Frozen Sun

Nathan Active Mystery #3

by Stan Jones

The third entry to the Nathan Active series.

State Trooper Nathan Active has long been caught between identities. Born an Inupiat Eskimo but raised in Anchorage by adoptive white parents, he had little knowledge of his heritage before being assigned to the remote Alaskan town of Chukchi. He only realizes how deeply settled into the local rhythm he is when Grace Palmer, a local beauty queen, goes missing. Active mounts a search that will lead him halfway across Alaska—and give him plenty of time to discover he is in love with Grace. Closing in on the answers, however, he discovers evidence that points to an agonizing she is either dead, or she is a cold-blooded killer.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Procedural

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Stan Jones is a writer of mystery novels, and is co-author of a non-fiction oral history book.

He has written seven books in the Nathan Active mystery series. He is also the co-author (with Sharon Bushell) of The Spill: An oral history of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

THE SAND GARDEN, installment No. 1 in his Dana Forsythe Mysteries was published in November 2023. It's based in the Palm Springs area and features a female private detective. Mary Wasche was his co-author on THE SAND GARDEN.

He was born in Anchorage, Alaska, where he lives today.

Reviews

[kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, for me, was a great disappointment with Nathan, the main character, behaving badly and out of character. There are lots of distasteful issues with this book, the most notable being pedophelia, incest, prostitution and sexual abuse of animals.
Nathan, a cautious and thoughtful man, sees a picture of a missing once-upon-a-time beauty queen, a woman prettier than his long-time girlfriend, Lucy, whom he is considering marrying, and immediately begins thinking below the belt. He is intrigued by the mystery surrounding Grace, the missing woman, and while trying constantly to put it from his mind, instead keeps pursuing the case, although it isn't his case or a case at all.
Quite honestly, Nathan's behavior didn't make any sense to me and I didn't care for Grace, start to finish. She isn't a very believable character since, after living for a decade on the streets of Anchorage, she simply decides she'll try to fix what's wrong with herself and is again just as beautiful as she always was, even though she was drunk and a prostitute for years, sleeping under cars in the wintertime in Alaska. Given all the examples of how brilliant she is supposed to be, it's hard for me as a reader to believe that she wasn't smart enough to find a way to deal with her demons better than the choices she made. How about a DNA sample on the child that would prove what she was saying was true? Big plot hole.
I hoped to get to know Nathan's adoptive family, since he went to stay with them while he did some computer training for his job as a state trooper, but they barely appeared. I wanted to know these people and why their adoption of him has left him so scarred, angry with his birth mother and unable to forgive her or trust any woman. There was only one brief conversation with his adoptive mother, lasting not even two pages. I got no sense of her personality at all. Not sure why they were even in the book.
Although this book is much more a personal story about Nathan, I didn't feel like I understood him any better at the end of it, in fact, less so than in previous books. The idea that he simply couldn't stop thinking about this woman because she was so beautiful and alluring or whatever she was, seemed to be opposite of how his character was created. He is very career driven, not even kissing his girlfriend, Lucy, in public when in uniform, but he takes up with a woman who has an arrest record that includes a murder charge. Nonsense. If the author wanted to give Nathan a wife and child, Lucy would have been a much better choice and not so complicated or ridiculous. This made it seem like Nathan was simply using Lucy for all the time they were together. Didn't like the way this turned out. Nathan seems to have generally made a mess of his life over this woman and he deserves better. Sad.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is interesting mainly for its setting. Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active is asked by her father to track down Grace Palmer, a local beauty who has been missing for three years. As a mystery, the book is very weak, but is an interesting study of the psychology of character development. In the search for Grace, Nathan becomes what would be called in Jungian terms, “anima possessed.” He becomes fascinated by Grace even though he has never met her and projects onto her a variety of feminine archeytpes. Through this psychological regression, it appears that by the end of the book Nathan has slightly matured psychologically. I hope that in future installments he becomes capable of relating to a woman as she defines herself.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really well written, compelling story. It's not easy writing something so skillfully. I'm impressed. Learned a lot about Alaska and native population. Very much enjoyed this book. Sent a note to the author, and he was nice enough to write back.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve had a good time binging my way through Stan Jones’ mystery series featuring the adventures of Alaska state trooper Nathan Active. Although born into the Inupiat tribe, Active was adopted by a white couple and brought up in Anchorage. Now he’s stationed in the place where he was born, the little village of Chukchi, but still feels a bit like an outsider.


This is book 3 in the series. Frozen Sun has Nathan hunting for a missing beauty queen in Anchorage and Dutch Harbor. The beauty queen’s story is pretty interesting, but Nathan’s obsession with her seems far fetched, starting with the fact that he falls in love with her based on a high school picture. Really? However, I did really like the descriptions of life in Dutch Harbor.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars...I’m still not sure I like the main character at all, but I can’t go into it without major spoilers, and since the writing was so good about the character of Alaska, I’ve landed in a compromise of 3.5 stars and a decision to read one more book in this series to see if I like Nathan better when he’s not being a stupid MAN. (Again, can’t explain without spoilers, but dude seriously is such a dumb boy in this book, nearly to point of jeopardizing his career.)

I ended up loving the other main character, but can’t say more because of spoilers. So that saved the book.

[Jay Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot on this one was wonderful. Full of twists and turns and an really interesting story. I still really enjoy the Inupait language involved as well as the touch of Alaskan life. I continue to have difficulty forming a bond with the main character. He still seems rather void of personality and that takes something away from my enjoyment of the novel.

[Alan Spinrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a little darker than the first two. There are a couple of things that are hard to suspend disbelief for. Nevertheless, the story is inventive and well crafted and held my interest very well. The images of Alaska life are so vivid you feel you are there.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love mysteries and adventure tales set in Alaska, and this series is a good one. Be warned, though: the series is "modern" and touches on subjects that are not for the squeamish. I suggest reading the series in order -- I didn't, and wish I had.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nathan is an idiot throughout this book but I loved visiting the thinly disguised sites in Anchorage and Dutch Harbor; both places I used to live. Jones missed an opportunity to develop Nathan's character a bit when we saw only a glimpse of the adoptive family.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy this series - believable characters, descriptive setting...

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in a series. The main character, Nathan Active, fell in love with a picture of a beautiful women and acted like a jerk for the rest of the book. Disappointing!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still like this series, but I could do without the relationship drama.  These people need some basic communications skills.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six-word Review: Somewhat amateur writing but good story.

Longer review later.

[W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series, but this particular novel wasn’t quite as good as the others.

[Valerie Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frozen Sun

I really like Stan John's Nathan Active Mysteries. He has a way of making you part of the village. I'll enjoy reading more of Nathan's adventures.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This atmospheric mystery skillfully exploits its unusual Alaskan setting. Its backdrop is the plight of some of the native people as well as those of mixed heritage, such as the protagonist Nathan Active.
Active works for the Alaskan police and is posted in the remote settlement of Chukchi. The book begins when the high school principal asks him to track down his daughter, a former beauty queen who ran off several years before.
The trail leads Active to the squalid stip joints of Achorage and a miserable, fish factory in the rain-drenched Aleutian Islands.
Active is entranced by the beautiful woman he is chasing, and unwilling to abandon the investigation even when it appears she's dead. At the same time, he pursues a half-hearted affair with a sexy young woman back home, to whom he offers great sex but no emotional commitment.
Soon we're involved in an Alaskan version of "Chinatown", the famous Polanski movie.
Jones offers a fairly broad cast of well-drawn characters and an easy familiarity with Inupiat culture.
The plot of this book generates little suspense so it's not exactly a page-turner, but the setting and characters are so interesting and unusual that it kept me reading avidly to the end.
For details of my thriller go to www.alanelsner.com.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#3 in the Nathan Active series. Nathan is an Inupiat native of small Alaskan village Chukchi, raised by white foster parents in Anchorage. Now an Alaskan State Trooper, without much knowledge of native culture or language, he is assigned to Chukchi. Author Jones obviously loves Alaska and its people as can be seen by the descriptions of Nathan's quest to find Grace Palmer, a high school beauty queen last seen hustling drinks in Anchorage. As Nathan follows a trail from Anchorage, where she is declared dead, to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians (at his own expense), he tries to drop the case while he is falling in love with its subject.

Nathan Active series - Nathan Active, an Alaskan trooper assigned to Chukchi, an Inupiat Eskimo village in the Arctic where he was born, is looking for the estranged daughter of the local high school principal because her mother is dying of liver cancer. When the principal is found shot to death, the girl is the only suspect.

[Lourdes Venard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alaska State Trooper Nathan Jones is asked by the Chukchi high school principal, Jason Palmer, to find his missing daughter, Grace, who left home 10 years ago and was last seen on The Junction, a seedy strip of bars in Anchorage. A former Miss North World, the photos of Grace show a stunning teenager. So Nathan, although not officially on the case, begins to do some digging when he's sent to Anchorage for a computer class. This causes a rift between Nathan and his girlfriend Lucy, who is jealous of Grace. But can there be something behind Lucy's jealously? Is there another reason Nathan is going beyond the obligations of his job? In this, the third book, Jones has hit his stride. His descriptions of Alaska and the culture made books one and two very readable, but here he complements that with a compelling storyline and well-drawn characters.

[Chris Hays · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh...If you have not lived in Alaska, this review might be to critical. Feel free to ignore. First I would like to commend Mr. Jones for tackling some of the challenges of Alaska. The vast world is very different from what people think. Then I would like to make some notes about how this book got many things wrong. Let's start with most natives would not refer to themselves as Eskimo unless it was an insult. How about the flight to Dutch harbor portraying the realism of landing quickly and beating the storm, only to be followed up by the trooper miraculously leaving without a problem. fine except the storm returns to Anchorage. The characters and story are just not very tight for my taste. I commend Mr. Jones for tackling a subject I could never dream of...as a reader the book was just not great.

[Catherine Woodman]

Nathan Active is a complicated and yet simple guy--he is also unable to visualize situations where tact might be an effective coping skill....He manages to piss off his girlfriend Lucy in a way that would make almost anyone cringe, and get wrapped up in a case with a woman who CLEARLY has major personality issues--which, it turns out, her childhood contributed to greatly, and she would be hard pressed to have come out normal, but none-the-less, she is trouble. He hasn't gotten over being left for adoption himself, and doesn't make any headway on that issue in this book. I like the northern Alaska setting, and the Eskimo culture alot.

[Grey853 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathan Active is an Alaskan state trooper. He's asked to track down a woman who's been missing for 10 years. Her mother is dying and wants to see her before she passes.

Nathan becomes obsessed with the image of Grace Parker and when he finally finds her, he becomes even more obsessed.

It's a very interesting and twisty mystery. It's even more satisfying as a character study of Nathan, a native man raised by whites, who is trying to find his place in the world.

The writing is elegant and compelling.

One should be warned that there is dark subject matter here. It's not a neat and tidy mystery.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, another solid entry in the series. The setting and atmosphere are so immersive and wonderful that I will forgive a lot.

I think Jones makes some mistakes here with the characters, but I understand his wanting to keep things moving in different directions. I also wish Jones would stop trying to write sex scenes. They're pretty stilted and awkward.

Apart from that, really enjoyable. Active is a great protagonist, and Alaska is a fascinating setting. Very well done, looking forward to the next book.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

In some ways, I liked this book better than the previous two books in the series. The pace was a little faster. The author excels at creating settings, and in past books the descriptions slowed the pace of the book to a crawl.

However, this book moved into content that just felt salacious, rather than appropriate to the plot. And the main character, Nathan Active, is beginning to bore me. I doubt I will read future books in the series.

[Carolyn Crocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alaska state trooper Nathan Active is assigned to his Inupiat birth mother’s hometown, Chukchi, when he’d rather be in Anchorage, where his adoptive white parents brought him up. And he’d prefer not to take up on the high school principal’s request to locate his missing former beauty queen daughter. As he learns more about himself and his community, we are treated to a lot of Alaskan local color in this fine-tuned police procedural.

[James Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

from James:

My biggest complaint: why am I reading a book about Alaska when the temperature is -2 outside here in Ohio?! Beyond that, Jones does a good job of describing places, I think. His books feel like a slice of life from an a small arctic village. I enjoyed Village of the Ghost Bears more (the story in this one is a little too sordid for my tastes), but would hand any of his titles to fans of cop mysteries.

[Jerry Bunin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Stan Jones' series about Alaskan State Trooper Nathan Active, Nathan always feels like a stranger in a strange land, a half breed whose Inupiat mother living in rural Chukchi gave him up for adoption to a white couple in big city Anchorage. Nathan struggles to understand both a beautiful native girl gone astray and how he fits into the community where he was born but didn't grow up in. This is the third in the series that Mary Shaffer have read. Definitely been fun.

[Lisa Currier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the series. Nathan did seem to act a little out of character, but it could be him growing. Lucy was never really a match for him. I enjoy the setting, and the descriptions of Alaska and the native culture. The author does a great job with both. Some of the side story lines were not really needed. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Permies.world · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series. This one was more edgy than the last two. Dealt with unpleasant subjects. There was also a more explicit sex scene than in the other two. I was surprised. Book two was completely clean. Over all, I've enjoyed this author though I probably wouldn't have gotten this far in the series if book one and two contained the more explicit scenes.

[Jackie R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this little book, and I couldn't put it down. As Nathan Active, the books Alaska State Trooper, the protagonist, says in the book, that he didn't see it coming, and I too was blinded as well-despite all the signs. Anyway, I really like this series and I'm on to the apparent last one.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 3rd in the Nathan Active Mystery series. This one has Nathan travelling outside of Kotzebue for much of the book. Anchorage and Dutch Harbor (the first Alaskan town I ever set foot in, btw) are the other locales. This was my favorite of the series in terms of compelling plot, but also at the top of the list for tedious passages. All in all, though, a really enjoyable read.