Chill Factor

June 20, 2005
Lust, jealousy and murder suffuse Brown's crisp thriller (after White Hot
), set in the snowbound mountains of North Carolina. Lilly and Dutch Burton's marriage didn't withstand the loss of their three-year-old daughter, despite their attempt at a fresh start with the purchase of a vacation cabin in bucolic Cleary, N.C., where the novel opens on the divorced couple discussing its sale. Dutch is now Cleary's chief of police, and Lilly is a magazine editor in Atlanta. As she races back to the city to beat a blizzard, her car skids out, striking a hiker emerging from the woods. Turns out he's a man she knows: handsome freelance writer Ben Tierney, whom she met and flirted with the summer before. With no choice but to wait out the storm in the cabin with Ben, who is injured, Lilly calls Dutch, but he can't reach her via the now impassable mountain road. Meanwhile, Cleary is haunted by the case of five missing women—all now feared dead. With Lilly still stranded, Dutch goes ballistic when the FBI arrives in town with evidence that Tierney is the serial killer. The snowy suspense will cool off Brown's fans during the dog days of summer.

August 15, 2005
Women have been mysteriously disappearing from the small mountain community of Cleary, NC, and a massive winter snowstorm has trapped Lilly Martin in a mountain cabin with the prime suspect, Ben Tierney. Lilly's ex-husband, local police chief Dutch Burton, is intent on rescuing her, but the cabin's remote location and the intensity of the storm significantly delay his efforts. Meanwhile, Lilly finds herself attracted to the charismatic Tierney. Both have dark secrets in their past, and they identify with each other despite Lilly's suspicion that Tierney is behind the disappearances. Small-town politics add both comedy and drama to the mix, with an extended cast of characters that includes a drunken sand truck driver, a busybody pharmacist, and the local football coach and his angry teenage son. In her latest (after "White Hot"), Brown offers up her usual blend of steamy romance and suspense, as well as an entertaining subplot featuring the town's outwardly prudish high school English teacher. Recommended for most public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 4/15/05.] -Nanette Wargo Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2005
Brown's new yarn is set in the small town of Cleary, North Carolina, where magazine publisher Lilly Martin is packing up her things at the cabin she shared with her ex-husband, Dutch Burton. Now the police chief of Cleary, Dutch desperately wants another chance with Lilly. She refuses, and he leaves the cabin, warning her of an impending blizzard. On her way down from the mountains, she accidentally hits a man in the road. She manages to get the man, Ben Tierney, back to her cabin, where they decide to wait out the storm. But the more time she spends with Tierney, the more Lilly fears he might be the serial killer dubbed "Blue," who has been abducting women in Cleary for the past year. Despite her mounting concerns, Lilly can't help her growing attraction for the man. Back in town, Dutch is frantic when he learns Lilly is trapped up in the cabin with Tierney, whom the FBI also suspects might be Blue. Dutch's concern grows, and he mounts a desperate attempt to rescue his ex-wife. The suspense builds as Brown's novel chugs toward a gripping, surprising conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)