Freeze

I gave it four stars:

A great monster romp with very unusual (and quite nasty) creatures. I would love to read a sequel to learn more about these monsters--where they come from and what they are up to. In a time when every other horror novel is about zombies, how often do you get to enjoy a story about a completely different kind of creature?

Atmosphere. I will admit that I really love stories where the characters are isolated and left to their own devices and I could really feel the arctic chill in the air. It was almost a toss up at times which was more deadly: the creatures or the blizzard.

Pacing was great. Read it in one sitting. It was exactly as long as it should be. Pyle kept the story simple, limiting it mainly to 2 characters and show more kept the story humming along. It never felt rushed yet never slagged in pace. Well done.

Fun. Plenty of humor. Pyle knows exactly how to write this type of story. Monster romps should be fun and this one sure was. Also, he avoided the typical cliches. These characters were not buff, brilliant, young athletic types capable of making devastating weapons out of a few pieces of wire and a couple of garden tools. They are middle aged, not particularly fit, and are about as far from mechanical engineers as you can get. They are baffled and unprepared for their circumstances, but they fight like hell and I cheered for them.

I will be reading the rest of Pyle's books and I bet that they will be just as good. show less

This is a Reading Good Books review.

I live in Southern California but I love snow. Last Christmas, I was walking in the middle of a blizzard in New York City. It was horrible but fun at the same time. But after reading this novella, I may have to rethink my opinion about snow.

Tess and Warren are snowed in by a ranging snowstorm, cutting off their electricity and phone lines. There was no safe way of getting down with their truck damaged by the snow and ice. Trekking on foot is suicide. Suddenly, strange things begin to happen. Tess becomes injured in a freak accident and started coughing up blood. And if that isn’t scary enough, there are strange creatures lurking

The author wastes no time. The action starts from the first sentence and show more does not let up until the very end. The descriptions are so vivid that I felt like I was right there with them. Pyle made sure that you know that it was cold, you know they were in the middle of an extraordinary blizzard, you know how hard it is out there in the middle of it all. The writing was very solid and the characters felt real. I have a soft spot for dogs so I appreciated that there’s a dog in the story. It was fast-paced, it definitely kept me on my toes… and awake so late at night because I wanted to finish it right away!

Come to think of it, the plot was pretty simple… two main characters (three, if you add the dog), trapped in a storm, monsters are after them; how to get out? The glacial… monstrosities. What the hell are they? The author left the field wide open, giving mere hints of what they are and what they look like, leaving so much to the reader’s imagination. Pyle made them sound so terrifying. Where did they come from? What did they want? They scared me, to be honest. I can only imagine what if they were real.

This reminded me a lot of Stephen King’s short stories. The simplicity of the plot, minimal characters, and how subtle yet scary it is, very well done. I do have the author’s other work and I can’t wait to check them out.

Rating: 5/5.

Recommendation: Try reading this on a cold night, snowing, wind howling outside. And you’re home. Alone. Haha, no really… if you want to get spooked, try this. show less

If you're looking for a great monster novella, Pyle's "Freeze" really fits the bill. Pyle's depiction of the painfully bitter cold in this book was especially vivid and made me shiver (even in the middle of an Arizona summer). The characters were appropriately developed for a book of this type--we don't get to know their life stories, but their relationship does feel real enough to care about their fate. The only thing I found distracting were the occasional use of parentheticals that, at first, I thought were editing marks left in by mistake. It doesn't happen that often, but was distracting when it did.

This book delivers on just about every level, and I still find myself thinking about the ending weeks after I finished reading. show more Definitely recommended. show less

This hooked me from the beginning and didn't let go! I was to the end and hoping for more. Great imagery and perfect horror.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The writing was fast-paced, if a bit over-colloquial at times (very few times, however), which kept the suspense up. I was afraid the situation/crisis would be presented in a hyperbolic fashion that would make the drama laughable, but the author manages to strike a good balance that allows the reader to sympathize with the characters without finding the concepts ridiculous. I would call it more classic Stephen King than H.P Lovecraft, which is not a bad thing at all.

Freeze is a horror story guaranteed to please even the most hardened horror afficionado. It is fast paced and scary as hell. It's the kind of story that grabs you right at the beginning and never lets go. But be warned, you might want to check all your doors and windows and turn on all the lights before you start. And whatever you do, don't read this in the middle of a blizzard

Wow, fast paced and well written horror. Tess and Warren are getting ready to ride out ther blizzard that is raining down on their mountain home, but as the storm grows worse they find out that there is something worse in the snow than the cold. I could not put this down and it was the first sleet ridden night of the winter and I had to look around when i heard any little noise. Well done!!!