The Dead of Winter
Written by Lee Collins
Narrated by Kaleo Griffith
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Cora and her husband hunt things - things that shouldn't exist. When the marshal of Leadville, Colorado, comes across a pair of mysterious deaths, he turns to Cora to find the creature responsible, but if Cora is to overcome the unnatural tide threatening to consume the small town, she must first confront her own tragic past as well as her present.
Lee Collins
Lee Collins has spent his entire life in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), he generally prefers to stay indoors reading and playing video games. As a child, he never realized that he could create video games for a living, so he chose to study creative writing at Colorado State University. Upon graduation, he worked as an editorial intern for a local magazine before securing a desk job with his alma mater. Lee’s short fiction has appeared in Ensorcelled andMorpheus Tales, the latter of which awarded him second place in a flash fiction contest. In 2009, a friend challenged him to participate in National Novel Writing Month, and the resulting manuscript became his debut novel, The Dead of Winter. It will be published in 2012, and the sequel, She Returns From War, arrives in 2013. In his spare minutes between writing and shepherding graduate students at his day job, Lee still indulges in his oldest passions: books and video games. He and his girlfriend live in Colorado with their imaginary corgi Fubsy Bumble.
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Reviews for The Dead of Winter
4 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5When I first read the synopsis of The Dead of Winter even though the cover said True Grit meets True Blood , one of my first thoughts was of the show Supernatural which is one of my favorites. I would say it is True Grit meets Supernatural. The one thing that links these two together for me is because there are two people who travel around hunting down scary monsters, but instead of a modern day world, it’s a western one. It sounded somewhat similar and so I thought it might be worth a shot, especially since Halloween was close and that’s the perfect time for a little scare/horror. The Dead of Winter tells the story of husband and wife duo, Ben Oglesby and Cora Oglesby travel on horseback across Colorado in search of otherworldly creatures that are attacking people in order to eliminate them. Cora is a no nonsense type of woman. She doesn't take crap from anyone and is not afraid to voice her opinion even a little bit. She is a strong character, but she isn’t a character that I fell in love with. I felt like I couldn’t really connect with her as much as I had wanted to. Cora’s husband, Ben seems to be the complete opposite of Cora. He is more prone to think about things. And he is kinder compared to Cora’s sometimes rough attitude. They make an interesting bounty hunting pair. Ben and Cora arrive in Leadville Colorado on the hunt for whatever is killing people in this town. As Cora tries to effectively deal with her own inner demons of the past, her and Ben soon discover that the task of killing this beast may not be as simple or as easy as their previous ones. And even if they do find a way to kill it, is the threat over? Will the townspeople be safe or is there something far more sinister at work? The Dead of Winter is not without its flaws, but it is a highly entertaining western horror story. If you like horror want to try something a little bit different then this story might be right up your alley. ** I received this ARC from Angry Robot in exchange for nothing, but my honest review. Thank you.**
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cora Oglesby and her husband, Ben, are bounty hunters in the Old West. But they don't hunt criminals. Their prey are those things that go bump in the night except these creatures not only bump but bite, maim, and eviscerate. The Oglesbys have been hired by the sheriff of Leadville, Colorado to hunt down whatever is killing the local miners. They thought they knew every kind of monster there was but they were so, so wrong.These days vampire stories seem to have become so common and so cliche, they're like one big steaming sparkly pile so I wasn't expecting much from this one. Fortunately, it not only exceeded my expectations (which admittedly were pretty low but that's not a comment on this book) but actually kept me up reading. The Dead of Winter is definitely a giant step up from the rest and much of this is due to the character of Cora. She is coarse, crass, down-and-dirty but it is the sense of some hidden tragedy in her past which makes her such a fascinating heroine. The Dead of Winter is the debut novel of author Lee Collins and a more-than-decent one it is. I will definitely be looking to read the sequel and, trust me, given my normal disdain for all things vampire, this is high praise indeed.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I received this free Advanced Release Copy through NetGalley. The book is out November 1st.The Dead of Winter bears the pitch line, "True Grit meets True Blood." That's quite apt. Cora and her husband hunt "spooks"--that is, the undead and other nasty critters that crawl out of hell. There aren't too many willing to take on that job in the late 19th-century pioneer west. The book's pace and feel is like that of an urban fantasy, but against a very cold, very dark Colorado winter backdrop. The mixture works incredibly well. I read another ARC (Portlandtown by Rob DeBorde) earlier in the year that tried the same blend and pioneer setting, but felt very disjointed, with too many characters and almost too much crammed in; The Dead of Winter didn't suffer from that problem at all. It stays true to its western roots, with that paranormal touch. As much as I love steampunk, it's good that it's not forced into a book. Sometimes a western should just be a western.Cora is a tough-as-nails heroine. She's quick on the draw and damn good at her job, but at the same time relies heavily on her husband's wisdom and quiet, supportive presence. She also has a problem with alcohol. There is a major subplot involving her husband--I will take care not to spoil it. I caught hints early on and wondered where it was going. The climax relies heavily on this subplot, and handles it quite effectively. There's a lot of action involved, but the psychological repercussions are beautifully handled. The one thing that took away from this was a bit too much chest-thumping on the part of the villain--you know, the whole, 'I am evil and this is my dark plan for you' speech. But as that was probably the weakest element in the book, it's forgivable.Well, I take that back--this does rely on a lot of western cliches. For example, the only women shown are Cora and prostitutes, and the word "whore" feels overused. Even if it draws on western cliches, it still feels unique because of the paranormal elements.The Dead of Winter wasn't one of my very favorite reads of the year, but it's high up there. It's a thoroughly enjoyable book, and well worth seeking out if you love a paranormal western. Also, at the end I was thrilled to find this was a NaNoWriMo book--hooray for NaNo!