Great detective thriller!

I keep 40 to 50 audiobooks as my backup stash for when I run out of my preferred authors. After reading a recent review of this novel by one of the Audible listeners I follow, I dug into the stash to listen to the book. The Girl in the Ice is set in London, The protagonist, Detective Chief Inspector Erica Foster, is a brash, confident, insubordinate, capable, deeply damaged and ultimately brilliant 25 year veteran detective. This is a wonderful novel that I could easily listen to again. Highly recommended!

90 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Okay

I had high hopes for this book. To be fair, it is an entertaining listen and I was somewhat interested to find out the details of the mystery as it unfolded. However, I never felt truly engaged. This is primarily because I found the character development shallow and boring. I couldn't bring myself to care one way or another about any of the characters. This is a deal breaker for me. Additionally, when the mystery/crime was revealed it seemed convoluted and silly. This book is adequate if you just want light entertainment. I would not read any additional books in the series.

72 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

mystery not bad but Erika needs improving

The mystery was intriguing enough, but I found Erika Foster lacking. Considering she was supposed to be s very experienced and supposedly capable investigator, she did not act like one. Loses her composure, acts unprofessionally, and ends up the damsel in distress too often for a 25 year veteran. The only reason we know she is supposed to be a damned good cop is because the other characters keep saying so, rather than by her actions.

At first I was not happy with the voice performance either, the reader's habit of ending sentences on an uplift made everything sound like a question - making the character sound annoyingly unsure. However considering the way the characterization went, I guess it was suitable after all.

There's more that I could say, but it would mean spoiling the plot, so I will stop here.

69 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great detective work/Police politics

First let me say I felt as if I knew the main character from another story. Of course, it cant be true. She is a tenacious detective, self assured, irreverent, insubordinate and brilliant.
The opening pages introduce her convalescing after the death of her husband. She had led he and several others into an ambush in a previous case.

The mystery revolves around a murder of a socialite from an aristocratic family. This puts the family of the victim under the judgementsl eye of the media. Her family is polically powerful, which puts more pressure on the police. Most important, it exacerbates the contentious relationships between detectives and their headquarters.

It is a clever, witty novel. Sharp banter and never a dull moment. I liked it enough to immediately purchase its sequel.

And to spend an hour or so trying to discover who the herione reminded of.

DD Warren maybe. Inspector Gamache led his men into an ambush. One of Karin Slaughter's or Marsons???

49 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Almost stopped listening

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The characters became predictable; I get particularly annoyed when the police do stupid, risky things when it's stunningly clear they're going to get into trouble. The "administrative" part of the police were particularly annoying and unbelievable: totally in the pocket of corrupt politicians one minute, good guys the next. I wanted to know who done it, so I listened to the end, but it was a chore.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

43 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

I'm not sure I will ever finish

I haven't finished this book and I am not sure that I will ever do so. That someone could have become a senior police officer and still be so stupid and reckless is really rankling with me. I am tempted to just fast forward to the end to get the whole thing over and done with. The premise is good, the narrator is OK but the main protagonist is getting on my nerves.

38 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Thriller but not gory

Very suspenseful. Nice narration. Worth the time. I would buy the next books in this series for sure.

33 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

BBC or Netflix Material

Would you consider the audio edition of The Girl in the Ice to be better than the print version?

Don't know. I have only heard the audio.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not the edge. But I did sit up once or twice. It just wasn't that type of book for me. The book had more of a cruise control feel.

What does Jan Cramer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Just how annoying Erica was.

Any additional comments?

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was like listening to one of those Netflix Original Shows, especially the crime ones. You knew it would be good.

30 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

The Girl in the Ice

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

YES, it's very entertaining, suspenseful, and the narrator is very good at her characterizations.

What did you like best about this story?

You couldn't guess the villain right away. Kept you guessing.

What does Jan Cramer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Helped you to get to know the characters, especially, the main one.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The confrontation in her apartment with the killer.

Any additional comments?

Good book, read it in on sitting! Thank you Mr Bryndza! Looking forward to the "Night Stalker."

28 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Good New Series

Plenty of twists and turns await the listener in this gritty serial thriller. Debut books in a series carry the added responsibility of creating a world. The main character needs supporting actors who can sustain our interest and sympathy into future stories. Bryndza succeeds here by populating DCI Foster's squad room with a handful of loyal coppers with back stories we glimpse and want more of. Will Peterson be more than a colleague in future? Stay tuned.

Some of the characterizations are too inconsistent for believability. It's done to obscure the killer, and we know that person is a liar. But everyone can't be unstable. Foster's boss, for example, drags her back to work the case, then he doesn't want her there, then he insists she's the only one who can solve it, and then he's openly hostile again. All this in the course of two conversations. This and other examples hampered my ability to plug into the story fully.

On the plus side, Bryndza takes us around London with ease, making us feel like natives on a crime scene tour. He evokes settings beautifully, setting the stage with juicy imagery we can taste, smell and feel. You will root for Erika Foster from beginning to end. The climactic scene --and I'm not going to spoil it--is one of the best and creepiest I've read in a long while.

Jan Cramer was excellent with the delivery of the story

20 personnes ont trouvé cela utile