Review - Deep Freeze

 Review of Deep Freeze by Lisa Jackson

 

This was my first Lisa Jackson novel.

Jenna, an ex-Hollywood actress who steps out of the spotlight and into a small Oregon town to raise her two teenage girls. The worst storm in years bears down as Jenna, who lives in a remote part of the county, learns she has a psychopathic stalker. One who’s killing local women.

Shane is the widowed sheriff of the small town, initially believing Jenna is a spoiled Hollywood princess. Gradually he learns that she’s just a mom who’s trying to raise two teenage daughters by herself. He has his own tortured past, demons to deal with, including a wife who’d had an affair with his now-ex friend and a childhood friend who died attempting a teenage prank.

I found this book to be decently written with a few proofing errors. The characters were fairly well developed but there were loose ends. Several of the incidents mentioned were never explained, (frustrating), and the supposed romance, well just seemed forced. There were plenty of suspects and it did keep me guessing. However in the end, when you find out whodunit, it was very anticlimactic, almost disjointed and not explained well.

The biggest problem - head hopping. There was no distinction (like a blank line, asterisk, etc.) between the different POV’s. At times, I’d read a few paragraphs and no…wait, this is a different time/place etc. and had to go back to see where the change occurred. Having to reread definitely pulls you out of the story and I found it extremely frustrating. I love a good mystery, but to have every character suspect is exhausting.

Another issue, though the main characters have their HEA, there is a hook at the end which seemed a bit crude.