Review: Ice by Linda Howard

Posted January 7, 2011 by Holly in Reviews | 4 Comments

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Holly‘s review of Ice by Linda Howard.

Gabriel McQueen has only just arrived home on holiday leave from the service when his county-sheriff father sends him back out again with new marching orders. A brewing ice storm, and a distant neighbor who’s fallen out of contact, have the local lawman concerned. So he enlists Gabriel to make the long haul to the middle of nowhere, and make sure Lolly Helton is safe and sound. It’s a trip the younger McQueen would rather not make given the bitter winter weather–and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly.

But there’s no talking back when your dad is the town’s top cop. And there’ s no turning back when night falls just as Gabriel arrives–and discovers that the weather outside isn’t the only thing that’s frightful. Spotting strangers in Lolly’ s home–one of them packing a weapon–is all it takes to kick Gabriel into combat mode. And his stealth training is all he needs to extract Lolly from the house without alerting her captors. But when the escape is discovered, the heat–and the hunt–are on. And the winter woods are nowhere to be once the ice storm touches down, dropping trees, blocking roads, and trapping the fleeing pair in the freezing dark.

Linda Howard has steadily been going downhill with her more recent releases. When Ice was first published I chose not to read it because a) I was disappointed in LH as a whole and b) it was really expensive as a hardcover for the size. Recently it became available at my library, however, so I decided to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised.

Although light on romance, it seemed more of an early Howard novel. The same tension, suspense and drama from her earlier works were here, along with witty dialogue and an interesting setting. The page count didn’t lend itself to much, but Howard made do with what she had. Because of the small page count the lack of full HEA at the end (it was more a HFN – let’s see where this goes – type of thing) worked well. It didn’t take long to become full invested in the plight of Lolly and Gabriel. It helped that they weren’t fighting their attraction while fighting for their lives.

Gabriel’s feelings toward Lolly seemed rather extreme at the beginning of the novel. It had been what, 11 years since he’d last seen her? But still he judged her harshly based on her actions then. Especially since, in all fairness, much of her attitude could be blamed on him and the way he’d constantly teased her. It was good to see him move past that before the meat of the story took hold.


Lolly was cool-headed in the face of extreme circumstances. She accepted Gabriel’s help without question and followed his lead, knowing he had more experience than she did in dealing with outdoor survival and the criminal element. At times she was almost too calm and cool. Considering the circumstances and the quiet life she lived. In the end I was impressed with the way she handled herself.

No, this isn’t the Howard I know and love from the late 90’s and early 2000’s, but it was a lot better than I expected. Still not worth the exorbitant hardcover price, though. Pick it up from the library or on the cheap from the used book store, but don’t pay full price for it.

3.75 out of 5

This book is available from Ballantine. You can buy it here or here in e-format (only $5 at B&N).


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4 responses to “Review: Ice by Linda Howard

  1. Amy

    I’d gotten this one from the library last year when I was on a mini Linda Howard jag (I think I’d just finished reading Dying to Please), so it was hard to not compare the two. I liked Ice, but I didn’t love it. I certainly liked Ice a lot more than Veil of Night, which, for me, was another ho-hum didn’t love it but didn’t hate it book too.

  2. Phyllis

    Apparently, she had some health problems over the last few years and hasn’t been able to concentrate well. And yet she had this contract to fulfill and all…

    I liked Veil of Night pretty well. it felt more like old Linda Howard, instead of feeding my deep disappointment with Ice, Burn, and Death Angel.

  3. I got this as a gift when it came out. i love Linda Howard but was disappointed with this book, very ho hum to me. I think I gave it a 3 out of 5.

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