With thanks to the author, publishers No Bueno Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this work in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This was an engaging story about a father Tom Floyd, himself a former cop, trying to locate his daughter Megan who has been missing since the late 90s and whose investigation is now a cold case. He enlists the help of a private investigator to try to find her. The story then unfolds old from the point of view of several of the characters, mainly the father himself, an associate of the private investigator and some of Megan’s friends.

Touching on topics of broken homes, adultery, grief, violence, drugs, and abuse, this is not going to suit all readers, but with plenty of plot twists to keep me interested and a narrator that did a fantastic job of portraying the different male and female characters, I enjoyed this one and got through the audiobook in just a few listens.

Thank you to the author S. C. Sterling, publishers No Bueno Publishing and as always NetGalley, for an advance audio copy of THE FEAR OF WINTER.

This book is a basic murder mystery, with all the players you expect, and a pretty predictable ending. Still thrilling and it's an enjoyable audiobook, in part thanks to excellent narration. One thing I do like about this book is the large cast of interesting characters (usually not my cup of tea) with a couple of bad women mixed in. I love fiction stories set in factual places. This one is set in Colorado, where I used to live, and loved living there. The Writer used this element in a detailed way, almost as a character. I really connected to the story at this point. Chapters are so loooooong!

Rating: 🏔🏔🏔.5 / cold mountains
Recommend? Yes
Finished: March 18 2023
Read this if you like:
🔍 Murder mysteries
🔪 Thrillers
🏋‍♀️ Badass women
☃️ Snow settings
🗻 Mountains

Really enjoyed this story about a father searching for his missing daughter Megan who vanished and the case has gone cold.
Her father cannot ever give up the hope of finding her or her body so hires a private investigator

Plenty of twists and turns and I listened to this in a couple of days

Thank you to No Bueno Publishing and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Man everyone in this book was all kinds of fucked up! I love that the bad guy was caught and that justice was found for the murdered woman. I can't wait to see where this series take us in the next book!

#TheFearofWinter
#NetGalley

This one caught me by surprise.

The winter setting up in the mountains of Colorado was absolutely perfect. This book depicted a marriage that falls apart after the couple's daughter goes missing, the love a father has for his daughter and how he will not stop searching until he finds her, substance abuse problems, turning one's life around and so much more absolutely perfectly.

From the first chapter I really felt for the parents of the missing woman. I loved the private investigator aspect. I loved how there were so many moments when I thought I had it figured out but then hit a dead end (just like those searching for Megan) and had to start over.

The narrator was amazing. The pauses and tone of their voice was incredible and really gave me the emotions I needed for this kind of story.

The characters were all well thought out and can I just say - Hannah was absolutely bada** and was by far my favourite character. She is the perfect depiction of a girl who was once lost trying to find herself and her way while solving cases as a private investigator.

I would definitely recommend this book. It was absolutely incredible and will stay with me for awhile.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this missing person crime thriller. It was told from a few POVs and while all the main characters were really well developed, I enjoyed Hannah’s the most. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job. The pacing was great and combined with the short chapters, this was a quick listen. I also really loved the 90s setting and music references. This is the first in a series so I’m interested to see where the series goes from here.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* It took me awhile to get into this book not gonna lie but after a few chapters i got into it and started understanding what was going on lol would recommend

It was interesting enough and the story was suspenseful. I think for me, the fact I listened to this took a star away, it felt very disjointed and there were quite a few POVs that felt like they were flitted between. It took me until about halfway to truly understand who was who and what persons story I was listening to. I think it would have benefitted from there being more narrators.

The story itself was fairly predictable in the fact that there were no real twists. Just gradually going through potential suspects and finding evidence, to the obvious solution. But that being said, it wasn't a struggle to get through and it does keep you wanting to listen.

I am interested to see where this series goes!

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Jess Nahikian
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 4.5 stars

Megan Floyd disappeared one cold evening in December. The investigation leads nowhere. There are no traces of Megan.

One year later, after the case went cold, her father, Tom Floyd, still didn’t give up. He wants to know what happened to his daughter and wants closure. Even though this would mean his daughter is dead. He hires a private investigator, Marshall York, and his assistant Hannah, to find some new leads.

We learn the story from more perspectives: mostly from Tom, Marshall, and Hannah. Some characters are partially likable, some a bit less, but all are somehow damaged. Maybe it would be better if at least one character wes average in this sense. A few details in the story bothered me, but other than that, The Fear of Winter is a surprisingly good crime thriller.

I love the cover of this audiobook.

Thanks to No Bueno Publishing for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

Tom Floyd was a police officer whose life was destroyed after his daughter Megan disappeared. Still desperate two days later, he hires private detective Marshall York and his assistant Hannah Jacobs to look for her. They have their own wounds, as Marshall has blamed himself for years for a crime he couldn't prevent and Hannah is haunted by her sister's murder. As they look for clues that lead them to Megan, the demons of their past will force them to make several decisions.

What I liked: It's an entertaining, interesting book. The characters are well-developed, and the secondary characters are solid enough to make the story believable and not boring. I enjoyed how the author connected the different stories. The narrator was also good, which is pretty important in this book because the POV of the narrator switches characters all the time and it could be confusing in an audiobook.

What I didn't like: I didn't feel as hooked as I expected for a thriller, probably because I didn't like Megan, so I wasn't interested enough in her part of the story.

(I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.)

A gritty procedural detective story with ominous portrayals of grief, alcoholism and self harm, further embedded with the harshness of the Colorado winter.



Overall I found the book was just okay, it had quite a dark and oppressive mood with a lot of suspense. It was a little hard to follow in places due to the number of characters.

I know a lot of people liked the narrator, but I wasn’t a huge fan personally. She was fine, but I wouldn’t rush back to listening to an audiobook read by her.

Book Title: The Fear of Winter
Series: The Fear of Book #1
Author: S.C. Sterling
Narrator: Jess Nahikian
Publisher: No Bueno Publishing ~ Member of the ‘Independent Book Publishers Association’ (IBPA)
Independent Audiobook
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: January 24, 2023
My Rating: 2 Stars

The setting is the beautiful mountains of Colorado near Denver. Tom Floyd's daughter, Megan has been vanished and has been missing for two years and the case has gone cold.
He hires a private investigator, Marshall York and his assistant, Hannah Jacobs to search for any new leads.

When I started this I wasn’t sure it was going to work. Although I am a big psychological thriller fan, however I have a low tolerance for over used f-bombs. I get that they talk this way also some readers love colorful language ~ but not me and hearing it is worst. (I finally realized that the genre 'New Adult' means!
I hung in there as I actually liked the narrator Jess Nahikian as she was doing a great job in performing these characters.
Unfortunately the story never got to the point of enjoyment for me.
I have no doubt this story will find the right readers who will love it!

Want to thank NetGalley and No Bueno Publishing for granted me this eGalley.
Publishing Release Date was for January 24, 2023

A thoroughly entertaining albeit disturbing read. Genuinely felt the depth of winter and the scenery which intrigued me! The narrator kept the book flowing well and had my interest throughout.

I really wanted to like this book but there were a few components that didn't work for me. The format of the narrations was confusing. The characters weren't introduced very well so when a section started from a different POV, it was hard to follow who was narrating and how they related to the plot. I didn't really see how all the characters fit together until more than halfway through the book. Additionally, every single character was battling extremely intense demons (mental health, addiction, loss, etc.). I can understand wanting to portray the struggles of real humans but it was a bit overwhelming to include something tragic for every character. Finally, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. It seemed a bit rushed after most of the book lead up to that moment.

This book was heartbreaking and even made me feel uncomfortable at some points. I think it did a really good job of eliciting strong emotions, which not all books accomplish. I would recommend it to someone who is ready to feel extreme emotions rather than someone looking for a twisty thriller.

I've recently discovered my love for mystery/thriller audiobooks. In one or two days, I can finish an entire audiobook at work. So when I saw this title and its description, I thought to myself, "Perfect! Exactly what I need right now."

But unfortunately, this book was not my cup of tea.

The writing in itself was great. The only issue I had was quite simple - a bit bland for my taste.

It's an interesting plot, don't get me wrong. But nothing really stood out to me, I couldn't root for any character, and the action was not exciting. I kept waiting for something to happen. I mean it did, but only in the last quarter of the audio. So in short, nothing happens in the first three quarters.

Another (minor) issue I had, was the male voice that the narrator used. I honestly couldn't help but wonder if they had to drink lots of warm water or tea after every recording session.

I really really really wanted to like this, but it just didn't work for me. I'm sure someone else will, it's just unfortunate that it was not something I enjoyed.

I read some of the reviews before I listened. I agree this is a dark piece of fiction. But grief does funny things to people, and for some that leads them to a very dark place. So, this is a fiction crime story that deals with the depths of grief that around the search for a daughter who has disappeared two years ago, believed murdered, but without a perpetrator being found.. The father searching who can’t give up, the mother who has given up, the male PI who uses drugs to deal with his own past and the female PI using self harm to deal with a separate issue of her sister’s disappearance. These are people who are hurting. Can any of them get a resolution? Thank you to No Bueno Publishing and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This is one that I think I need to read a physical copy. Listening through this made me lost at times. I don’t know why, but I had a hard time following when we would go back in time, or reference a memory, or anything similar. I’m used to it being called out, or even typed differently, so this may just be a me issue.

I think the overall story is good. Murder, crime, unsolved mysteries are my jam. I love that we do follow multiple povs as I think it helps tell the story easier. I would most definitely read this as a physical copy and can’t wait to read other books in this series.

This is a very quick read. As the story progresses, the action picks up and never slows down. Each character has their own personal backstory and struggles to deal with as well. If you like strong female characters, you'll find them in this book! The only thing that kept me from giving five stars is how quickly the story line jumped from one character's perspective to another. I was able to adjust, but it left me confused at the beginning. I had to backtrack a few times to remind myself which character was which. But other than that, I really can't say enough great things about The Fear of Winter. It's everything I expect out of a thriller. This is the first book of a series, and I can't wait to see what follows. I gladly give The Fear of Winter four bone chilling stars out of five.

The Fear of Winter is a missing person/procedural thriller that definitely kept me on my toes! The procedural part of the plot is unique because the investigation is completed by three different people: the father of the missing girl who used to be a cop, a retired detective who is now a PI, and a woman who assists the PI who has never been in law enforcement.

Each of these three main characters have their own demons they’re fighting throughout the narrative, adding thickness to the plot.

The action begins on page one and doesn’t let up the entire time, swapping back and forth between different points of view. I was surprised by the ending and really empathized with the father. He was put through it! But he always held onto the hope of finding his daughter and literally stopped at nothing to try to solve the mystery.

The narration was great! @jess_nahikian did a wonderful job setting the scene and keeping the tension high!

I do wish there were more prominent breaks in the audio between the different points of view but overall this was a solid listen!

Grab your copy on Kindle Unlimited today if you enjoy:

- flawed characters.
- multiple points of view.
- Civilian led procedurals.
- high action suspense.

Tom Floyd hires a PI to find his missing daughter. A very good novel with plenty of twists. Good characters and well plotted looking forward to the next in series. The narrator Jess Nahikian does an excellent job with the novel.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.