My Take:
5-Stars!
Cover of Snow
I loved this story as it was
written with such suspense, it was nail biting. You don’t know who to trust,
what to believe, or where this story is going to go next. There is no second
guessing what’s going to happen or what will happen next in this story.
Nora and Brendan lived in the
small town of Wedeskyull, New York, in the northern Adirondack Mountains. All
you saw were walls and sheets of snow carved out from the ground up, snow flying
all the time, and continuously the same color up to the sky – grey. Winters
here were especially brutal. One could easily freeze to death if not careful.
Brendan, Nora’s husband, grew
up here, so Nora was the Newcomer. Brendan ended up becoming a police officer, like
his father. About twenty-five years ago, Brendan lost his two-year old brother in
a terrible accident in which he fell through the ice, and Brandan had always
blamed himself for that. Nora never knew or completely understood all of the
details about. He kept this to himself pretty much, and he did not discuss it, just
enough that she knew about it. She felt he blamed himself completely for the
accident, which he shouldn’t have as he was just a kid when it happened.
One morning Nora wakes up late
and groggy-headed, which was odd for her. They had such a beautiful evening
together the night before, so much so after they were finished making love,
they snuggled a lot longer than what they normally did. It was really nice and
she smiles remembering it. She had to hurry as she had to meet with a client
that morning as she restored old houses, and now she’s off to a late start.
This is unlike Brendan not to wake her. She went through the house looking for
Brendan and she finds he hung himself to death from the rafters in their
farmhouse basement. This is odd. He’s a police officer by trade who has a gun.
Why suffer from hanging yourself when you could end it quicker and painlessly
with a shot to the head? This occurrence had me wondering about that. Later in
this story she finds the rope he used to commit his suicide with was the same
rope he used over twenty some years ago to try to help save his little brother
from drowning, to no avail. His suicide is just about on the anniversary of his
little brother’s death, too. This is so wrong, she thinks to herself. Nothing
is making any sense to her.
This starts her on a quest of
her own investigation to find out why he would do such a thing. She hires a
private investigator to help her find out what happened.
This did not fit her husband’s personality
at all. Brendan was not the type of person to commit suicide, yet she starts to
wonder because she also finds a prescription bottle filled the week before, on
January 16th, and it was a sedative. He never told her about that.
When she takes the bottle to the pharmacy to ask questions about it, it was
confiscated by the local pharmacist so quickly she didn’t know the bottle would
not be returned to her. All she had were questions, but once he had it, it was
his. It had a red mark on the bottle though, one she would come across again,
later.
The problem: "who"
can and can't she trust? Who will and who won’t give her information? Wedeskyull
was a very secretive, cliquey type small town. She felt like an outsider here,
even with her own mother-in-law who just seemed to ignore her. The state-of-the-art
police force, which was odd for such a small town, all grew up together, and
they try all they can to keep her quiet and not asking questions. Even they seemed
to be corrupt. Family? Friends? No. Nora is on her own trying to figure out
this one.
Can Nora figure out all the
deep secrets of 'why' her own husband seemed happy and loving the night before,
yet at the same time drugged her, and then committed suicide? She learns her
own husband has secrets, too? The town has secrets, her mother-in-law has
secrets, the people have secrets, so why all the secrets?
This book’s writing was outstanding! I LOVED it with all the
twists, turns and danger Nora gets herself into, some intentionally and some
not. This was one heck of a greatly written beyond suspenseful mystery where you
never knew what was going to happen next, and there is plenty of action that
continues as Nora tries to figure out just what really happened.
I
really enjoyed reading this book in the dead of winter as the wind whipped
around outside quite severely, the snow fell, and it is freezing outside! I
felt like I was right in the story.
I
received this book for FREE from Random
House/Ballantine Books, through NetGalley, in exchange to read and write a
review about it. It is NOT required for this review to be either positive or
negative, but of my own honest opinion. “Free” means I was NOT provided with
ANY MONIES to read this book nor to write this review, but to enjoy the pure
pleasure of reading it. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the
Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part
255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html
Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements
and Testimonials in Advertising.
About the Author:
Jenny Milchman lives
in New Jersey with her family. Cover of
Snow is her first novel.
