Thrilling and so creepy! This author is a guarantee of a solid read, this is my favorite from them yet. The atmosphere was the highlight of this book for me, just delicious.

Instead of a who-done-it the reader is faced with who-is-currently-doing-it. A heart-racing, survival in the rockies thriller leaves you shocked. When I thought I had everything figured out, I found out I was so wrong. Darcy Coates once again crafts a captivating story that you just can't put down. Dead of Winter is a must read.

389 pages

4 and 1 / 2 stars

What a high tension thrill ride!

Imagine that you are on a bus on your way to a remote lodge high in the Rocky Mountains in the midst of winter. It is snowing. A tree is down across the road. There is a delay in removing it, so you and your boyfriend take a walk. You get disoriented and separated. It is snowing harder. You eventually wind up in an abandoned cabin with the other riders on your bus.

Things go wrong. People start dying. One of your group is a murderer.

I have read books with a similar premise before, but this is definitely the definitive novel about this topic. I became obsessed with Christa’s journey through her terror-filled incarceration by snow. Just when I thought I had a grasp on the killer, I was proven wrong.

Ms. Coates has written a superlative novel. I believe I like this one the best so far. The characters are so well drawn. The dialogue is great. I felt as though I was there listening to everyone speak. Their emotions and actions were so very real. I would have melted into a puddle on the floor, too afraid to even move or speak up. I was casting about looking for clues along with Christa, hoping to figure out the murderer. Hoping that Christa and the others made it out.

The characters were such a variety: personality types, jobs and so on. It was great. This is a well written and plotted novel. I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes to be scared (by reading), or likes high-tension psychological thrillers.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

It’s 11:05pm on a Wednesday before my 4:00am alarm goes off for work…

How will I ever fall asleep?

Can I sleep?

No, it’s unlikely .

First, I will check to make sure the windows are shut, then double lock the doors before checking under the bed once… I mean twice .

Darcy Coates, after reading every single one of your previous publications, you would think I would have learned, but I haven’t .

Gosh darn it, I adore your little black soul !

I love Darcy Coates, I know that’s bizarre. Who loves being plunged into darkness and have the bejezus scared out of them?

Me. Me. Me!

I should have known not to start this book so late but I also knew I couldn’t sleep knowing it was on my shelf so of course I began…

If you have read a Coates book before you know that you are about to be put on a ride of your life. No chance to catch your breath in between those soul clenching twists. The development is quick but also holds depth . The characters are executed with precision and everything feels so lifelike you might as well be standing within the pages .

This book is an easy sell, you won’t be disappointed, you’ll become an easy fan and you will find yourself up late into the night also second guessing another peek under the bed .

4.5⭐️

From the first chapter of this book I could not put it down.

Christa and her boyfriend are heading up the snowy Rocky Mountains for a retreat. When a storm blows in their forced to take shelter in a abandoned cabin. When they find their guide dead the next day they realized. Someone in their group is the killer.

This book had me in a choke hold!! This is my first Darcy Coates book but she has turned into one of my favorite thriller authors.

You couldn’t decide who was guilty. No one stands out. Once you think you have it figure out. The books goes in a completely different direction.
This book is gruesome in all of the good ways. She makes you want to keep reading by keeping you on the edge of your seat.
You don’t see the ending coming with her book. I was pleasantly surprised and loved the ending.

10/10 recommend

On a group tour bus into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, Christa is hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Terrified and isolated, does everyone in the group have what it takes to survive until help arrives?

Dead of Winter is Darcy's step into spine tingling thrillers with her signature horror twist. The tension is masterfully built to an epic conclusion that as a seasoned thriller reader did not see coming. The layers of this locked room read are thick, directing you every single way and playing on natural human fear to make this one of Darcy's best yet. Dead of Winter has a very slasher vibe too, being quite brutal in its violent descriptions of death, keeping that horror aspect we all love from Darcy. But if gore and violent depictions of death are not your thing, this one may not be for you. This is perfect for fans of the author, and for all thriller fans old and new. Set for release on the 11th of July, 2023 - this is definitely one to add to your preorder list!

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and Darcy Coates for an advanced copy to review.

5.0 ⭐

Thank you to NetGally for the arc, in exchange for an honest review 📚.

Eight strangers. One murderer. Trapped in the middle of nowhere.

Oooo this is a different look for Darcy Coates, and I am loving it. Her supernatural horror books are always terrifying, and I expected no less from this.

This was an exceptional thriller. Fast-paced with lots of twists and turns.

I THOUGHT I KNEW WHO THE KILLER WAS LIKE SIX TIMES BUT IT WAS NEVER RIGHT.

If you have to take a break in the middle of reading a thriller because you're freaking out, that's how you KNOW it's good.

I highly recommend reading this book!

I will posting a review of this book on my Instagram, Goodreads and TikTok accounts in June. My handle for all of these medias is "Tahliareadstoomuch".

Hold on to your seat thriller!
When Christa agrees to visit a nearly abandoned resort in the winter with her boyfriend she really isn't sure what she is getting into. Worse, the bus with the tour breaks down in the middle of a blizzard. It becomes clear, very quickly, that somewhat is out to hurt the tour.

Coates does a fantastic job upping the tension and you can actually feel the cold breeze and snow while you read. As she slowly layers in more of the story you try to determine what is happening and why. It's a perfect winter thriller! #PoisonedPenPress #DeadofWinter #DarcyCoates

Christa, along with the rest of her tour group is stranded in the Colorado Rockies in a raging blizzard. The hunting cabin where they are taking shelter is too small for the group, and tempers flare as fears rise. The morning after they stake their claim on the cabin, they discover the severed head of their tour group leader impaled on a tree. It would seem that one of their party is a killer, but which one? As the number of victims rises, Christa knows she can’t trust anyone and this might very well be her final resting place. Agatha Christie started the “cut off from civilization with a killer of the loose premise” and Coates does a good job ramping up the fear and the claustrophobia factor. A must read for a long winter night

3.5
Darcy Coates comes through with another fine book. Though I feel like I kind of had some parts figured out early on, there were other parts that still surprised me. This is fast paced and pretty intense. More of a thriller than a horror though.
I thoroughly enjoyed the dread and the atmosphere of this novel.

This newest Darcy Coates book was a fast paced thriller that I couldn’t put down! Think “And Then There Were None” vibes with the style we’ve all grown to know and love from Ms. Coates. It was gripping until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poison Press for allowing me the chance to receive an ARC for this book and for the opportunity to read it and review it.

Darcy Coates books are like my comfort read because they are terrifying but you always love the protagonist. Wholesome girls in terrifying situations who are too trusting and somehow end up figuring stuff out.
This book was anything but comforting. The protagonist fit my expectations (I was so glad) but the scenario was my literal worst nightmare. Imagine being trapped in a tiny cabin with 9 or so strangers and they are being brutally killed off and hung from trees. It is storming and cold and you are afraid to run out of food. I would probably faint and make it easy for the murderer to get me. Luckily book protagonists aren't weak like that.
This book keeps getting more tense and then we get to the end and OMG I kind of wondered because this is my genre but I was still so shocked.
Thank you for the ARC. It made my day.

Christa and the strangers...lost in the winter...a killer is among them. Who will be next? Solving the puzzle of this intriguing mystery is not easy. This author is talented and gifted at writing a cannot put down thriller. This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher and the author for this copy. I kept wondering what would happen next...red herrings threw me off the trail of the killer. Guessing just did not work for me. I had to think about who and what and when...enjoy this novel. It would make a great television series. Some parts of the book are horrific, and I skimmed over those details…they could have been less gruesome.

Good book! A bit gruesome but very good! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, Murder, serial killer, mystery and so many crazy twists and turns and absolutely crazy who done it! Shocking and I never would have guessed! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I made the mistake of starting this book when I couldnt sleep one night..... and after I started, there was absolutely no chance I'd be sleeping any time soon. I've read a lot of books about people stranded in a cabin with a killer hut this is easily the best version of the story I've ever read. The twists do not stop coming. The book starts on a high and continues to keep up the pace throughout. And omg, reading this after dark had me terrified someone was about to burst into my bedroom. It is so so creepy! The tension is build steadily throughout, its not gory or relying on shock value, it just taps into those base human fears we all have and has every hair on your body standing on end. The characters were all really original and well written, the behaviours all made sense and weren't people running into danger just so they could be murdered. I was completed sucked in and held my breath more times than I can count. This will easily be one of the best books I've read this year. It's not a light domestic noir, this is one of those books that has you on the edge of your seat and you can't help but read through one more chapter. If you like mystery, thriller, horror, suspense or anything in between.... this is a must read.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.