I read the first National Park Thrillers book about a year ago and loved every second of it! I found the exact same to be true about this book!

I thought the entire book was incredibly well researched. I thought the inclusion of the Tlingit tribe added valuable insight to a lesser known tribe and their culture/tension over their land being taken.

I thought the characters were easy to connect to. They were all likable (other than the antagonists). I also really enjoyed the plot. I thought the whole premise of Project Cold Burn was really interesting and the far spread effects were fascinating, but also terrifying. I literally could not put the book down once Project Cold Burn was introduced.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. I think it has things in it for everyone. It has history, culture, suspense, mystery, there's so much. This book was amazing!

4 stars

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and this newest installment fits right in to this thus far solid collection.

Agent Michael Walker is back to investigate some suspicious deaths in conjunction with what seems like it could be the start of another addition to the Jurassic Park canon! He's an intriguing character on his own, though I often wish we were getting even a bit deeper into him, and the unfolding events make for a nicely paced and engaging ride. There are national and international concerns, connections to science and nature (of course), and many opportunities to learn (but in a fun way)!

This is such a readable series, and I'm already looking forward to what comes next from these authors.

I discovered this series last year and enjoyed it very much, where the storylines are centered around crimes in National Parks across the country. Michael Walker, Special Agent of ISB, which is kind of like the FBI for the National Park Services, and Gina Delgado, Special Agent of the actual FBI, are both back, and initially, are investigating two different crimes: one in the Florida everglades and the other in the Alaskan territory of the native Tlingits, who are very distrustful of outsiders, especially any government representative. There is another storyline of retrieving the bodies of the crew members of a sunken submarine. Needless to say, there is a lot going on here.

The book summary is pretty vague and just basically introduces the three different storylines. As Michael and Gina begin their separate investigations, it’s not long before it’s revealed that climate change is at the center of both of their cases. Shortly thereafter, Gina is assigned to the investigation of the deaths of the crew of the sunken submarine and is off to AK. It’s there that she catches up with Michael, and the two of them realize that all their cases and the deaths of the sub crew are all connected.

It’s well into the second half that Michael and Gina realize that an event that is the result of climate change is the connection between all three of the incidents. There are scores of frozen fish washed ashore, a defrosted wooly mammoth and the plight of the crew members of the sunken submarine, add in a dreaded Russian sub in the area and scores of Russian hitmen stalking a glacier near the Tlingits village, and you have a really interesting story depicting the dangers of climate change as well as the extent that greed and corruption has infected a few people in power.

The continuing character development of Michael and Gina was good to see. The pacing was steady to fast and never seemed to drag, at least not for me. I enjoyed all the passages about how climate change affected the way of life for both mammals and sea creatures. The writing was well done and, once again, enjoyed the educational passages as well. Don't know if the info provided is accurate but it seems feasible. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.3 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley, St Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

NetGalley #StMartinsPress #ColdBurn

Glacier Bay National Park, Everglades National Park, and a US Geological Survey team at both locations. There's also a submarine, stolen Tlingit artifacts, dead fish, climate change, and a billionaire intent on finding a way to get to Mars. The question is, what do all these items have in common? At first, it feels like there are several story lines going on, until Walker and Delgado realize what is happening and work to stop it. The action and mysteries will have you turning the pages to see what will happen next and how it all ties together.

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

An exciting thriller set in National Parks in Florida and Alaska. National Parks Investigative Agent Michael Walker and FBI Special Investigator Gina Delgado have their separate assignments but several odd developments tie their cases together and once again, they find themselves fighting to save the world as we know it. Quite an intriguing and complex plot which I thoroughly enjoyed. There is a lot of respect shown for Native Americans, their history and culture, which I appreciate. Each chapter leads off with interesting information and historical facts about the land and parks. This book reminded me of Marc Cameron's Marshall Arliss Cutter series set in Alaska, which I also highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new thriller via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own. I will look forward to more books to come in this series.

I had a hard time finishing this book. It had a lot going on. I found the premise of the mysterious contagion and the eco disasters fascinating, and the disconnected stories were pulled together well. However, the military, Russian, and governmental involvements turned me off.

Thank you St. Martin's Press/ Minotaur Book and Netgalley. I truly do appreciate the opportunity.

I felt like their were 3 different plots in one book. It just got way to confusing for me. The premise of this book sounded so interesting to me. The amount of research going into this book though was amazing and it really shows how much this book means to the author if they are doing that much research. However I felt like I was reading a textbook. For me there were just to many plots and got way to confusing for me to continue reading.

If this book sounds interesting to you I would read it just to see if you like it or not. Some people will find this book interesting and some people won't. That's just being a reader. You like books that some other people might not like.

Happy Reading!!!!

Slow Burn by A.J. Landau this is the second book in the National Parks Thriller series, sadly for me I wish I could say this was a DNF, but I struggled all the way through it to the very end. For me this was a disjointed book, jumping from here to there constantly and I just could not get interested in the story line. Having said that I would still recommend to others because I know not everyone enjoys the same writing style.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

COLD BURN, the second book of the National Park series, and has sufficient backstory than can also be read as a standalone. The story follows Michael Walker, a National Park Service Investigator dispatched to Alaska where an entire team of scientists has gone missing. Simultaneously, Gina Delgado, a special FBI investigator, is sent to a sunken US nuclear submarine where the whole crew has been killed. Unbelievably, these two seemingly unrelated situations are linked, and the book will reveal how their paths intersect.

This book is action-packed, taking you from the coastal towns of Alaska to the Everglades in Florida and ramping up in many directions. The plot, meticulously crafted, is a web of intrigue. The characters are well-defined, and the narrative is filled with building suspense and unexpected twists. It's an engaging and thought-provoking read, and your curiosity will be piqued, especially following certain sections of the book. Fans of Michael Crichton will find it a satisfying read. Highly recommended!

I am grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy of this book. I extend my thanks to both Jon Land and Jeff Ayers for this thrilling read. This was my first experience with your books, and I am now eager to delve into LEAVE NO TRACE, the series' first book. I am also eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series!

Cold Burn is the kind of book that grabs you by the parka and tosses you into the middle of the action—no warm-up, no backstory breather, just GO. It’s the second installment in the National Parks Thriller series, and while it technically works as a standalone, reading the first book will definitely help connect the dots a little more smoothly.

This is a classic high-octane adventure story with a modern twist. We’re talking a morally bankrupt tech billionaire with delusions of grandeur, a looming environmental disaster far messier than the talking heads let on, and a Cabinet secretary whose qualifications (or lack thereof) would be laughable if they weren’t so believable. Add in some rogue Russian military power plays, and you’ve got yourself a thriller that feels eerily timely.

The plot is sprawling—threading storylines from across the U.S. into one tangled web—and while it’s impressive how it all comes together, the ending felt a little too quick and over-the-top to fully land. Still, the pace is relentless, and the blend of national park backdrops with real-world issues and cutting-edge tech keeps things interesting.

If you’re in the mood for a popcorn thriller that reads like a mix of action movie and political drama, this is a solid pick. It might not break new ground, but it delivers the kind of adventure that doesn’t ask you to slow down—just buckle up.

This fast paced, quick read is the second book in the National Parks Thriller series. Great characters, a well paced plot and intriguing information about the national parks and the indigenous people of Alaska. This can easily be read as a stand alone but since it features the same characters as the first book it helps with background to read "Leave No Trace" first. Both books are highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced reader copy.

A multitude of characters and government agencies complicated the narrative, making it challenging to discern the plot’s progression. Despite the author’s frequent jumping around, the action-packed plot kept me engaged. Overall, I found the book to be average.

This review is entirely voluntary and reflects my personal opinions.

Cold Burn by A. J. Landau (aka Jon Land, Jeff Ayers) is a highly recommended investigative thriller and climate science fiction novel. Cold Burn, following 2024's Leave No Trace, is the second book in their National Park Series.

National Park Service investigator Michael Walker is investigating the theft of artifacts when the case takes a fatal turn and becomes more mysterious. Then he is called to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska to look for a team of missing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists. FBI investigator Gina Delgado works on the case of a body found in Florida’s Everglades National Park. The body is discovered to be a USGS intern, but before she can wrap up the case, she is called to the scene of a sunken U.S. nuclear submarine where the entire crew has inexplicably been killed. Eventually all the action leads back to one man.

Chapters in the novel switch between multiple locations and characters with no connections in sight, which can feel disconcerting at first. Readers may be tempted to set the novel aside, but keep with it and everything will sort itself out. The mystery deepens as the action accelerates, connections begin to appear, and the tension increases up to a global scale. As in the first book in the series the antagonists are identified early on but this time all the various story lines are intriguing.

This is the second book in the series but it can be read as a standalone. Reading Leave No Trace, however, will provide more background information about the characters which helps with their development and portrayal as individuals. The focus is on the action rather than the parks. Expect to have to suspend disbelief along the way, with some lecturing on social/political topics included. 3.5 rounded up

Cold Burn will be appreciate by readers who like action-packed novels. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Started a little slow, but took off quickly into a one more chapter read. Multiple POV and locations, weaving together a great mystery. All take place within the National Park Service locations in the Everglades and Alaska, likable characters trying to solve a murder and missing people that leads to fast paced adventure and detective work. A thank you to St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was another excellent thriller starring National Park Investigator Michael Walker and FBI Agent Gina Delgado. When the story begins, Michael is in Alaska trying to track down smugglers of Native artifacts and Gina is in Florida looking into the death of young man associated with the US Geological Survey.

Michael learns, after the people he was shadowing were murdered, that there was a mysterious substance in many of the artifacts he was tracking. Gina learns that the USGS in the Florida Everglades were experimenting with the water temperature to ease global warming. They were also using a mysterious substance.

Another viewpoint character in the story is multi-billionaire Alex Cole who will do anything to fulfill his dream of going to Mars and who sees the mysterious substance as the key to his successful journey. And still another viewpoint character is a Russian general who wants to take over Russia and return it to what he sees as its glorious past.

Since the mysterious substance has the potential to wipe out vast quantities and species of life, Michael and Gina need to find a way to stop the Russians from weaponizing it, the billionaire from misusing it, and elements from within the government from using it for political gain. Michael is aided by a Tlinglit microbiologist who got wealthy for her discoveries and has come home to her village in Alaska.

I liked this story very much. It was packed with action. One quibble is that a number of chapters ended with the viewpoint character making a discovery but not saying what it was until their viewpoint chapter came around again. It did add to the suspense, but I still found it annoying.

Fans of ecothrillers will enjoy this one.

Cold Burn is a fast moving story that jumps between a murder in the Everglades and mysterious deaths in Alaska. The book starts a bit slow with multiple locations, but it all comes together after a few chapters. What a great story, but also a little scary if it could really happen. I haven't read the first book but will now because I liked the characters and authors.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy of this book.

A big thank you to St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

What a fun and fascinating read! It was fast-paced and I could hardly put it down. Fortunately, the characters were all easily identifiable so there wasn’t confusion. I appreciated how the story weaved multiple locations and characters together.

I’m looking forward to reading more from this author and sharing this book with family and friends.

with multiple POVs and locations, which kept things moving and made the mystery feel bigger and more urgent. There’s a ton of science in the story — especially around the strange deaths — and honestly, I spent half the time wishing I was smart enough to crack the case alongside the characters. (Spoiler: I wasn’t. But I definitely pretended I was part of the team.)

If you like a mix of science, suspense, and that eerie feeling of nature turning against you, this one's a good pick.

Gina Delgado and Michael Walker are back in action in Cold Burn. The pair literally saved America in the first book in the National Park series, the edge of your seat thriller Leave No Trace. In this National Parks tense thriller Gina, now assigned to the White House, is sent to the Everglades to investigate the death of an intern working for the USGS. Michael, an investigator for the National Park Service, meanwhile is in Sitka, Alaska, shadowing a family of expected smugglers of native Alaskan artifacts from museums in the national parks. Simultaneously, a state of the art US navy submarine is on a test cruise under Alaskan waters and is accidentally damaged causing it to sink to the ocean floor. Rescue efforts lead to a shocking finding that eventually connects Gina and Michael’s investigations.

Michael’s case takes an unexpected twist when he is about to arrest the smugglers a man appears who shoots the wife and husband carrying the contraband. After a deadly showdown with the shooter Michael recovers the stolen artifact and discovers a its filled with an unknown substance that was the actual reason for the smuggling. Gina’s investigation leads to a USGS researcher leading a team looking to find ways to reduce water temperatures in the southern waters as climate change is a threat to rising waters threatening coastlines.

Once the two seemingly different events, thousands of miles apart, begin uncovering scientific evidence that convince Gina and Michael that someone is stealing and testing this mysterious mineral that is destroying ecosystems in both Alaskan waters and the Florida Everglades. Interestingly Gina and Michael are never together in the book. Evidence, investigative findings, and observations are done by phone. Their shared information is enough for them to unravel a conspiracy, corruption, an unscrupulous billionaire, a foreign power attempting to take over control of the mineral, and a connection to a corrupt politician who was at the center of the first book in the series. How all this comes together makes for an exciting read.

Note that Cold Burn is full of scientific research sections explaining to the reader the way the mysterious mineral came to be, how it has “lived,” undiscovered in the cold Alaskan environment for millions of years on an island that belongs to the Tlingit tribe that has been victimized by the United States for decades. The science background is informative but skimming it won’t diminish your enjoyment of the book. However the history and culture of a proud native Alaskan tribe should be read by all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review Cold Burn. It was time well spent.

DNF at 50%. This just wasn't for me. Way too cerebral, I felt like I was reading a textbook instead of a thriller. I just couldn't do it. Respect to the authors for the amount of research that must have gone into this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.