I really enjoyed this book! A story of a missing woman/daughter, it was fascinating to read his four sets of generally-unconnected lives ran in parallel.

I liked reading about the investigative process (I’m a huge police procedurals fan so this tracks). One thing that threw me was that the POV’s changed unexpectedly. So every single time they changed, I had no idea what was happening for a little while until I got my bearings back and figured out which character was up next.

I would read other work by this author, but don’t know if I would continue reading this series.

Excellent and fast paced thriller that fans of Harlen Coban will devour.
Flawed and intriguing characters merge with an explosive storyline that culminates in a jaw-dropping finale.
Highly recommended as a must read in 2023.

This was a sort of last minute listen for me and while it was not what I was expecting, I was hooked from the beginning. Narrator was great and handled the multiple 3rd person POVs expertly. The sudden shifts in POV were a bit weird for me - like it would happen in the middle of important action / storyline when I wasn't ready for the change, but maybe that added to the anticipation? I was hoping for a bit more psychological thriller, but this was more action / violence / police than I typically like - however, it works. I'll definitely be watching for the next in the series and reading it. S.C. Sterling is a great writer with a unique style. The characters were all flawed, but well developed. I'm hoping we'll see some of them in the next books in the series. TW: violence, murder, drug and alcohol abuse, kidnapping.

Unfortunately this was DNF for me at around 50%.
This book started strong but as it went on, I found myself bored. It's a very dark and sad book. I could feel the negative emotions of all the characters to the point I almost felt depressed. It's not really my kind of book and not what I expected.


Thank you NetGalley, No Bueno Publishing and the author for ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Fear Of Winter" is a great crime thriller. I found the story was interesting. The characters were well developed and interesting. The story brought me into the town and area of the crime. The narrator was really good. This is well worth a read. I highly recommend.

Searching for Megan

On a cold winter night in a small town in Colorado, Megan Floyd disappears into thin air. The search is extensive, but not a trace is found. Tom Floyd is devastated, he is afraid that he will never see his daughter again. This causes his marriage and his life to fall to pieces.

The police has no leads and Tom has not been able to find any new leads either. He decides to hire a private detective to try and find out what happened to Megan. Tom hires Marshall York and his assistant Hannah.

Each of these have things in their past which haunt them. They soon must navigate the secret life of Megan to find out what happened to her , it becomes dangerous for all of them.

It is a good story, and the narrator does a good job. The narrator has a good voice and it is very easy to listen to and understand.

This book was scary in that it could happen to anyone anywhere. Does anyone ever know their children? Could your child have a secret life?

If you like mystery and suspense you will like this story.

Thanks to S.C. Sterling for writing a great mystery, to Jess Nahikian for the great narration, to No Bueno Publishing for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

An exciting read with twists that keep you guessing till the end! Thank you NetGalley for this book.
I really enjoy this audio book

Goodness me, this book is more depressing than the news and that is saying something....
There is so much sadness and hopelessness in this book, I found it hard to finish it....
The narration performed by Jess Nahikian is really good however. Pity the storyline was so hopeless....

I don't think it needs to be a series. The many mysteries, bar one, were all tied up nicely and I don't think any of the characters are strong enough to carry multiple books. However, this was a solid crime murder mystery and I found myself sneaking in a couple of chapters more than my other reads. This isn't for the faint of heart; think drugs/alcohol/assault/self-harm etc. but nothing too graphic. The writing was strong but the narration was terrible. All of the different characters sounded the same.

THE FEAR OF WINTER by S.C. Sterling and narrated by Jess Nihikian is a great winter detective suspense to squeeze in before Spring comes!

Tom is devastated when his daughter goes missing and despite his police profession, he feels helpless and can't quit his search despite the case going cold. His whole world is falling apart and he finally hires private detectives Marshall and Hannah to help. With issues of their own, these three relentlessly pursue a new lead that brings truths that they may not be ready to handle and it will cost them.

This was a really suspenseful story that felt like it set up a good character study as well. I was pulled into the mystery of finding Meagan and what happened to her, while beginning to care about the ones searching for her and their backstories.

There were a number of characters in the beginning that made it a bit harder to keep track, but as the story progressed it was clear who the main voices were. The narration was well done here to make each voice distinct.

This is a straight forward detective story with a fast-paced end that both wrapped up this arc and left some side mysteries open-ended for the next book.

Thank you @scottcsterling for the link to the audio! This was a fun read and I look forward to the next installment! I also saw this on @netgalley and chose to review this for them as well.

Trigger warning ⚠️ for self harm specifically beyond the missing child and destructive alcohol and drugs in these types of genres.

All of the characters were sad and drinking and/or taking drugs, and the story would switch between their points of view so often that it felt like you were usually only getting a glimpse into a characters life before switching to someone else. These two things made the characters all blend together for me, which made it really difficult to care about any of them, making me bored with the story.

Also the voice that the narrator used for the male characters was distracting and hard to take seriously.

This is a cracking read with smooth narration.
A missing person tale written in that gritty American style; you know, all tough, hard living but lovable detectives and damaged female companions. Sometimes these type of books leave me cold, but I really got into this one. It’s an uncomfortably sad book but a great story

3 / 5 ⭐️‘s

"The Fear of Winter" by S.C. Sterling

A thrilling and suspenseful novel set in a small town in the midst of a harsh winter, the story follows the disappearance of a young women, and the efforts of a father and private investigator to unravel the mystery and catch the perpetrator.

The writing is crisp and concise, with well-developed characters that sets the stage for the unfolding events. The tension builds steadily as the story progresses, with unexpected twists and turns that keeps you guessing until the very end.

An overall good read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery or thriller.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pros: very moving plot with incredibly well-built complex characters whose actions are coherent to their stories and backgrounds (well as much as is humanly possible, of course).

Cons: the chapters are really, really long and the story, especially the audio version I think, is quite difficult to follow: in every chapter the narrator jumps to one scene/set of characters to another with just a small pause (I guess it's represented by a blank space in the printed/kindle version), so it's easy to get confused. Moreover, the plot has no particularly surprising details or twists (the fact that the girl who vanished had a secret life her parents didn't know about is clearly written in the back cover blurb, so as soon as you discover some detail more about the circumstances she disappeared you can guess who the culprit is).

Overall, it gave me True Detective vibes (with the difference that this is set in Colorado).

The narrator of the audio book has a beautiful voice and is really good at slightly changing it based on the character. I just found it a tad slow and had to speed the audiobook up to 1.25x.

Teenager Megan Floyd went missing and although the police have given up her dad has not. He hires Hannah and Marshall to investigators to look for her and find out what happened. Tom Floyd her dad thinks she may have been a victim of a serial killer but Hannah is looking at her coworker he was interviewed and let go and quickly moved away only to try and assault another girl. What they find out about Megan it’s not only surprising and ultimately change the whole investigation. At first I really got into the book but then when I started seeing all the issues the two detectives have and here’s a couple triggers for you they’re alcoholics and drug addicts and one is a cutter and I mean a severe cutter. Having known many drug addicts and having been one I know there is no way someone can be that loaded and into drugs that they’re snorting OxyContin and still be able to investigate a case the way these two dead. Not only that they both have severe trauma Hannah sister went missing and Marshalls daughter was murdered in oh yes did I mention the day it is also an alcoholic understandable but I just thought they had too many of their own issues going on and it really overshadowed the story because in the middle of discussing the story there’s snorting Coke Hannah‘s laying in her bed slice and her leg open with a razor it was just all too much for me I just didn’t like it. I mean this story really could’ve used an adult if you know what I’m saying. I received this book from NetGalley in the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This story needs a trigger warning for sucide and self harm. There are many themes that some would find upsetting. That being said though it is an engrossing book. The plot keeps the reader engaged and the characters will tug on your emotions. It is a book that you may need a comedy special to chase with, but it is worth the read for those who can handle the emotional themes.

This book feels like the winner of a contest to see how many cliches could be crammed into 1 book! Damaged young woman looking to avenge something dark from her past (when she's not drinking or cutting herself, that is)? Check. Sad parents of the victim, struggling to keep their relationship together while also investigating what really happened to their daughter? Check. Washed up former police officer turned PI also hired to find out what really happened to the missing woman? Check!
Clearly I didn't like anything about this book. It was cliched, predictable, and boring. The narrator also does a TERRIBLE job at speaking as the male voices! It was very irritating.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of The Fear of Winter by S.C. Sterling.

After his daughter, Megan, goes missing, Tom's life completely changes. His marriage is dissolving, and his obsession to find her has reached an all time peak. He will stop at nothing to find her, even if it means hiring help, and even talking to less than savory characters. But there are a lot of people out there with a lot to hide.

What is it about a murder in a frigid cold town, it just adds to the whole atmosphere of the story doesn't it? This was a gritty crime drama with a cold, icy, undercrust. It seems like most of the characters are hanging on by a thread, and many of them have something to hide. As far as missing person thrillers go, this was pretty good. I had to work hard to keep some of the characters straight, and the plot lost me once or twice, but overall I enjoyed. Best to be read under a blanket by the fire.

I thought this was really good! It’s a 5⭐️for me and the audiobook/narrator Jess Nahikian was excellent. She did such a good job.
This was book one in The Fear of series and I’m definitely on board for book 2. This was intense and heartbreaking but done in such a way that I couldn’t stop listening. It was dark at times with many realistic broken people that weren’t going to change. To much had happen. I wanted to know everything about how they got there. This crime mystery was different than I’m used to seeing but I’m hooked!
Definitely recommend this one.
Thanks IBPA via Netgalley.

I had already read the digital version so delighted to listen to the audible version too.
Not my usual kind of book at all but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The action was almost matched by the problem characters and both were overtaken by the tension. I’m not saying it’s changed my genre of choice but I definitely want to carry on reading the series. My husband has already added it to his books to buy list for when it’s released.
Has to be five stars and given without any hesitation