Books have a wonderful way of taking a person's mind off troubles and annoyances. The weather is my current annoyance and as my computer room is pretty stuffy tonight, you can help me write this post. I think it is time to 'think cool'. A snowy, wintry setting is definitely in order about now. On the coldest days of the year something steamy hot is order, so on the hottest days the equation is flipped--hot day=cold setting.
I'll start. In the current mess that is my room and the ongoing book shuffle that is occurring, I came across Gil Adamson's The Outlander. Isn't that cover illustration refreshing to look at? All that cold, wet snow. Think boots and mittens and just think how the woman would appreciate those hand warmers that you open, shake and then slip into your gloves when the mercury drops?
"In 1903 Mary Boulton flees alone across the West, one heart-pounding step ahead of the law. At nineteen, she has just become a widow–and her husband's killer. As bloodhounds track her frantic race toward the mountains, she is tormented by mad visions and by the knowledge that her two ruthless brothers-in-law are in pursuit, determined to avenge their younger brother's death. Responding to little more than the primitive instinct for survival at any cost, she retreats ever deeper into the wilderness–and into the wilds of her own mind."
Not only is the setting frigid but the pacing of the story sounds heart stopping. The chase is on and I imagine once you've dropped squarely into the story and get involved in the action you can't stop. Hot weather be d***ed. Maybe I'll start reading tonight. It will take my mind off the heat.
Now it's your turn. What is your favorite 'cold' book? The colder the better.