"Then He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'" -- Genesis 22:2 (NKJV)
The book opens in Idaho where the narrator, Prophet Goode, has his eye on Katie Sheldon, a thirteen-year-old girl. After a harrowing scene, the story leaps sixteen years into the future and reveals the torment that Dr. Maura Isles and her priest-lover, Daniel Brophy, are dealing with in their secret relationship. Dr. Isles is on her way to a medical conference in Wyoming. Once there, she bumps into a casual acquaintance from college who invites her to join him, his thirteen-year-old daughter, and two friends for a day of cross-country skiing before she returns to Boston. Things start to wrong . . . and then get worse. Midway through the book, you'll feel your heart in your throat with your pulse pounding. The suspense and the threats keep growing.
Ice Cold offers a number of very powerful themes for your consideration: Child abuse, religious cults, love, duty, friendship, corruption, and survival.
Ice Cold is one of the very best books I've read by Tess Gerritsen about Dr. Maura Isles and Boston homicide detective, Jane Rizzoli. Unlike some other books in the series, the blood and gore aren't quite so overwhelming, the plot makes a lot more sense, and the excitement is exceptional. For me, the book just missed being a five-star effort due to some bits and pieces of sloppiness in story transitions where the plot didn't make quite as much sense as it should have. But it was a fun read, and I highly recommend Ice Cold if you are fan of these books.