thebookmagpieb593e's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
andhochmuth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
fat_girl_fiction's review against another edition
4.0
Cold Burn by Max Allan Collins
I'm a massive fan of CSI, and CSI:Crime Scene Investigation is my favourite, so when I realised there were accompanying books I leapt at the chance. Collins knows what the characters are like and how they speak. It's evident he's researched the show. It was great reading new stories about some of my favourite characters. Out of all of the CSI books, this one really stuck with me and I have no idea why. So I gave it an extra star. Overall, they're a good, easy read that require practically no imagination because you already know the people and their history.
I'm a massive fan of CSI, and CSI:Crime Scene Investigation is my favourite, so when I realised there were accompanying books I leapt at the chance. Collins knows what the characters are like and how they speak. It's evident he's researched the show. It was great reading new stories about some of my favourite characters. Out of all of the CSI books, this one really stuck with me and I have no idea why. So I gave it an extra star. Overall, they're a good, easy read that require practically no imagination because you already know the people and their history.
ravencrantz's review against another edition
1.0
Once again the plot twist is someone is bisexual, and surprise! That someone is dead! And his killer is severely homophobic. Like she was throwing slurs left and right and it was awful. The only other gay character killed himself out of grief and it went into excruciating detail, even more so than the other crime scenes. This book made me sick, and not in a good way. I didn't read this for the representation, I didn't even know it was there. In a way that was worse because I was blindsided with all of this.
The other murder was just dumb. Admittedly, I was stumped on who the killer was for a good portion of the book, but the reasoning behind it was terrible and terribly executed.
I didn't expect these books to be good. I expected to cringe at the cliches and the corniness of them. I didn't expect to cringe at slurs and demonizing of non straight people. I'm not even donating this one. No one should be subjected to this, it's going in the trash.
The other murder was just dumb. Admittedly, I was stumped on who the killer was for a good portion of the book, but the reasoning behind it was terrible and terribly executed.
I didn't expect these books to be good. I expected to cringe at the cliches and the corniness of them. I didn't expect to cringe at slurs and demonizing of non straight people. I'm not even donating this one. No one should be subjected to this, it's going in the trash.
ki4eva's review against another edition
4.0
Huge fan of CSI and I like the authors writing. This book captures the characters perfectly.
judythereader's review against another edition
3.0
Collins always does a good job of capturing the feel of the series.
crystalisreading's review
2.0
Reading this, I thought it must be the first one Collins wrote. It just had an awkward feel to it, especially all the parts involving Sara Sidle. I thought maybe the author was just getting the hang of writing out the series. Apparently I was incorrect. This is number three, which leaves Collins no excuse for the weird CSI meets Miss Marple mystery that took up half the book. Sara and Gil, off at a CSI conference--at a remote hotel in remote rural upstate New York, in blizzard season. Yes, that makes total sense. I'm sure event planners do that a lot. It's a perfect way to leave your characters stranded in the middle of nowhere with some local yokels and a few other professionals, when they arrive early, just beating a storm there. Because I'm sure event planners would not have checked the weather report. Or the travelers. Whatever. Full disclosure, I did not read that whole mystery. A few chapters in, I gave up. Knowing what we do about Sara Sidle now, about her unhappy home life and time as a foster child, she certainly doesn't fit the happy family and neat Harvard education described in this book. I don't know chronology of CSI character revelations, so it may not be the author's fault he was incorrect. but it was distracting.
So was the overuse of the word "smirk". Every author seems to have a fall back word or two, that gets very much overused. Collin's word is apparently smirk. Fine in some contexts, but it gets old after awhile, and eventually starts to feel like a drinking game.
I'm being mean and critical, and I'm not sure the other half of the book deserves that. The run of the mill CSI case in Vegas with a frozen dead female was interesting. I figured out who the killer was a chapter or two ahead of the reveal, so the foreshadowing wasn't very subtle, but that's OK. it made me feel smart. Aside from the overuse of variations on the word "smirk", it was a good sturdy generic forensic detective story, and I enjoyed it.
I'm definitely glad I read a different book in this series first. If I had read this one first, I probably wouldn't have read any more of them. As it is, based on half of this book and the other one that I read, I'll still give Collins a chance when I'm at a reading lull and need something undemanding but enjoyable.
(For full disclosure, I used this as a stop-gap, carry-in-my-purse book, reading it when I finished with another book and wasn't sure what to read next, or when I was stuck waiting somewhere without whatever other book I was reading at the time, etc. I don't think it had a bearing on my enjoyment of the book, but who knows? It did take some time to reorient myself occasionally and remember what was going on and who the peripheral characters were. If nothing else, it shows you how "riveting" this book was, if I was able to pick it up and put it down so easily, often with long stretches of time in between.)
So was the overuse of the word "smirk". Every author seems to have a fall back word or two, that gets very much overused. Collin's word is apparently smirk. Fine in some contexts, but it gets old after awhile, and eventually starts to feel like a drinking game.
I'm being mean and critical, and I'm not sure the other half of the book deserves that. The run of the mill CSI case in Vegas with a frozen dead female was interesting. I figured out who the killer was a chapter or two ahead of the reveal, so the foreshadowing wasn't very subtle, but that's OK. it made me feel smart. Aside from the overuse of variations on the word "smirk", it was a good sturdy generic forensic detective story, and I enjoyed it.
I'm definitely glad I read a different book in this series first. If I had read this one first, I probably wouldn't have read any more of them. As it is, based on half of this book and the other one that I read, I'll still give Collins a chance when I'm at a reading lull and need something undemanding but enjoyable.
(For full disclosure, I used this as a stop-gap, carry-in-my-purse book, reading it when I finished with another book and wasn't sure what to read next, or when I was stuck waiting somewhere without whatever other book I was reading at the time, etc. I don't think it had a bearing on my enjoyment of the book, but who knows? It did take some time to reorient myself occasionally and remember what was going on and who the peripheral characters were. If nothing else, it shows you how "riveting" this book was, if I was able to pick it up and put it down so easily, often with long stretches of time in between.)
team_free_will's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
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