It has been years since the mayhem was unleashed in Privileged Information. Now Michael McClelland, the brilliant, determined killer introduced in White’s first novel, has left the Colorado State Mental Hospital—and he’s coming after Alan Gregory’s family. The timing couldn’t be deadlier; like a cornered animal, Alan is in a deeply vulnerable state, facing severe doubts about his professional life, his marriage, and his own psyche. And McClelland holds the most powerful weapons of all: secrets from Alan’s past. Secrets Alan thought he had successfully buried years ago. Secrets not even his wife knows. Time is running out as Alan scrambles to outwit his nemesis while confronting each of his worst nightmares. His becomes a captivating psychological journey into the events that forever change us, and the relentless drumbeat of the past. Faithful readers of the series and newcomers alike will be mesmerized by this searing view into the revered doctor’s heart—with a haunting conclusion that will secure Dry Ice’s place as the most memorable of White’s novels.
If you've dropped into this series from time to time, this would be a good time to take another dip as this is one of White's best reviewed books in years. A couple of reviewers caution newcomers from starting with Dry Ice due to the many references to past events and secondary characters. As a general rule I find such concerns a little overrated. Of course, when dropping into an established series there will be plotlines that are unfamiliar and character development that the reader will be unaware of (or at least there certainly should be if a series is worth its salt!) but that rarely means that the reader can't appreciate the novel in its own right - just as a visitor to a country will have a more superficial understanding of its mores than a resident, but that doesn't prevent the visitor from enjoying his stay!. In fact, there are a number of series where I'm convinced my appreciation has been greater by reading it it out of sequence, because I've been able to get to know the characters and then go back in time to discover what made them who they are. Just like in life, there are some friends you grow up with with whom there are few secrets, and others you meet as adults and, overtime, discover what makes them tick. (Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Entertainment Weekly - Will Boisvert
White's latest Gregory yarn makes evil subtly realistic; the quiet threat to our hero's marriage and career is as gripping as any physical menace.
The Daily Camera - Sue Deans
"Dr. Alan Gregory is in a dark place. Frankly, the fictional Boulder psychologist is a mess. That alone makes Dry Ice, Stephen White's latest psychological thriller, even edgier than the ones that came before. .....White considers his books psychological thrillers, but each has a puzzle imbedded in it that makes it also a mystery.The thriller quotient of Dry Ice is high. Twists in the puzzle are sometimes complex enough that the reader needs to leaf backward to refresh a memory.
Mystery News - Lynn Kaczmarek
I've always had a special place in my heart for believable characters, those who exhibit both good and bad traits, just like normal people. We are all so incredibly complex and I find it exhilarating when I find this same complexity realistically portrayed in fictional characters. Stephen White has always been an expert in this area and Dry Ice is the penultimate example of his shrewd understanding of people and his incredible talent for getting that on the page.
Booklist - Mary Frances Wilkens
White's thrillers throw the characters into quagmires and then force them to wade through the psychological muck. Along the way, there's always more than enough suspense to keep readers engaged.
Library Journal
Tight storytelling style with a psychologist's eye, offering up plenty of twists. One caveat—readers new to the Alan Gregory novels may find themselves confused or distracted by the many references to past events, secondary characters, and parallel plot lines.
Kirkus Review
It would be unfair to reveal any of the surprises White detonates down the road with all the craft and patience of a suicide bomber. In a masterful stroke, he even manages to wring additional shock and suspense out of McClelland's surrender to the authorities. Not even an anticlimactic ending can wreck Alan's 15th, and finest, case.
Publisher's Weekly
Starred Review. Contemporary cerebral thrillers don't get much better than bestseller White's 15th novel (after Kill Me), which deftly combines complex characterization and intricate plotting.
Stephen White grew up in
New York, New Jersey, and
Southern California and attended
the University of California
at Irvine (where he
lasted three weeks as a creative
writing major) and Los Angeles,
before graduating from Berkeley
in 1972. Along the way he
learned to fly small planes,
worked as a tour guide at
Universal Studios in Los
Angeles, cooked, waited
tables and tended bar.
Trained as a clinical
psychologist, he received his
Ph.D. from the University of
Colorado in 1979 and became
known as an authority on the
psychological effects of marital
disruption, especially on men.
After receiving his doctorate,
he worked in private practice
and at the University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center,
and later as a...
As more and more killings are discovered, unraveling the maddening puzzle assumes a chilling new importance—stopping a vicious psychopath who's made cold-blood murder his chosen art form.
Straight out of today's hospitals and labs, and tomorrow's headlines, comes a frightening, scalpel-sharp debut medical thriller. In an astounding debut, Spanogle takes us on an all-too-real race against time - as a young doctor enters the dark side of scientific research, desperate to stop a terrifying epidemic before it is too late.
These are 2 of the 4 readalike suggestions for Dry Ice. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
read more
U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
Full Story
BookBrowse
(868 words).
