COLD FEAR

In this follow up to STEAL FEAR, Marlin Pike, aka Finn, is back in action. Set in Reykjavik Iceland, former Navy Seal Pike searches for associates from his past. Accused of war crimes from a mission gone wrong in Mukalla Yemen, Finn continues to look for answers and clear his name. Others don’t want those answers found.

By chance of odd timing, Finn gets caught up in a local crime involving Kateryna, a young Russian girl who is an au pair in training. She is found naked and dead under the ice in the duck pond. A delicate balance of hide and seek develops between Finn and Detective Krista Kristjánstdóttir and Kateryna’s sister Oksana.

Part police procedural, part revenge plotting and political intrigue, COLD FEAR has a nice straightforward storyline with good pacing. It has an excellent sense of place with interesting details about Iceland. It is complex but pleasant and exciting to read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Brandon Webb and John David Mann, and Bantam Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

This was an exciting continuation of Finn's story as he's still on the run for the incident in Yemen with the SEALs and still can't recall his memory on what really happened. Now he learns that three members of his SEAL team were sent to Iceland and he follows, trying to get answers. But the night he arrives, a young woman drowns in a lake and he's the only suspect in the area. And to make matters worse there's an assassin on his tail trying to keep him from finding out the truth.
I had a little trouble at the beginning with all the different characters being introduced but after that it was thrilling, pulse pounding action through most of the story. And the ending... just wow! I'm truly loving this series!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This was a masterful follow up to the first Finn Thriller, Steel Fear. It was a wild ride!

I was really rooting for Finn to finally solve the mystery of what happened to him during a covered-up Navy SEAL operation that ledt him disgraced and now hunted. His spotty recollections of that event leads him to Iceland to seek answers from former teammates.

While trying to track down the SEALS, Finn finds himself involved in the mysterious death of a young woman. All this while government agents, and others, are hunting him.

There were so many twists, and the action was so face-paced I finished this book in one day! I was totally invested in Finn getting his answers, and they were surprising!

I really enjoyed this second installment and am looking forward to the next!

Disgraced Navy SEAL Finn is on the run. He is wanted for events that happened on a botched mission in Yemen. Events that he can’t completely remember. Three members of his team were sent to Iceland, so Finn heads there to get information. While Finn is looking for those SEALs, someone else is looking for Finn.

The characters are well-developed and interesting. Cold Fear is told using the points of views of Finn, Krista, and Boone. Finn is looking for answers. Krista is a detective in Iceland working on a murder case. Boone is a contract killer after Finn.

This is the second book in the Finn Thrillers series. While Cold Fear can be read as a standalone, I recommend starting with the first book, Steel Fear.

Cold Fear is an exciting thriller with plenty of action.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Chief Finn is back and searching for answers. Last we saw Finn, he was on his way back to the US on an aircraft carrier, which was an amazing setting for a book. Finn is an amazing character with a shadowy past and even shadowier present. This adventure finds Finn in Iceland and on the trail of some of his former SEAL teammates. Yet, as the story unfolds, Finn gets pulled into a local murder mystery that will require the use of his special skills. I enjoyed diving deeper into Finn's past and this story is filled with new interesting characters. It also has more twists and turns than the first book. Overall, this is a great next step and I can't wait to see where Finn will end up next.

A thriller that takes place in Iceland from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve.. Meet Krista Kristiansdottir, police officer, who meets up with Finn, x-SEAL, who has flashback to an incident in Mukallar. Krista is persistent on finding who murdered the young woman [the body has disappeared en route to the morgue]. Finn is hunting for three American to get information on how ordered the Mukaller killings. These two threads are interwoven in this tale.
The authors have set the scene in cold, beautiful Iceland. One should be prepared to read non-stop.

This book was interesting. It took a few twist and turns I didn't expect. It did get slow in parts and I needed to stop and take a break.

“Christmas is special here. In Reykjavik, nothing bad ever happens at Christmas.”

Cold Fear is the second in the Finn thriller series. Last year authors Webb and Mann launched the first, Steel Fear, to widespread acclaim, and I loved it, too. My thanks go to Random House Ballantine and Net Galley for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now.

Our protagonist, Finn, is a singular fellow. A Navy Seal (like one of our authors,) he is currently on the run, being sought for questioning regarding war crimes that took place in Yemen. He doesn’t think he is guilty, but he isn’t sure; a large chunk of his memory of that time has vanished, leaving him—and us—slightly off balance. But Finn is a survivor, and now, in Iceland, three members of his own team are here too; he thinks they may have the information that he needs to fill in the gaps he can’t access. There’s another more worrisome person, an assassin, looking for him as well.

Meanwhile, a woman has been found dead, face up under the ice. Suicide has been suggested, but that notion quickly falls apart. When her body disappears from the morgue, the police kick into overdrive. Iceland has almost no crime of any kind, let alone murder, and so immediately, they begin eyeing the Americans in their midst, including Finn.

Finn is a memorable character. He’s funny looking, like a cross between a Gecko and E.T., and yet, thanks to his training, he can merge seamlessly into a crowd and be invisible. His traumatic childhood haunts him, but the authors don’t beat us to death with this aspect of his personality. To my delight, he is burdened with none of the overused tropes used by lesser authors such as alcoholism. He is not on a mission to avenge the deaths of people in his personal life, and he doesn’t get kidnapped and thrown in the trunk of a car or van. Bad guys don’t try to harm his family—of which there is none, in any case—or his pets. He doesn’t get neurotic and bite his lip till he tastes blood, or bunch his fists up so tightly that he cuts his palms with his own fingernails. Feel me? I have quite a list of things I never want to see in a novel again. This happens, once one reads over a thousand novels in this genre, and for awhile I quit the genre entirely, thinking that there was nothing new left to read. Webb and Mann have proven me wrong, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

One last word about setting. Though Finn is a resonant protagonist, the setting is more important here than in most thrillers; that was the case in Steel Fear, which was set on the aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and it’s true here, as well. The descriptions are resonant, but they don’t slow us down. This is a true thriller, with a pace that never flags.

I’m in this series for the duration. I also urge other women to ignore the promotions that boast that this is Alpha Male material. Last time I looked, I was an old lady school teacher, and I am all in. If you love a good thriller, I highly recommend both Finn books to you.

Navy Seal Finn is on the run and now he really needs to figure out what happened on that fateful night and how to clear his name relating to woman's drowning. This book just like the first "Steel Fear" will leave you on the edge of your seat. If possible please read the first book first before going into this one.

Chief Finn is still searching for Lt Kennedy’s killer and the truth that escapes his memory of that night. His journey takes him to Iceland, where he has to evade a killer sent to take him out, and a Police detective determined to prove his guilt in a local murder.

Get set for another whirlwind, full of action thriller, full of suspense and shocking twists in Cold Fear, the follow up to Steel Fear. Heart pounding and pulse racing, I was on the edge of my seat reading most of this book. I loved this one even more that the first, and it’s not my typical genre to read. Definitely 5 stars!

A gripping, suspenseful plot with plenty of action.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Peaceful Iceland is an unlikely spot for tragic murder and a covert military op.
“Cold Fear’ opens in the dark and the cold. Iceland is known as the land of ice and fire; in the summer it has the midnight sun, but now, in the winter, it is ice and darkness. How does anyone survive the winters here? Iceland is a place with few predators, no snakes, no poisonous spiders, and no mosquitos. In a “bad” year there is maybe one gunshot death in the whole country. Yet humans can be cruel and dangerous. Illegal drug trade is rampant, and the island has become a midway drop-off point for human traffickers. Into this land of beauty, contradictions, and cold, comes Finn.
The drama unfolds in two storylines. A young girl drowns on Christmas Eve; she is alone, cold, and frozen in the ice like a tragedy in a fairy tale. The police investigation starts out badly when the body disappears. However, Detective Krista Kristjánsdóttir is determined to find answers. She has no idea of the complex problems she will uncover.
Former SEAL Finn is thrown into this mix. He is posing as a “crime writer” to ferret out rogue operators, sent to Iceland on some sort of covert “capture and kill” mission. Finn has come to “fix things; he knows little if anything about the operatives or their target, but he must stop them. He is focused, methodical, and determined. Readers follow Finn as he unearths the tiniest clues and puts together information bit by tiny bit.
Pages are filled with vivid descriptions that enhance the narrative. The metal edge of the saw lets out a scream as it slices through the ice. The city is a ghost of itself, still and silent, the streets deserted. It is as if the city were lying very still, holding its breath. Fatigue moves through his veins like oil sludge.
“Cold Fear” is the second book in the “Finn thrillers” series, but this journey is its own story. It combines the precision and discipline of military action/adventure story with the nail-biting tension of a police-procedure thriller. It is a non-stop adventure from page one.
I received a review copy of “Cold Fear” from Brandon Webb, John David Mann, Random House Publishing Group, and Ballantine Books. I did a search online for Lapsang Souchong tea, and found that it is available from my favorite online tea merchant with a rating of 99 (out of 100). “Cold Fear” is now available in print, as an e-book, and on audio from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries, and anywhere you get your books.

Former Navy Seal Finn shows up in Iceland in pursuit of three of his former team members who are in Reykjavik on a covert op. Finn's unit was part of a massacre of civilians in Yemen. A massacre which Finn is blamed for but he has incomplete memories of the night it happened and is unsure if he played any part in it. While Finn is in pursuit of answers, another ex-Seal is in pursuit of Finn, whom he has been contracted to kill. On the night Finn arrives in Reykjavik, a young woman runs barefoot through the city and is found frozen in a pond with a message in lipstick written on her body.
Finn is desperate for answers that the covert ops team may hold about what happened in Yemen, but he also finds himself drawn to the mystery of the drowned girl. A no-nonsense police detective, Krista Kristjansdottir is investigating and finds herself working with Finn, even as she is unsure if she should trust him or arrest him. The intertwined plots, as Finn is both pursuing and being pursued on top of trying to figure out the mystery of the frozen girl's death work together brilliantly.

The promise that Webb & Mann showed in Finn's series debut, Steel Fear is fully realized in Cold Fear. The action is intense, the atmosphere draws you in, and the characters are incredible. Not only is Finn a fascinating lead character, with faulty memory and self-doubts, but the surrounding characters are fleshed out in a way that makes them worthy as either allies or adversaries and sometimes both. The suspense is sustained from beginning to end. Webb & Mann throw in surprises all along the way, but every answer feels earned and the climax is both exciting and satisfying.

Finn is an outstanding lead character and I would read an entire book just about Kristan Kristjansdottir. Two books in and I am a fan of this series and will put future installments at the top of my list. This is a treat for thriller and suspense fans and one of the best books I've read this year.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

Another enjoyable thriller from this pair of nonfiction writers. I really appreciate how the nonfiction instincts and past of the two authors influences the work. In the first book in the series Steel Fear, the authors added a lot of information about aircraft carriers. Here, they present a detailed portrait of Iceland. There are two competing plots. First, Finn returns to continue his search for answers from his forgotten past. Iceland is also dealing with a dead woman found underneath the ice of a pond. These plots remain mostly separated throughout the book, but the book moves quickly enough that it is not that much of an issue. I found a lot of the book to be very thrilling, especially the conversations between Finn and Detective Krista. Overall, a very enjoyable and different thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review of the book

AWOL Navy Seal Finn finds himself in Iceland, where he’s tracking the remaining members of his team who set him up to take the blame for a massacre in Yemen in Cold Fear, a superb follow up to Steel Fear. This action packed thriller has a duel plot, as Finn becomes entangled when the body of a young girl is found under a frozen lake. There’s lots going on here, but the authors do a great job of recapping every so often so the reader doesn’t get confused, and this can be read as a stand-alone, as there’s numerous “flashbacks” to the back story that brought Finn to Iceland. Great setting for a novel, intricate but clear plots and an intriguing cat and mouse game make this a standout novel. Definitely recommended. I received an arc of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Finn is on the run. He is seeking the answers to what happened in Mukalla one dreadful night when civilians were killed and he remembers nothing. His CO was murdered as well. He lands in Iceland having received word that a kill team is inbound. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian woman is found dead in an ice-encrusted pond, with a scar on her belly and a word scrawled on her stomach. And, a stone-cold killer is on his trail in order to obliterate any further connections between Finn and the actions in Mukalla. A police detective is investigating the murder of the young woman and she gets drawn into Finn's search, along with her partner. The action is nonstop and the reader gets some answers to Finn's background. Read this if you enjoy military techno adrenaline rush books.

This is the second novel in an exciting rogue military agent series. The first book is called Steel Fear and should really be read first to understand what happens in this novel.

Finn is on his own mission to find out who really did the massacre he is accused of doing. Iceland is a unique location for a novel like this and I found it particularly interesting. Webb and Mann have done a good job of immersing readers in the climate and culture of the country.

The authors have done a good job crafting Finn as an able hero. He gets into all kinds of suspenseful situations while chasing the truth of his past. We get a good dose of the kind of training SEALS endure, providing Finn with the ability to foil his attackers. He's a one man army. He comes under the scrutiny of a local police detective and he tries to help her solve a murder while keeping his real identity and mission secret.

The plot is quite complex with secret agents, rogue agents, and a person with a new way to threaten the world. It is not until near the end of the novel that all of the mysterious events come together to a suitable resolution. In the meantime, we get a good dose of how governments work, covering up errors to their own benefit and pressuring potential harm for acquiescence in further action.

I enjoyed this engaging novel once I got into it a bit and began to understand Finn's mission in Iceland. Readers will find this situation suitably handled but with Finn on the way to his next adventure.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Cold Fear, by authors Brandon Webb, John David Mann, is the second installment in the authors Finn Thrillers series. Navy SEAL sniper Finn searches for the truth after he can loses his memory of what happened during a mission gone horribly wrong in Yemen. Finn, whose memories of an atrocity that was committed by his own Black Squadron team, has gone AWOL (Absent Without Leave) and is now a fugitive. He escaped certain death in San Diego, and made his way to Iceland where he hopes he can find answers.

Four months after the night in Yemen, Finn is still trying to remember what happened and whether he is guilty of the crime. Someone thinks he is which is. He seeks answers from three members of his former team who have been deployed to Iceland. Finn's memories are so clouded in mystery, that he has no clue what the truth is, and what may be a figment of his own imagination. His mission is simple: track down the three corrupt SEALs and find out what really happened that night in Yemen.

But two problems stand in his way. On his first night in town, a young woman nicknamed Little Mermaid mysteriously drowns and a local detective suspects his involvement. What’s worse, a SEAL-turned-contract-killer with skills equal to his own has been hired to make sure he never gets the answers he’s looking for. And he’s followed Finn all the way to the icy north. Finn figures that he has 3 days to map, locate and track members of his team before his hunter tracks him down. When Finn wants to, he remembers every single detail which makes him a superb sniper.

Finn needs to know what really happened. He needs to know if he was responsible in anyway. He needs to know why his Commanding officer Lieutenant Kennedy was killed after promising to find answers. Finn knows that he is quarry now and that there are people in high places who have tried to silence him from asking too many questions and will likely try again. Which brings us to Senior Detective Krista Kritjansdoffier who is in the search for answers to why a young woman called little mermaid was stripped naked with writing on her stomach.

The young woman was allegedly training to be an au pair in places like New York City before she was found in a lake. Krista crosses paths with Finn after it seems as though he may have the answers she needs to solve a slew of crimes. Krista believes Finn knows more than he is saying, and when more bodies start piling up, Krista would love nothing more to arrest Finn, and lock him away for life. When brutal murders began to occur in the peaceful and basically crime-free city, the police force went on high alert, with the lead detective mostly flying solo, determined to find answers to the death of the young girl, as well as the other killings.

Which brings me to Boone. Boone is a psychopath who is also hunting Finn's team in order to shut them up from telling what happened in Yemen and who was to blame. But his biggest target is Finn who he missed when the Lincoln made port in San Diego. Thanks to Finn getting a warning from a colleague that trouble was waiting for him, he was able to sneak away. Boone does some things in this book that may be troubling for certain readers, but he's probably the most worthy villain that Finn will face in the near future.

Readers need to get past the fact that Finn's memory is faulty thus an unreliable narrator at times. Several traumatic events have caused his mind to block out happenings from his youth and from the day atrocities were committed in Yemen. Although a whole lot of questions have been answered, the authors fail to reveal to the readers who was actually responsible for the order that led to a massacre in Yemen and Finn being blamed.

You don't have to read Steal Fear to enjoy this one since the author does a good job of reminding you of past events. I do believe that you will want to read the next installment to see if the authors will lay the actual truth out of what really happened.

Once again Webb and Mann keep us on the edge as Finn, a disgraced navy seal wanted for war crimes, continues to search for answers. Why can’t he remember what happened on that fateful mission in Yemen? In Cold Fear we find Finn in Iceland where he’s searching for three other men that were on that mission. Will they be able to provide him with the answers he seeks or is he putting his life in even deeper peril. It’s a race against time as others are following Finn. He has very little time, but finds himself in the midst another investigation of the mysterious death of a young woman found under the ice naked. A woman he saw moments before her death. A fast paced compelling thriller.

Another roller coaster ride with a plot full of twists and turns. Finn just wants to find out what happened in Yemen. He remembers some of it, but there is so much that just won't come to him. Did he kill all those people? He is in Iceland to track down 3 men who might give him some answers. While tracking them down, Finn is being tracked. Who is behind all of this? What is real?