Reviewed by funstm on
But I hated the main character. Erika is completely unlikable and made me feel deeply uncomfortable. She hits a child across the face. In the first bit of the book. Apart from her brashness and cruelness with both witnesses and colleagues - I can't get over hitting a child. What kind of bloody cop is she? It's not like this was based in the 70's. It's set after 2014. No police officer should respond with belting a kid across the face.
Erika went to lift the little boy off her suitcase, but he leaned over and sank his teeth into the back of her hand. The intensity of the pain surprised her. ‘Let go, now,’ said Erika, trying to keep calm. He looked up at her with a nasty grin, and bit down even harder. Intense pain shot through her hand and she snapped, slapping him hard across the face. He screamed, releasing Erika’s hand, and fell off the suitcase, hitting the ground with a thud.
Bryndza, Robert. The Girl in the Ice: A gripping serial killer thriller (Detective Erika Foster Book 1) (p. 62). Bookouture. Kindle Edition.
It just made me sick. Yes he bit her but she hits him so hard he falls off the suitcase. I don't understand how so many other reviewers seem to have overlooked it. She seems to spend a lot of time going off half-cocked and it just irritated me. I got tired of it. I'm glad I haven't purchased the rest of the books in the series because I won't be obligated to continue reading.
The rest of the characters are pretty flat. Moss and/or Peterson would be the best of the lot. Marsh started out decent and then become a complete prick. Sparks just disappears. And the rest float through with no real purpose than to provide scenery. The procedural itself was well written but was hampered by a lacklustre cast and a completely unlikable heroine.
I'll keep an eye out for other works by this author but further Detective Erika Foster books - I'm taking a hard pass. 1.5 stars, rounded down to 1.
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- 16 February, 2020: Reviewed