The Cold Spot

A periodic post on the SF Signal blog are the books they receive in the mail. One of the more recent titles was THE COLDEST MILE by Tom Piccirilli. I knew his name from horror circles and didn't recall reading any of his books or stories, so I thought this might be an entertaining read. But the I discovered it was the follow-up to THE COLD SPOT. So I went to my trusty library catalog, found it, put it on hold and subsequently checked it out. Thus I was reading my first Piccirilli novel.

The first thing I found out is that THE COLD SPOT is not horror. Instead it is a crime novel centered around the small-time thieves who live from score to score. Chase is part of a crew - a more formal association of thieves who work together regularly rather than a string who only work on specific jobs - but following the early events of the book leaves to work on his own. He then meets a girl, falls in love, gets married and gets drawn back into the world of crime. Nothing you wouldn't expect from a crime novel.

THE COLD SPOT reads more like a series of interconnected vignettes than a novel. But that is not quite right either because none of the sequences really hold up on their own. It is choppy in that way because Chase is with his crew and then on his own and then courting and then married and then back on his own and so on. The story flows well, but it is very episodic. Piccirilli gives enough details on the outlaw life and Chase's history to make the elements fit together. He also manages to work in some elements of the supernatural through Chase's dreams. These are not your typical horror conceits , but instead are simple ways to look at Chase's motivations. The dead speak just not in a way that overwhelms the crime elements. The ending seems a little rushed, but it works. All in all, the book moves quickly, reads well and kept me entertained.

I have no complaints and recommended it to another crime novel fan. The book also works as a stand alone because you don't need to move on to THE COLDEST MILE if you don't want to. I was in for the ride though because my library got that one into the system just as I finished THE COLD SPOT.