ICE TOWN
WILL DEAN
*****
ONE WAY IN. NO WAY OUT.
'Deaf teenager goes missing in Esseberg. Mountain rescue are launching a search party but conditions hinder their efforts. The tunnel is being kept open all night as an exception.'
When journalist Tuva Moodyson reads this news alert she knows she must join the search. If this teenager is found, she will be able to communicate with him in a way no one else can.
Esseberg lies on the other side of a mountain tunnel: there is only one way in and one way out. When the tunnel closes at night, the residents are left to fend for themselves. And as more people go missing, it becomes clear that there is a killer among them...
MY REVIEW
*****
Will Dean is fast becoming one of my favourite authors – I really enjoyed The Last Thing to Burn and The Chamber, although I haven’t read any of the other books in the Tuva Moodyson series.
When deaf journalist Tuva Moodyson learns that a deaf teenager has gone missing in the town of Esseberg – a remote village which can only be accessed via tunnel, she feels compelled to go and investigate. However, when citizens start turning up dead, it seems there may be more to this case than meets the eye.
Although Ice Town is book six in the series, it does work really well as a standalone thriller, although there’s lots of shocking developments of the overall arc to satisfy fans of the series. The end few pages made very little sense to me, not knowing the full story, but I’m sure will be very shocking to those in the know. This didn’t stop my enjoyment of it though, and if anything, made me want to pick up the others in the series as well.
I loved the main character of Tuva – she’s flawed but determined, and the fact that she is deaf added some real vulnerability to certain situations. The setting of the village of Esseberg was so atmospheric, with the below freezing temperatures really adding to the stakes of the book and the fact that the tunnel was the only way in or out turned it into a locked room thriller at times. The chapters when a character is stuck on a snow lift or trying to ski down the mountain at night were truly scary (particularly for someone like me who tried skiing for the first time this year with disastrous results!). I also really enjoyed the final showdown at the end – you got even more of an insight into Tuva’s character, but I was constantly changing my mind about who the perpetrator could be!
Overall, Ice Town is an atmospheric thriller in a great setting and with brilliant characters. Although it’s part of a series, it makes for a great standalone and a perfect introduction to Tuva Moodyson. Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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