Cold Front : A Tory Bauer Mystery (Tory Bauer Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Too Realistic?
Review: The ordinaryness of the possibility of being frozen to death is the real tension in the book, reminiscent of Jack London's "To Build A Fire." Like that classic, this will make shiver in bed at night, even if you live in San Diego. The unspoken moral choices and community judgment set this firmly in South Dakota, not Alaska. Note that I said too realistic: South Dakotans tend to see outsiders as cartoon characters, much as coasties view South Dakotans ("I blame Fargo" says Tory), so the criminals' cardboard characters may simply reflect the townies' view of them. The puns and literary references are great fun, but they also tweak the reader's suspension of disbelief. My wife and I adore the series, but this one is very literary, which is why only 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Too Realistic?
Review: The ordinaryness of the possibility of being frozen to death is the real tension in the book, reminiscent of Jack London's "To Build A Fire." Like that classic, this will make shiver in bed at night, even if you live in San Diego. The unspoken moral choices and community judgment set this firmly in South Dakota, not Alaska. Note that I said too realistic: South Dakotans tend to see outsiders as cartoon characters, much as coasties view South Dakotans ("I blame Fargo" says Tory), so the criminals' cardboard characters may simply reflect the townies' view of them. The puns and literary references are great fun, but they also tweak the reader's suspension of disbelief. My wife and I adore the series, but this one is very literary, which is why only 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Takes way too long to come to a conclusion
Review: While I enjoyed this book, I have to say that at a certain point, I just wanted to get it over with and almost didn't care any more who the culprit was. I also wasn't totally satisfied with the conclusion once I got there. Before I pick up the next mystery in this series, I will have to make sure it's under 300 pages. These mysteries do not warrant any length, because once it gets to a certain point, it just drones on and on.