A Cold Dark Place (An Emily Kenyon Thriller)

When you open this book, be prepared for something like pushing your car to the limits on a winding road! Fast-paced twists and turns all the way to the last page! I can feel Gregg's familiarity with real people in real situations in his well developed, interesting characters; it's easy to keep track of them and the parts they play. And the true-crime, non-fiction, real-life, no-ending ending is exactly what I'd expect and what we'll probably find to be "classic Gregg Olsen" style. "Write on", Gregg!

In Cherrystone, Washington, the tornado touched down on the Marin home. Former Seattle homicide detective Emily Kenyon goes to see if her neighbors are okay; besides the storm devastation that razed the house, she finds three brutally murdered corpses. It is who she does not see that concerns her; the fourth member of the Martin family, Nick is missing.

As Emily wonders whether he could be a vicious mass killer, she learns her teenage daughter Jenna has run away with Nick; apparently Jenna plans to help him prove his innocence. Worried for her daughter's safety from either Nick as a stone cold killer or an unknown predator, Emily hopes to find them before someone else is hurt. However, she remains clueless that the homicides tie back to two decades of killings and the tragic case that led to her leaving SPD.

A COLD DARK PLACE is an exciting action-packed investigative thriller that is much more complicated than the simplified description above. Emily keeps the tale focused as she goes from one horror to another starting with the tornado, the three homicides, the missing son, and culminating with her daughter running off with potentially the killer. Fans will enjoy Greg Olsen's fabulous whodunit as he escorts the audience back and forth between the present and twenty years ago in a strong mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Gregg Olsen hit the bullseye with A Cold Dark Place. Suspense Magazine.com rated this an editors choice book and featured Gregg as the May Author of the Month. A Cold Dark Place is what suspense/thriller is all about. Gregg has a unique writing style that will keep you gasping for air. Gregg's extensive experience in True Crime has led him to be one of the best suspense/thriller writers out there right now. A Cold Dark Place is one of the top books of 2008.

The synopsis the store gives for this book at the top of this page makes it sound like a creepy serial murder read, but this book is anything but. There are so many disconnecting dragged out scenes in between said synopsis, that it took me 2 weeks to read this bad-boy.... and I had to force myself to finish it. Some books can balance out the creep factor, with drama, and emotion, and horror - this book is NOT that book. It literally spends 15% on the murder/horror stuff and the rest is forced drama with no ummph.

The characters have little to no depth, and say things that are so cliche or cheesy in this book. Inconsistency - Like a previous reviewer mentioned "one person had the gun, now someone else has it, but how did they get it" kind of sloppy writing takes place, that confuses you further. The people in the book keep doing things so un-characteristic of their already weak character, that you just give up caring or trying to understand them.

Your knowledge of the murders or actual serial killer is weak, as are the reasons behind the whole thing. Once you figure out the plot you feel as stupid as the storyline.

If the ending is meant to leave you hanging or curious - you will finish by saying out loud, "Who would say that? After everything that just happened, that reaction is stupid!" I have no idea why people rated this book highly - there are hundrds of better reads out there that are well written and actually terrifying. I was seriously yawning and scrunching up my face in confusion and apathy the whole way through.

Hilariously enough, one of the reviews on the backcover of the book said "It grips you by the throat!"
Yeah, I was choking it down alright.... it deserves a cold dark place in the dollar bin at my yard sale.

I really did enjoy this book. Gregg Olsen has a winner in this story. I like a book that has a lot going on. This one certainly does. The characters are genuine and likeable other than a couple, of course. The story is fast paced and is real enough to be a true crime read. It can be every parent's nightmare to have a child snatched up even a child of a police woman. I live in Washington State and I loved seeing the towns I recognise in a book, including my hometown. Oh, and there is a refference to another writer in this book, though be it a small one. You really must read it to enjoy it.

I saw this book while browsing in a bookstore. I was not familiar with any of Gregg Olsen's work. The first few pages proved to be a successful hook; I bought the book and looked forward to an intriguing thriller. Because of the detail and prose in the first pages, I know Mr. Olsen is capable of writing well. Unfortunately, the rest of the book failed to live up to the initial enticement.

I did not like or dislike the main characters. They were not three-dimensional enough for me to develop strong feelings about them.

Descriptions throughout the story were often awkward and poorly structured. For example: "The blood had dried on his hands by the time the daylight came through the Krueger-like slashes in the old roof over the smelly nylon plaid couch in the abandoned mining office where he'd spent a restless night."

Details were inconsistent. A number of early story lines were never mentioned beyond the first third of the book. The climax and resolution were outlandish and felt slapdash.

Again, I do think Mr. Olsen can write a good thriller. Unfortunately, A Cold Dark Place isn't it.

I found this book to be a very interesting read. I loved the story line. I was hooked immediately! I couldn't wait to see what happened in the next chapters! I'm looking forward to reading more books by Gregg Olsen!

Gregg is a very talented writer. He really has this way of keeping you in suspence. Just when you thought you knew who the killer was of Nick's family there was another twist. I can't wait for the next book to come out. There aren't many auther's that keep you on the edge of your seat like Gregg Olsen does. I would also recommend his other books. Starvation Heights, If Loving you is wrong, Bitter Almonds,Abandon Prayers,The Deep Dark. Need I say more he is an AWSOME WRITER.

A tornado wreaks destruction in eastern Washington State. A killer wraps people around his little finger. A law enforcement officer, her daughter and their friends get caught up in a whirlwind of misrepresentations and lies. This book keeps the reader guessing to the end when it all wraps up in A Cold Dark Place. Don't miss Gregg Olsen's latest thriller.

I have read Bitter Almonds and a Wicked Snow. Thought, if this author can put together fiction as well as he puts together his facts, then I've got to read more. After reading A Cold Dark Place, I can guarantee I'll read every book I can get my hands on - fact or fiction! At every turn, when I thought I knew what was going on, found out I was completely wrong! I love books that keep me guessing. Thanks for the twists and turns!

It is generally accepted that fact is more compelling than fiction. But this book proves the exception to the rule. Gregg Olsen has the background of an experienced true crime author and the intimate knowledge of the criminal mind necessary to create characters that breathe on their own. The complex and interwoven plots, between crimes currently being committed and past crimes forgotten by everyone except the detectives that worked the cases, provide a tense and satisfying read that has all the hallmarks of a bestseller.

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Every Olson book I have read has been good. He draws you into a 'story' that is punctuated with a mystery. And you always think you know 'who dunnit' and you're always wrong! I truly enjoy Gregg Olson.

This was not a good book. I bought it on a whim and it was a waste of the seven dollars and change. The writing was terrible, the plot was so layered it made very little sense, and the characters were more charicatures then people you could actually care about.

Not to mention the inconsistencies and just plain lack of sense that filled this book. He'd have one character say something and then later another character would contradict what the first had said... And the constant shifts back and forth in time did nothing to enhance storyline - they only made the already terribly complex plot more difficult to understand.

Ugh. If you like a good thriller, this is NOT the book for you.

I listened to the audiobook. All of the women voices resembled Elmer Fudd as a female impersonator. The plot was completely unbelievable; the main character airheaded. Annoyed at having wasted my time.

It's hard to lose oneself in a novel when constantly having to backtrack to check on inconsistencies. Didn't I just read that it was Wednesday; why is it now Thursday when it's obviously the same day? And on and on. These errors detracted from a story that I would have otherwise given a 3 or 3 1/2. And the last few pages - absolutely stupid!

Most of this book was fun in spite of an unlikeable protagonist and overblown prose. However, the book's ludicrous climax ruined the book for me. Since I live near the book's locale I was also irritated by how some locations retained their true identities, such as Mercer Island and Spokane, while others had their names changed. Why can't Bellingham be Bellingham? Over all, the book is a fun read if you don't mind corny writing, poor editing, and a ridiculous "solution" to some of the central mysteries of the book.

This book is terrible. This is my first time reading this author and I have a hard time believing that an agent took this mess on. The characters are shallow and show no depth in a sense that they are not believable at all. The dialog is forced and cliche and loaded with unnecessary and unbelievable words and situations. The author clearly has no idea what teens do, how they act or how they actually talk. He also has no idea how detectives work, women work or divorce works. It's as if he read the Cliff Notes version of "How to Write a Short Story" or "Psychology of Stupid People" and tried his best to construct a story based on that.

The main character, Emily is the worst detective ever and an even worse mother. The supporting characters are all ridiculously juvenile (in terms of how they are written not how their characters act) it's hard to follow without making fun of them. There is not one person in the book that you can truly relate to or care about because they are all so fake.

I listened to this in the car on a long ride with my 14 year old son. Even he was complaining about the weak dialog. He said the author sounded like a 13 year old boy.

This was hours of my life I will never get back. I feel like the author owes me! Save your time and your money and read or listen to something else.

The story had great possibility, but the errors just distracted me.
The running "timeline" is off. "X was missing for 32 hours". Uh, no. Not according to the day and time of the prvious section.
And the ending..... Where did Emily get the gun? Really. Where?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I read quite a bit of crime fiction, and this is no better than a work-in-progress. A Cold Dark Place is not a very good book, the characters and sense of place are thinly developed. It is filled with cliches, the plot twists seem manufactured and don't make any sense, and the dialog would be bad in a high school play. I gleaned from the introduction that the author Gregg Olsen, was part of a writer's class. He should ask for his money back, because there are some very basic things wrong with this book. The author should spend some time reading good authors in this genre such as Lee Child, Brian Haig, or Nelson DeMille. This book is a complete waste of time, and I question whether Gregg Olsen has any talent as an author.

This book is terrible. It is badly written and full of huge plot holes and mistakes that any decent editor should have caught. On one page a character pulls her blonde hair out of her face. Twenty pages later she is wearing her brown hair in a pony tail. The book is full of irritating little discrepancies like that. Olsen also seems to have an extremely negative, condescending view towards people who read books about serial killers. This book is about a serial killer, so it's mildly offensive for him to put down his audience. The characters are poorly developed and uninteresting. I would not recommend this book unless you enjoy utter stupidity.