Four Cold Months

Detective Max Grady #1

by K.J. Kalis

Detective Max Grady’s past haunts him every single day.
The day he finds out Macy Chandler has been missing for four months is no exception. 


Now, a ransom demand has come in, one that her family doesn’t understand and can’t fulfill.


With no options and no leads, Max sets out to find the kidnappers and to rescue Macy… while she still has time.


If you like books by L.T. Ryan, Adam Nicholls, and James Patterson, you are going to love Four Cold Months. Get it now!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Thriller, Amazon, Crime, Mystery Thriller

358 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2022

Reviews

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay police procedural, but it seemed to drag.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Moved along pretty quickly. I don’t like it when teenagers go off on their own to become the hero.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent start to a series.

[Kelly Moritz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book up to end where they kind of forgot to tie up the story line for part of the characters. Needed a few more pages to feel fulfilled.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned after 29%

[Cirrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relentless tension

I basically held my breath through most of this book.
Hoping that the villain would not carry out his threats, irritation at his weak sidekick, red herrings and frustration at the inept people in charge wound up the tension unbearably for me.
I had to occasionally take a break because I couldn't face the thought of something violent happening to this lovely family.

A busy work from home dad, his sweet flower child wife and their children go through a terrible ordeal. All because the powers that be at different police jurisdictions are unwilling to allow their officers to do the necessary police work to prevent a tragedy in the making.

[JoAnn Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally unlikable protagonist. Book is filled with unhinged angry rants. Main character treats his partner, his boss and the police from another precinct with distance. I felt like he was saying “Hold my beer” to his partner because she was female. At one point he leaves his partner in the dark about his whereabouts because he would endanger her if she knew what was going on. I struggled along til the end but will not waste my time on another of his books.

[Elise Van Manen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was honestly not my favourite. I dont think it flowed well and the narration style did not allow me to dive into the characters. I feel like I was reading this book just to read/finish this book and not to actual enjoy it if that makes any sense. It could be a me issue as I just spent the last month reading a long series and I was heavily invested in it but this fell short for me unfortunately.

[Bonnye Reed]

(Detective Max Grady Thrillers Book 1). Book Adrenaline

[Arch]

This is my first book frim this author. I had gotten this ebook free from Amazon on January 12 2025 and read the prologue and a couple of sentences from a chapter. I was in the mood to read on last night, January 14, 2025 and so I started this book, but after read a few pages in the first chapter, I decided the book was not for me. I read up until after Max interrogated Noah, whose wife been missing for months. Well she takes time away from her family - husband, son and daughter. Daughter is in college and 12 year old son with father. This is normal for her family, but strange to me. Her husband lets her spend time away frim him. She's supposed to be away writing a book. Well, Noah had gotten a call about a key his wife is supposed to have and the person wants Noah to get the key or he won't see his wife again. To Noah hos wife is both missing and has been kidnapped. He contacted another police department when he did not hear from his wife in weeks and they did not do anything about it so now he'd reported his wife kidnapping to the police department where Max works.

Back story on Max. When he was 14 years old he shot his father. His father was abusive. One day he was besting his wife and Max went ro help. His father hit him and started beating on his brother, who was 16 years old and had a mental problem.

Let me put it like this, Max is selfish and don't think how he treats others and that includes his female partner and his boss. The way he treated his female partner and Noah in the interrogation room turned me off from this story. I am undownloading it from my Kindle.

[Richard Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get back

I started reading this book some weeks ago and set it aside for a couple reasons. I thought it started too slowly and frankly I didn't like the protagonist. Eventually I learned, after picking the book back up, the reasons that Max is the way he is. I still didn't like him, but I was at least a bit more sympathetic towards him.

A woman has been kidnapped and the police either don't believe the husband or think it odd that he waited for months to tell them. The catalyst for him coming to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is that there has finally been a random demand. I hope it's not too much of a spoiler to reveal that the good guys win and the bad guys lose. There was one non-bad guy who is killed, but his death actually helps move the story forward.

I appreciated the author's emphasis on family; not only the nuclear family, but extended family and even generational family ties. Not everything that happens in families is pleasant, but strong families have a way of working through hardships and sometimes weaker families can be made stronger in the face of unfortunately difficulties.

Although it took me three tries to get involved with this story, I still recommend it. You may like Max Grady more than I do or you may not, but stick with the story. The pacing improves as the story unfolds and you will find other characters in this book who are far more likable than Max.

One last word: when Max visited his brother he almost won me over. He's not the same curmudgeon with his brother as he is with almost everyone else.

[Bobby Keeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

So is Macy Just Out For A Fling

Macy Chandler is a professor at a local Pittsburgh college. She likes to write poetry, and often goes on her “adventures” where she is able to write without distraction. Only this time she has not contacted her family for months. No one knows where she is, but her husband Noah thinks that she may in or near Thomasville. So he contacts the Thomasville police to report her as missing. The police don’t even complete a file on this “missing” woman.

At the end of four months Noah receives a call from the person who has Macy. Because of the situation he records the call. All the kidnapper wants in order to release Macy is “the key.” What key Noah asks? So now Noah goes to the Pittsburg Police to report a kidnapping. Detectives Grady and Cassie listen to him explain the situation, but Grady thinks that the story is just too odd. Who waits four months to report his wife as missing. Grady’s boss tells them to pass the information to the Thomasville Police, and then forget it and work on other cases that are on their desks. Grady ignores his boss as he and Cassie drive to Thomasville.
I do recommend this novel. It has some interesting twists.

[Pierrebleu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed views

I have mixed views on this book.

I thought the story and the tension were very good but I couldn’t take to Grady. I know he has his troubled past but I just don’t like him. He’s such a miserable self righteous grump with no redeeming personality features. He can’t be nice to anyone, even his extremely tolerant sidekick, Cassie, gets barely an acknowledgment from him. The only one who out grumps him is his boss Williams. Mind you if I was Grady’s boss I would be grumpy too.

The story revolves around a missing woman who is a bit of a free spirit and regularly takes herself away from her family to work on her writing. Her husband gets a ransom demand of sorts and eventually reports her missing four months after he last saw her and two months after he previously reported her missing to about police jurisdiction! Their daughter then goes missing! Grady has a big fall out with his boss, Willliams and hand in his gun and badge resolving to find the missing wife. Quite a convoluted story but worth reading except for Grady himself, what a misery he is!

Not sure I want to buy the next book because I dislike Grady so much.

[Joyce Anne Garbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and intriguing. The minds of the characters in this story run all over the place. The events in the lives of three entwined people are complicated and sometimes, sad. It was good reading, in spite of reading about the mistakes in judgement that these three people made, personally and within each other. The end was surprising, yet not so surprising. It is amazing how, at a young adult age, you think you have it all figured out in what you want your future to be and suddenly, one day, as though in the process if maturation, you turn 180. Money spent and wasted. Time spent and wasted. Plans thrown away. I guess it is what we all have done in some depth and in some form.
It is an interesting read and though a novel, guves the reader insight as to how life’s plans change and/or remain the same.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turn up the heat for this chilling thriller!

In this riveting debut of a new series by K. J. Kalis we meet Detective Max Grady, a somewhat grumpy but exceptionally dedicated detective haunted by a tragic and complicated past. I was glued to the edge of my chair while I followed Detective Grady’s investigation of a missing college professor who had something of a complex past of her own. I love the array of colorful characters and the plot, itself, has more twists and turns than a ball of yarn the cat has been playing with. This promises to be whopping good series and I will surely be on the lookout for the next book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased review.

[Claudete Takahashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bad-humored detective, a police force that did not work much when a kidnapping was reported by the husband, a wider secret behind the disappearance of a woman. A family with strange behavior, as a mother is only reported missing (for the second time) after 4 months of her disappearance and because of a ransom demand. A husband that took her disappearance as a common occurrence, and a daughter who always felt neglected but when called to act, did not avoid it. This story is perplexing, and intriguing, and points that people should trust but verify. There is a good plot that is fast-paced, and well-written, it seems like Ms. Kalis has done it again!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book from this author I have read (first in this series). I found it to be a good police procedural/thriller, if a bit slow going in places. There are plenty of twists and turns that are resolved as the book nears its conclusion. I tried guessing at some of them and missed a few.
The gist of the story involves the kidnapping of a woman who has a couple of secrets, both of which are germane to the plot. To make matters worse, there is an early season snowstorm, ineptitude on the part of the local police and jurisdictional issues between departments.
There are grittier police procedurals out there, to be sure, but this one is definitely worth your time.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ricki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Noah Chandler reports his wife kidnapped to Det Max Grady & partner. She has been gone 4 months but he is just now reporting it. Seems Macy "disappears" from time to time to write but this time it's been a while since he has heard from her. Now a ransom demand for "the Key" has arrived.

Noah has no idea what that is. We also get some of the story from Macy and she hasn't any idea either until she accidently finds out. The kidnappers are known to Macy from her past in Texas. Macy comes from a rich oil family but hasn't seen or talked to them in decades. It is all tied to money.

Max is not a likable character who has flashbacks of his own past. The first in a series I won't continue with-had to force myself to contine.

[Mark Van · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbelievable

Too many logical gaps in this story nearly had me giving up on it mid stream. What kidnapper keeps a victim for four months, leaving plenty of time to be discovered, or threatens the victim when it is more effective to threaten the victim' s family. And why would a person who suddenly knew the victim's location set out on her own to save her rather than call the police for help. And supposedly competent investigators failed to try to follow up the most obvious source of information--the victims colleague who had been acting strangely. And the main detective has no interviewing skills but has a photographic memory that plays no role in the solution. Too many holes in the story to enjoy it.

[Pedro Bedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max comes from a troubled background and has trouble relating to other people. When someone turns up and says his wife was kidnapped four months ago and then we find the original report was ignored by the police and she was not even called a missing person we begin to understand his frustration. I can't follow the logic behind some of the characters like the daughter who doesn't report the letter that contains the biggest clue to her location or the sister who helped the kidnapper in the first instance and covered for him knowing she would be outed if he ever let the wife go. Odd coincidences helped explain some but they were sometimes too contrived although the ending justified the means.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max Grady's has nightmares about his life living with his family as a young boy--they never leave him. When he hears that a woman has been kidnapped--he knows he has to find her--it has been 4 months. A ransom request is received-but nobody knows what they want--and neither does Macy----until she figures it out by accident. The worst part is she knows her abductors-----Will Max be able to find her before it is too late?

How a person's family past can catch up to someone through no fault of their own. Lots of twists and turns and some bone chilling paragraphs throughout.

[Keith Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting drama

When Max And his partner, Cassie, take a report from a man reporting his wife as possibly having been kidnapped, it begins a weird and disturbing case. When her daughter also goes missing the whole plot thickens. Has the wife really been kidnapped, by who? Will Max and Cassie find out the truth and will it prove fruitful and successful? A truly riveting story of intrigue, deception and wilfully wicked scenarios. Well worth the time to explore and read a finely calculating mystery novel.

[Cynthia A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family feuds and family violence

Detective Max Grady had killed his father at 16 years of age. The father was beating his wife, his brother Ben, and when Max tried to help his father threw him across the room. Max reached into the drawer, grabbed the gun, and killed his father.
Max is an angry person, but a very good detective. Macy Chandler is missing and then the family receives a ransom call. Max and his partner begin to investigate. Things get even stranger and you have a journey through crime.

[Mrs Jean Daigneault · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started well but lost impetus quickly. Every one of the characters (except Cassie) was odd, weak and unlikeable. The plot was also odd, totally unlikely. There was a lot of padding, so much so that I skim read the last 30% without missing sny of the action. The writer was also obsessed with snow - there wasn't a page without description of the snowfall. Yes, we know you need to sweep snow from the windscreen before driving off and that ice will crunch beneath the wheels, don't need to be constantly reminded.
Didn't enjoy and won't be reading any more from this author. Sorry.

[Martin Pingree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome beginning to an awesome new series ! Max Grady is a detective in Pittsburgh who lands a missing person report. The original report was taken in another city so he is ordered to let them handle it. He and his partner start looking into it and are told again it’s not their jurisdiction. After a series of events involving the same family he has to take action. He quits and goes on a one man crusade. Intriguing cast of characters, non stop action and an extremely well written storyline makes this a must read !

[Launa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good premise, interesting to read but I did find the book would go back on it's self. it would say one thing then contradict it later. also some of it is just straight up not believable. they would've 100% had to call an ambulance for the daughter. just cutting the accomplice out with no explanation was lazy writing. the ending was disappointing, didn't like how much they emphasised the main characters childhood only for it to have no relation to the story. I get it was to set up a series but it was done very poorly.

[Billie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thrilling read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max, Grady, and his partner Cassie Reynolds get the "honor" of helping Noah Chandler. He first said his wife was kidnapped. Then said she's been missing for four months. Grady and Cassie aren't sure what to believe, but Lieutenant Willians tells them to check it out, in the first snowstorm of the season in Pittsburgh. What they find is one for the books. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

[Annette Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

great story!

Ok, so it would benefit from being proof read properly, there were some obvious errors, but overall only three I counted and honestly they didn’t detract from the book
The grumpy angry detective? I liked this character, found the others believable and with the terrific storyline I was hooked!
Singly great reading!
Completely clean earns it a five 5 out of five. Not often you get a great well plotted story that is a crime one and it’s completely clean.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Cold Months

This thriller was one I couldn’t put down. Detective Grady was a grumpy and unsociable, but he was systematic and intelligent in figuring matters out that surpassed most things others missed which sometimes led to him going rogue if he had to do it. At least there was one detective on the force who was willing to work with him and saw his rare talent and abilities.