Hard Cold Winter audiobook

This is the second Van Shaw novel – I love these, intelligent and atmospheric thrillers with enticing plots and some great characters, having been a fan of Past Crimes I was very pleased to see Van Shaw returning.Hard Cold Winter is a fast paced, addictive read that leans towards some dark themes and has the benefit of being entirely engaging throughout – it has a gorgeous past/present vibe of the type that I love and a brilliant sense of place when it comes to Seattle so you get a real feel for everything going on.Once again Glen Erik Hamilton connects his main protagonist to the ongoing events with a personal touch – in this case a girl from his past – Van is intriguing, flawed and kind of gets thrown into things rather than actively seeking them out which gives the books a deeper sense of reality.The fact that our hero has a criminal background as well as being an ex army ranger really keeps things fascinating – in this case he is also struggling with PTSD whilst chasing after some very dangerous people. It is exciting (and emotive) and cleverly constructed to keep you turning those pages well into the night.Author interview can be found on Liz Loves Books here.http://lizlovesbooks.com/lizlovesbook...

Van Shaw has just returned to Seattle from his time in the Army Rangers when Willard, one of his grandfather’s friends, asks for a favor. Willard is concerned about his niece, who went to her boyfriend’s cabin and hasn’t been heard from since. Van goes out there and discovers a grisly scene. It looks like a murder suicide, but Van begins to investigate anyway. He soon finds himself facing more danger than he bargained for. Will his Ranger training keep him alive? Or are the forces at work too great for him?After enjoying the first book in the series, I was anxious to revisit Van. He was just as great a character this time around, and I enjoyed watching him grow a bit and interact with the characters, both old and new. The plot just continues to build until we reach the satisfying and explosive climax. The series is darker than I normally enjoy, and that did bother me a little, but that is completely on me. I do appreciate how Van’s past, both before the Army and as a Ranger, is worked into the story, and the light it shines on the struggles vets face when they return to civilian life. I will be picking up the third book soon.Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

This second book of the Van Shaw series starts with a crony of Van's father asking him for a favor. His daughter is missing, but he can give Van directions.Van goes to the remote cabin, and finds a gruesome murder scene. As the daughter was a friend of his from childhood, Van starts poking around. He finds a whole lot of crime and violence.Great stuff, very hard boiled.

Notice in this series, as in the ones by Nick Petrie how the protagonist gets compared on the jacket blurbs to the Lee Child character Jack Reacher? Sometimes, even by Child himself. At any rate, the "white knight" veteran springing to the rescue seems to be a popular theme. Seems to me, however that one of the major undercurrents in these type of books is the fact that so many suffer from PTSD which keeps them from settling down in "normal society". Of course as one of the characters in this story comments it can be a bit hard to keep it together when someone's insides are on your outside. On the plus side, interesting and twisty plot so a quick absorbing read. Just not sure I need yet another series in the Reacher vein.

Another high-energy, tension-ridden story of Van Shaw as he comes to grips with his past and how he is going to make it in the real world of Seattle with all its memories.This is the second book in the series and I find them very satisfying.

Last year’s debut thriller by Glen Erik Hamilton showed without a doubt that an amazing new talent had arrived. Past Crimes (2015) was a runaway bestseller and nominated for an Edgar Award. Now Hard Cold Winter makes it plain that Hamilton isn’t any one-hit wonder. With Van Shaw he presented a tough, likable character that has readers pulling for him from start to finish. Shaw is a far from perfect disillusioned Army Sergeant who is simply trying to get by. Giving me special pleasure in Shaw’s second adventure is the author’s sense of place - his descriptions of Seattle are spot-on. I could see Pike Place Market in my mind’s eye through his text, and could almost smell the flowers. Another plus for me was the introduction of Leo Pak, one of Van’s Army buddies who shows up for a visit and stays. For this reader Hamilton’s character development is topnotch as at first I was leery of Pak but later appreciated him and hope he’s in the next Van Shaw tale. However, re this one Van has returned to his home in Seattle after the death of his grandfather who raised him. Flashbacks to when Van was 17 and he and his grandfather were breaking and entering are not to be missed. When one of Van’s grandfather’s oldest friends asks for a favor Van is quick to say yes. He’s asked to go into the forest of the Olympic Mountains to a remote cabin in search of a missing girl, Elana. Van remembers her well from his youth. What he will not and cannot forget is what he finds there - a horrific murder scene. Elana is dead as is the son of a prominent Seattle family. As dreadful as this is it’s only the beginning as Van is fighting with his symptoms of PTSD, and the murder investigation finds him caught between a billionaire businessman on one hand and vicious thugs on the other. Before long Van realizes Elana may have become involved in an illegal scheme that tops by far anything he and his grandfather ever attempted. Yet no matter the cost Van is determined to find out the truth - what a journey that is! Stayed up until all hours unable to put down Hard Cold Winter, and now all I can do is eagerly await the next from Glen Erik Hamilton!

Glen Erik Hamilton is a busy guy who handles writing like a business. He writes tremendous stuff then sells it. Some authors who produce exemplary works simply hunker down and write some more, not enthusiastic about doing the leg work necessary to get their product read and talked about. Take a look at his website. He’s everywhere; reading, talking, socializing.“Hard Cold Winter” is worth talking about. It’s clever, timely, well written, and definitely an attention grabber. It hasn’t been extensively reviewed and reviewers have not been particularly slobbering over its charisma. Maybe I’m weird, but I find it’s low visibility baffling.Hamilton takes a well-oiled situation, rich folks hobnobbing with Russian gangsters in a plot that will destroy most of a large city while reaping a huge monetary reward, by using an off-kilter, indestructible protagonist to disrupt a similarly indestructible team of maniacs. The author does it with skillful writing that keeps things uncomplicated but brimming with action, conflict, atmosphere, and characters whose realistic attributes create interest.The protagonist, Van Shaw, is an impressive type of hero, forged from a criminal and military past. He is flawed but desperate to extinguish the fires of his youth. He thrives through much adversity because of his toughness and determination; the will to survive digs deep. His mistakes serve as fuel for his drive.Shaw’s settings, mostly in soggy and atmospheric Seattle, have the reader reaching for a waterproof parka and slogging up and down the countless hills of the evergreen city. While still catching one’s breath, the chase descends to the harbor and gets enveloped in ripe waterside scenarios. Along the way are shootings, beating, explosions, and torture that all add to the thrill of the chase. The story is neatly bundled up at the end by the author’s narrative in case the reader lagged behind.I found a lot to like about this book and the author’s handling of the story. I recommend that you read it. It’s a great look at a new author.

So pleased I have found this author and right from the start of a series too, so there is always a new book to look forward to.When Van Shaw is asked to look for a missing girl, who also happens to be a childhood friend of his, his search takes him to the remote forest of Olympic Mountains. There he discovers a brutal murder scene, and he is soon caught between vicious gangsters and a billionaire businessman. In order to survive and figure out what is going on he has to keep himself alive long enough to have the chance.I said it before but I will say it again, perfect for fans of Jack Reacher.

Hard Cold Winter by Glen Erik Hamilton is a well-written, well-developed thriller. I had never read a book in the Van Shaw series, but this one worked as a stand-alone. Van Shaw, who is a former Army Ranger, grew up as a thief who worked with his late grandfather. Will Williard had been a friend of his grandfather and was there for him during his last days, so Van feels an obligation to help him when his niece, Elana, goes missing. To make it even more important to Van, he and Elana go back to their school days. The last Williard heard from Elana was that she was going to the woods of the Olympic Mountains with Kendrick Haymes, the heir to one of Seattle's wealthiest families. When Van arrives at the remote cabin where they were staying, he discovers a gruesome scene. A bear is outside mauling a dead man, and there is a murdered female inside the cabin. This starts a series of events in which Van attempts to explain what happened and why. What follows is a powerful and gritty, hard-edged thriller. The characters are believable and intriguing and the plot is tightly woven and plausible while maintaining a high interest level. The result is a mystery story full of thrills which is fast paced and held my interest throughout.

A solid second book in this seriesThe Van Shaw series is a delight to find. Reviewers often describe Shaw as a "Jack Reacher type", and while there are surface similarities, I find Shaw the more complex and rewarding character. While Reacher roams the country, never able to stay in one place, Van Shaw has returned to Seattle determined to make it home even though his prior life there was anything but ideal. Van Shaw is not an idealized Army veteran. He has moral gray areas from his early life, despite the Army life that helped him find a straighter path. He has morals and a code, but you can feel the tension in this character as his life puts him into situations where crooked beckons for what seems the straightest of reasons. I like this nuanced portrait of a Ranger veteran of modern war. It's neither stereotypical nor overdone, respectful but not cloyingly gung-ho. The plot, backstories, and supporting characters are well-done. Dialogue flows naturally. There's plenty of action that balances nicely with Van's more introspective moments. I'm looking forward to #3 due out this summer, and I've pre-ordered it, which I don't often do.

It's a special pleasure when an author's sophomore effort lives up to the promise of the first book. We met Van Shaw in Past Crimes when he was an Army Ranger walking a fine line between being AWOL and helping his grandfather, and now Van's back, out of the Army but still at loose ends. He's the kind of character who appeals to Jack Reacher fans and others who like a solid mystery with a stand-up hero, or in Van's case, edging toward skirting-the-law anti-hero. Ex-Sgt. Shaw is the kind of guy who you'd want at your back in a fight, and he doesn't let his friends down. I'm enjoying these action packed novels and look forward to more of Van Shaw's adventures in the Pacific NW. He clearly has enough sketchy people in his troubled past to provide plenty of suspense and excitement, the escape we all need right now.

The Van Shaw series this is the second of three books) is driven by an interesting main character. Shaw is an ex-Ranger who comes from a criminal family. His skill set from both aspects of his past is useful. At loose ends on leaving the military (honorably), looking for training work (executive survival, police training, etc.), looking to avoid the criminal past, Shaw is prone to get in trouble. In this case a long-term family friend has been killed, together with her well-connected but screwed up boyfriend. As Shaw noses around to find out whether the victims were suicides (sold by the young man's relatives) or murder victims, Shaw runs into some bad people. He is backed up by Leo, an old Army buddy at loose ends himself. The bad people come to realize that Shaw means very real and unforgiving trouble for them.

It's hard to put into words why I liked this book so much. I guess it's the way author, Glen Erik Hamilton characterizes Van Shaw. It does it through an economy of words and plenty of action. Shaw is a character in which you really can relate and sympathize. The supporting cast is also well done, portrayed as interesting and not too one dimensional. The mystery is good, but I have to admit a little anticlimactic and underwhelming. "Hard Cold Winter" moves fast, but the pace isn't too fast to not allow you to soak in the dialogue and wonder about the possibilities. Not just the possibilities of whodunit, but the possibilities of Van Shaw's actions and the consequences they bring.

A strong 4 stars. I like Hard Cold Winter even more than I like Past Crimes. A sophomore effort sometimes disappoints but not in this case. Good job, Mr. Hamilton.Nice to see characters from the first book: Willard; a brief appearance by Hollis; elderly neighbor Addy; and Detective Guerin. Two characters that I hope show up in future Van Shaw books: Leo and Elana. (view spoiler)[I thought Luce might not be the one; we'll see if Elana is. (hide spoiler)]Recommend: Yes to the series. I suggest you read Past Crimes first.