ve been better. Didn’t like the ending.
Characters 5
Atmosphere 5
Writing Style 5
Premise/Plot 4
Execution/Setup 4
Enjoyment/Engrossment 4
Narration 3
Not very original premise, execution could’ve been better. Didn’t like the ending.
Characters 5
Atmosphere 5
Writing Style 5
Premise/Plot 4
Execution/Setup 4
Enjoyment/Engrossment 4
Narration 3
September 25, 2023
Although I enjoyed this short story and the narrative, how it was slowly building up to the end (which was satisfying and realistic for me) I wouldn't call this book suspenseful as in the description.
The four stars is because I felt tricked when buying it by the page number, almost 2/3 of the book is an excerpt of The kept woman.
The four stars is because I felt tricked when buying it by the page number, almost 2/3 of the book is an excerpt of The kept woman.
August 6, 2025
This was a bitter, vengeful short story. I always like Karin Slaughter's writing, but this story was pretty useless. It showcased unlikable people interacting in vengeful ways. It was a trite story that left me bored and not at all entertained. The conclusion was utterly predictable and underwhelming. I gave it one star simply because I have liked almost everything else I have read from this author. Don't waste your time reading this.
July 7, 2013
I can easily see why Karin Slaughter is one of my favorite authors.
Cold Cold Heart is a 24 page short story that grabbed me from the first page and I couldn't stop until I was finished.
This is the story of Pam and John and how their relationship of many years fell apart. Slaughter chronicles the circumstances leading to the demise and then takes us, many years later, to a surprise ending which results in revenge being oh so sweet.
As in her many novels, once again Karin Slaughter is clever, witty and wicked.
Cold Cold Heart is a 24 page short story that grabbed me from the first page and I couldn't stop until I was finished.
This is the story of Pam and John and how their relationship of many years fell apart. Slaughter chronicles the circumstances leading to the demise and then takes us, many years later, to a surprise ending which results in revenge being oh so sweet.
As in her many novels, once again Karin Slaughter is clever, witty and wicked.
April 7, 2025
Pensé que pasaría algo más... No se por qué. Esperaba una revelación impactante, algo que cambiara por completo todo lo que apenas conocíamos, pero nada... Claro, me gustó el aspecto de la venganza pero igual, siento que me faltó algo.
June 10, 2016
I had my review all planned out until the last few paragraphs. Then the whole thing went right out the window!
December 29, 2018
This short story is a tale of revenge. John and Pam were former husband and wife. He calls her to his death bed. Although Pam was the more highly educated, John was the more successful of the two. When married, he tried to control her life and was unfaithful to their relationship. Their troubled son Zachary died in an automobile accident. I'll let you read how this short story plays out. While I didn't love this very dark story, I didn't hate it.
September 23, 2018
Oh, this was wonderful. Revenge is a dish best served cold, right? Ice cold. What a delightful ending!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 360 reviews