thriller, national-park, prosthetics, artifact, art-theft, Park Ranger, Park Service, amputee, investigations, investigators, detective, unputdownable, smuggling, law-enforcement, suspense, Alaska, crime-fiction, action, FBI, murder, Florida, everglades, undercover, environmental, eco-systems, adventure, avalanche, determination, dramatic, disappearance, due-diligence*****

Alaska Thread: Agent Michael Walker is tracking a smuggling ring when he's sent to Glacier Bay National Park to investigate theft of Tlingit artifacts from museums. The glaciers are slowly melting causing new environmental problems and a group of students looking into climate effect on the Glacier suddenly disappear during avalanche.
Florida Thread: FBI special Agent Gina Delgado is investigating the murder of an environmentalist in the Everglades which eventually ties in with the Alaskan investigations.
There is lots of real science used in the story and the whole is fascinating and too close to plausible.
I requested and received a temporary copyrighted uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Pub Date Apr 29, 2025
#ColdBurn by Jon Land; Jeff Ayers; A. J. Landau #NationalParksThrillerBk2 @stmartinspress @minotaur_books #NationalParkConservationAssnTeams @goodreads @bookbub @Kobo @librarythingofficial #MysteryThriller @barnesandnoble @waterstones ***** Review @booksamillion @bookshop_org #Suspense @bookshop_org_uk #WeatherThreats #Smuggling

Cold Burn with its many subplots that gradually merge to create an ending that is mysterious and Satisfying but very intense along the way, is a challenging read with hopes that this situation never materializes in our world today.

Title: Cold Burn by Jon Land; Jeff Ayers; A.J. Landau
Genre: Thriller
Pub Date: April 29, 2025

Mysteries at National Parks
Multiple POV
#OperationColdBurn
Climate Discussion
Disabled Detective MMC

📖 Agent Michael Walker is battling smugglers when he's sent to Glacier Bay National Park. A team of scientists has vanished, and their disappearance signals the start of a potential global catastrophe. Walker must unravel the mystery before it's too late.

If you enjoy multiple POV, Sci-Fi vibes with a lot of scientific jargon and police/Detective crime novels, I think you'd like this one!

Have you ever read a book that had a whole section that seemed unnecessary? I felt this a couple times. Sometimes the multiple POV made it feel like we were going on side quests, and there's a lot of added information/science which felt mildly confusing/disjointed. Too much science for my (and many others) attention span.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
Intriguing plot with mystery and a bit of science fiction.
First part a little hard to sort until everything is tied together as the book goes on.

The glaciers are slowly melting, releasing organisms left behind in the permafrost. A billionaire seeks a new fuel source to send the first shuttle to Mars. Agent Michael Walker is investigating the theft of artifacts from museums. This leads him deep into danger as multiple people search for the secrets of the past.

Book 2 did not disappoint!

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent mystery with an amazing beginnings.
FBI special Agent Gina Delgado is investigating the death of an Env Sci intern in the
Everglades, as National Park Inv Michael Walker is looking into the theft of priceless
native Alaskan artifacts from a museum in Glacier Bay while at the same time, a group
of students looking into climate effect on the Glacier suddenly disappear during am
avalanche.
The three stories seem unrelated until the threads start getting pulled in to the fabric
of the story and it rapidly becomes fascinating and totally riveting reading.
As the connection begins to surface, and the story takes on a life of its own.
Great suspense and action with charact4ers who are strong, totally relatable and
extremely interesting.
Will be watching for the next story by these.

4 stars

Another exciting entry into the Michael Walker and Gina Delgado series. They are both National Park Rangers. They investigate nefarious doings in National Parks.

But, Michael is sent to Alaska to investigate stolen Tlingit artifacts, Gina has a dead body on her hands in the Florida Everglades. How these two investigations come together is well planned and written.

I really appreciate that the authors showed the Tlingit culture the respect it is due. It is always refreshing to see details like this woven into the story line of the novel.

We have heroes and a megalomaniacal billionaire set to conquer the world. Can our two Rangers stop him before disaster strikes? I recommend this to anyone who likes adventure, thrillers and non-stop drama.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Cold Burn by Jon Land; Jeff Ayers; A. J. Landau is the second in the National Park Thriller series. Agent Michael Walker returns, this time to Alaska where he is involved in finding out why an entire submarine crew died for no reason and a group of students disappear also. Then, in the Everglades, Agent Gina Delgado is involved in the murder of a student intern. As the two cases become intertwined, both agents rush to figure out why everyone is dying.

Are you in the mood for your next thriller? Pick up Cold Burn. You won’t regret reading this book. It was great.

At first, I was not sure what I thought of this book, as there were so many different plots that it seemed like overkill. There are several plots (deadly microbe, miracle fuel source) that could easily support a full-length story of its own. However, as the story progressed, the plots began to tie together better. It was an interesting approach to have National Park Service Investigator Michael Walker spend the story in Alaska, while FBI Special Agent Gina Delgado spent much of the story in Florida (although she ends up in Alaska as well), with their separate missions intersecting in very unexpected ways. I liked the mix of science (microbiology, ocean temperatures, freezing from the inside it, antibodies), history (changes in territorial control in Alaska, relations between the indigenous people and the US government), culture (Tlingits), and politics.

This was a fantastic read! I love a meaty book and this one was stuffed with so much goodness.

I’m an avid reader of suspense set in Alaska and was impressed right from the start at how quickly I was immersed in the location.

I also love to learn as I read and this one was packed with knowledge of life in Alaska and facts about Glacier Bay. Learning more about locations I’ve been to makes reading more enjoyable for me.

The characters were amazing - unique, well-rounded, and intriguing!

I think the thing that stood out to me the most was how much of the Tlingit culture was incorporated into the story. I appreciated the attention to their language, customs, and their struggle.

If I were to point out three things that irritated me they would be:

(1) that it took quite a while before the two threads (Alaska and Florida) were united. I’d almost given up by chapter 40.
(2) that it felt like the author was beating a dead animal with his repetition of facts. Yes, I even eye-rolled as I read. It wasn’t just once or twice, but multiple times. Overkill.
(3) that the facts immediately below the chapter titles took my focus away from the story and disrupted the flow. More often than not, they didn’t contribute to the chapter.

Regardless, this was a great, tension-filled read about a potential global disaster set in a part of the world I love to visit.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Cold Burn joins the pantheon of spectacular sequels in the genre. I wasn't sure if the team of Land and Ayers could up the ante in their second Walker and Delgado adventure, but I'm happy to report they did. This time our protagonists must combat a threat to the entire world in this action packed tale. Cold Burn takes place in locations as dissimilar as Alaska and the Florida Everglades. It grabs your attention from the start and the pacing is pitch perfect. I was really happy to see the respect the authors paid to the indigenous people of Alaska throughout this terrific thriller. It's a major part of why Cold Burn works on every level. I'm already looking forward to the next entry in the series. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, & NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you’re fan of Nevada Barrs’ books about a crime solving ranger in America’s national parks. You’ll love this book by Jon Land. With two park rangers investigating crimes in Glacier National Park and Everglades national Park, this is a book that will appeal to both mystery lovers and outdoor aficionados