Excellent characters, lively plot. A good read, I will look for the rest of the series. ( )

This was an okay book. The pace is good but some aspects leave questions. Like what is the agenda of the terrorist group and why Fleming's divorce comes into play? I may or may not read another Pearson book. ( )

Not my favorite by this author but certainly not a disappointment. Has enough suspense to keep the pages turning. ( )

When a call comes in that a skier is missing Sheriff Walt Fleming assembles his men and begins a search. With a storm approaching they quickly begin searching the mountain. Very quickly Walt hears a shot in the distance. One of the searches Randy Aker is found dead. By the next morning his brother Mark is missing. Walt begins the investigation into the death and his missing friend. The story quickly expands to what Mark was secretly working on and whether or not this had something to do with the disappearance. I found parts of the book a little bit boring for a thriller. I enjoyed the book and liked the ending, but I didn't really like how long it took to get there. ( )

I don't usually read thriller novels but after a few pages of this one, I knew I had found a real writer. You know that feeling when you've run across an author that excels at his art? To me, that feeling is a warm blanket of anticipation. You know you're reading a great book, and letting it play out before you is going to be exhilarating.

This novel, while being #2 in a series of 4, didn't feel like a series book. The characters all seemed fresh and I accredit that to the superb writing.

Thrillers have always been an enigma to me because you have to do so many things right to keep the reader involved, while not pulling what I call the "24 Syndrome." The "24 Syndrome" is the art of taking the characters into an unsolvable situation, then using sheer chance to get them out of it, much like Jack Bauer did in the television series, "24."

In short, that pisses me off. It feels cheap and lazy, and I will only give an author one of those before I put the book down and move on.

Ridley Pearson is the real deal. This guy can flat out write. He does a great job of mixing in some flotsam with real clues and devices so that when a twist comes, you didn't see it coming. A lot of times, a plot device is so evident when it's presented, you spend the rest of the novel wondering when the writer's going to come back to it to "solve the problem."

I will be reading much more Ridley Pearson. The jacket said he's the author of more than twenty novels and I can't wait to get started. ( )