ICE by Linda Howard (Review)

• Thanks to the USPS, this book arrived bright and early Friday morning.
• Thanks to Wendy, I knew this was going to be short, really short.
• Thanks to Dear Author and Rosie, I knew this wouldn't be comparable to her full size books.

So going into this book, my expectations were very, very low.  But, hey, it's Linda Howard for crying out loud.  Linda Howard on a bad day is still better than most authors on good days--so says this fangirl.  And I admit it I AM A FANGIRL.

Yes, the price was obscene, but I'm going to be philosophical about it.  I ordered this book at 198 pages and Stephen Kings new one at 1,074 pages, both cost $9.  So I got 1,272 pages for $18.  Not so bad, it was almost like getting this one free.  See this fangirl can do simple math to justify the cost of a really overpriced book.

Gabriel has just made the trip from North Caroline (where he's an MP in the military) to his hometown in Maine.  His dad is the county sheriff and sends him right out to check on Lolly.  An ice storm is rolling in and the sheriff is concerned he can't reach Lolly on her cell phone.  Gabriel's not thrilled, he thought Lolly was stuck up in high school and pushed her buttons whenever possible.  Lolly's come home to prepare her parents house to be sold.  Being from Maine she doesn't plan to stay in the house during an ice storm.  She's picking up what she needs and heading back into town where it is safe.

Enter Niki and Darwin, meth addicts, who notice Lolly's Mercedes and figure they can score some money and stuff worth stealing if they follow her home.  They're crazy in the criminal, drug addict way one would expect.  They stalk and attack.  Gabriel helps rescue and into the storm they all go.

The story that unfolds takes place, start to finish, in less than 24 hours.  And it worked for me.  Taking the time frame and story elements into consideration, we weren't going to get a romance centered story.  We get a thriller, adventure centered story with hints of a romance to come.  There's a good review by Sandy on AAR.

For me the only issue is price.  It's not worth $22, it's not worth $9, if it had been released as a category romance for less than $5 it would have been better recieved, and worth the price.  Get it at the library or wait for the paperback version, if the e-version is cheap get it.

That's it for now.  Have a great day and happy reading.