This novel gave was exactly what I was expecting it to be, and I loved it, it surely didn't disappoint! Seriously, I couldn't put it down!
The author is really good at building a creepy atmosphere, which is something I really enjoyed. It really felt as if I was on a freezing mountain and there was someone trying to unalive me (How fun!).
And I have to say it: I actually guessed who the killer was 1/4 into the book! I'm glad they turned out to be the killer, because if they hadn't, the ending would have been very anticlimactic.
Also, it they made a movie based on this book, I'd be the first one on the line to buy tickets.
I'm definitely going to be reading more books by Darcy Coates!
If you want to read a thriller with slasher vibes, go read this one, you'll love it!
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan join a tour group heading to a luxurious lodge in the middle of the mountains, but when the tour bus is blocked by fallen trees and a snowstorm the group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned cabin. Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished.

Wow this was a wild ride from start to finish. My first book from Darcy Coates and it will defiantly not be my last!

This was a fantastic who dunnit and i genuinely had no idea what was going on!

Christa has agreed to join her boyfriend on a tour group of the Rocky Mountains, while on the trip. She his hoping to find some clarity in how to deal with some ghosts from her past. When a snowstorm hits the bus the group realizes they must find shelter and quickly if they are goingmto survive the weather. They find an abandoned hunting cabin and everyone feels relatively safe. Soon they learn that no one is safe, first the tour guide goes missing and is later found without his head. Everyone is scared and no one knows who to trust. They soon.learn that the killer is just getting started. Christa finds herself looking at the others in the group trying to figure out who the killer may be. Will Krista figure out who the murderer is and why they are killing before she ends up dead? This was an intriguing read that had me guessing the whole way through!

Thank you to the Publisher, Author, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book, in return for my honest review.

I was so excited to get accepted for an ARC of this story as I have heard such great things about Darcy Coates and her stories. Sadly, I just could not get into the story. Although it will not stop me from trying another one of her books. I can say the wintry, isolated setting with a murderer on the lose is a trope, I have read one too many times in my life. The story seemed to be dragged out, maybe I might have liked it if it was shorter? On the other hand, Darcy does really dive into building the characters up and providing a question around who actually could be the murderer which left me guessing the entire book.

Christa joins her boyfriend and a group of others on a tour into the Rocky Mountains. Their end stop is an isolated lodge, but when a blizzard comes through and stops them before getting there, they are forced to relocate to an abandoned cabin in a valley. They find solace in the warmth and shelter from the snowstorm, until members of the group start disappearing. How could this be happening, in the isolated parts of the Rocky Mountains?

DEAD OF WINTER, by Darcy Coates, is a twisty, psychological horror/thriller novel that takes place in an isolated lodge--or "should" have....

Our Main Character, Christa, is traveling with her boyfriend--the only one who was able to draw her out of her shell after being part of a horrible accident a couple years prior. The action starts out immediately, and I will admit that in those first few chapters, I felt a little "lost"--like I was already missing something. However, that quickly changed as the direction of the story became more clear.

One by one, members of their lost party are being picked off in gruesome ways, and they can only assume the killer is one of their own.

How well do you know the people around you?

This book--while having some very predictable elements--was still one that managed to keep me turning pages, determined to see if my theories were correct. While the main one I formulated early on was, another was not, and I absolutely loved that the author was able to pull it off so convincingly!

One of the better novels I've read by this author!

Recommended!

This book kept me on the edge of my seat, engaged and petrified the entire way through. A definite 5 star read.

This is one of the best novels I have read this year. It has wonderfully complex characters. An honest fear is put into everyone of them and the read, as well. It starts in the beginning and never lets up. The writing is so good that you will feel the anxiety, tension and terror of Christa and the other characters. It will keep you up at night. I can’t express how good this is.


I received an ARC from Poison Pen Press through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

This is a particularly gruesome story about a group who go off to a luxury lodge in the Rocky Mountains for a romantic (supposedly!) weekend. As expected by the title, there is a lot of death in this thriller! Their private bus breaks down and Crista loses track of her boyfriend Kiernan and cannot find him in the brutal winter conditions so agrees to stay with the others, who are all by the way strangers to her. They end up in a small cabin along the way, and she plans on going back out to find Kiernan. Then their guide, Brian, is the first to disappear, and is found with his head impaled on a tree branch. It reminds me of most of the locked-door thrillers, with people being picked off one by one! If you like that story, this is the book for you!

This book will have you disturbed and eager to keep reading. Dead of Winter is a horror/thriller following a young couple on their way to a lodge in the Rocky Mountains for a vacation. Only the bus gets stuck on the way up the mountain and while the passengers find refuge at a cabin they start getting picked off one by one. This book was a lot of fun. I guessed the twists before they happened but I still had a good time reading it. I’d recommend it to anyone that likes who among us is the killer vibes and macabre displays left by the killer. Maybe just don’t read it at night, especially if it’s snowing.

When strangers are trapped in a small cabin in the Rocky Mountains due to a terrible storm and a broken bus, there is the perfect time for a killer to pick them off one by one.

Told from only one POV with short chapters, this thriller/horror kept the pages flying for this reader. I binged it in one day and was completely off when I tried to guess the killer ahead of the reveal. Well done! 👏👏👏

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for my #eARC
(Opinions are mine)

Holy crap - what a tense thriller! I'm sad I was sick this week and didn't have the brainpower to finish this in one sitting because that time between each reading was just me wondering the entire time what was happening next and who the killer was.

I admit I read only the first part of the summary prior to requesting because I saw Darcy Coates name, and while this is the first of her books I've read, I have collected a few that I intend to read (lol) and figured this was a good place to get into her work... so, I was expecting a ghost story and this is not that haha But I am super looking forward to reading more of her work because this was so atmospheric, and so suspenseful and just super fun to read. It even managed to surprise me by the end because I was following the obvious clues/red herrings, but she does hint to the real killer several times, so when the reveal comes it is a surprise but at the same time you're thinking "that's right!! It all makes sense!"

I'm also in awe of how Coates gives us a rather large cast of characters but manages them well enough that the reader gets to know them better than you'd expect and I found I really didn't have any problems keeping anyone or the details about them straight.

I honestly wish I could reread this again with fresh eyes to enjoy that feeling of tense excitement and surprise all over again. This is an easy favorite for the year!

A good fast read that kept me on the edge of my seat. Just when you think things can't get worse they do. I read this story when it was 100 degrees outside and still found myself shivering. Definitely a mixture of Stephen King and Agatha Christie. Ten strangers on a bus are stranded on a mountain in a snow storm. They are being murdered one after another. There were a few inconsistencies, too much blood, and a wild ending!

Dead of Winter. This is a book that had me reading with the lights on. Talk about a scare factor. This story hit the high mark with that system. I think that this book has some excellent writing.
The plot was insanely good. The twist was unbelievably good. The hints here and there I picked up on earlier in the book, because that’s how good of a self proclaimed detective sleuth that I am. I did not put the book down. I will say that I would have liked to read more emotional rage and anger between the characters, while they are in the middle of finding out who is the culprit among them.
The scene with Denny Christa, I would like to have seen more of Denny’s side as far as dialogue wise. Give his reasoning of why he’s doing what he’s doing during these scenes. The excitement of the story and each character was crazy good. Simone girl you are one of the people I would gladly have in my side. Alexis, I would have her in my back pocket and tied to my side at all times.
The description of the characters was great. All the characters was amazingly written. They gave so much to the story that was very good. I was able to get a good visual of what christa’s interpretation of each character. The book is an entertaining story that is a good scary read.
I give this book a, Christa one word. Staycation. Until next time my fellow readers. Read on! I received a copy of this book for a voluntary honest review.

Thanks to Net Galley, Poisoned Pen Press and Darcy Coates for the ARC.

Christa and her boyfriend, Kiernan, are on a bus with fellow tourists headed for a remote lodge in The Rocky Mountains. They are traveling during a blinding snowstorm which is slowing them down. As they come across a tree in the road, they must stop to clear it. The tour guide insists it will be a quick fix. Christa and Kiernan wander off while the tree is being moved. Christa falls down a hill and loses sight of Kiernan. She manages to make her way to a cabin where her fellow passengers have congregated. But, where is Kiernan?

As the group settles in and tries to figure out their best escape plan, things begin to go wrong. One by one, they are being picked off.

I mostly enjoyed this novel. People trapped in a snowstorm in a remote area with a killer in the loose is always gripping. I did figure out who the killer was early on, but it did not ruin the story. There were parts in the middle where I felt like it dragged. Also the bodies are described graphically in my opinion. So if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one. 3 1/2 stars rounded up.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and it has broadened my thoughts on horror books! I enjoyed the deep imbedded mystery as opposed to a typical thrasher style horror. This one had an incredible plot with a truly suspenseful locked room mystery. I had a pretty good idea what was going to happen but it didn’t take away from the journey there.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is a horror novel about a group of people stuck in a snowstorm.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Christa hopes that this trip to the Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend Kiernan will end in an engagement.   She is finally letting go of a tragedy from two years ago, and Kiernan seems to be the reason for this change.  They will be part of a tour group, eleven people headed to Blackstone Alpine Lodge.

But a fallen tree stops the bus, and Kiernan and Christa check out the area while others try to move the tree.  A sudden snowstorm hits,  Christa barely survives, and Kiernan is missing.  She finds herself with the other nine members of the group in an abandoned cabin, while she frets about her boyfriend, and they try to wait out the storm.  But the first night, their tour guide goes missing.  As the storm rages on, they discover his severed head impaled on a pine tree not far from the cabin. 

Christa soon realizes that it may not be the storm that kills them all.  One by one, her companions are sadistically murdered.


My Opinions:
Well, this is a locked room mystery in the middle of a snowstorm, and definitely reminiscent of Christie's "And Then There Were None"....but a lot longer.  Definitely suspenseful, and although my original guess as to the perpetrator seemed to get shot down, it was okay, because I had plenty of other suspects to choose from.  Later, I was surprised to be right.  Surprises are good!

The characters, whether you liked them or hated them,  were definitely interesting, and most had depth.  The storm itself became a character that created almost as much havoc as the killer!

The story was told from Christa's perspective, and I loved how her mind tried to figure out who to trust.  There were two major twists in the book, and the first one lead me to expect the second one, but WOW.

My only complaint was that it was a trifle long, dragging occasionally. Oh and I'm a stickler for having everything wrapped up, so I'd like to know if there are other survivors.  Then there's the fact that this is being published in July?  Perhaps a winter publishing event would have been more appropriate.

Overall, I loved the book.

Although Dead of Winter borrows from one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels, don't expect a nice cozy mystery. Dead of Winter is deeply atmospheric and graphic in its murders. A locked-room mystery set in the Rocky Mountains during winter, the book follows a group of tourists who are snow-bound in a small, remote cabin. The danger of being stranded during a blizzard is bad enough, but then their tour guide is murdered, with his severed head left as a nightmarish token. The POV belongs to Christa, but readers meet the other tourists, but the characterization wasn't as deep as I wanted. Because of this, I did have a little trouble at the beginning keeping track of who was who. The book also ran a bit long and was repetitive in spots. A solid mystery, but far-fetched with (to me) an obvious villain.

I thought I'd cool off reading a book about winter in the heat of the summer and this book definitely proved to be cold in many ways. A very fast paced psychological thriller all the way. It sounded like a great read with strangers coming together on a tour group in the Rocky Mountains that goes terribly wrong. But Boy did it ever go wrong and with such twists and turns that I didn't see coming. A literal killer ending. This book is not for the faint of heart. Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and the Author Darcy Coates for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has everything you want in a good thriller: suspense, mystery, high body count, and horror with a little gore. The action kicks in pretty quickly and is consistent throughout.

There were a few things that kept it from being 5 stars for me.
1. I found myself getting pretty annoyed and rolling my eyes at so many sketchy things!! Like the fact that there's a killer on the loose and people are going out for walks by themselves at night, which is when the killer tends to strike!
2. It was a tad too long. I'm like, when is this book gonna end?
3. Very descriptive, which tends to make me lose focus.
4. The ending left questions unanswered, which ticks me off to be honest.

I was able to figure out the majority of the twists about halfway through, but it's one heck of a ride! Thriller fans will love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC.

This is my third attempt at Darcy Coates, and while I appreciate her style and contributions to the horror lit landscape, I just don't think she's my cup of tea. Everything about the description seemed fascinating and exciting. An isolation thriller/horror where something is killing the trapped? Yes, sign me up. But the characters felt a little one-dimensional and I found myself skimming. I still think this is purely my own taste and there is definitely a broad audience for this. I wanted to love it. I just didn't.

I rounded up to 4 from 3.5 stars.
An edge of your seat story where you are stranded with 8 people when suddenly someone starts to kill them one by one. The killer is severing heads and impaling them to a tree...but how does no one hear the killer doing the deed? The remote cabin is in the Rockies and a storm is brewing.
8 strangers, a boyfriend missing, and a killer on the loose!

Now I did enjoy the story but had a hard time with the narrative being so wordy. I feel the story could have been toned back 50 pages and it would have gotten a true 4.5 star rating. The author kept me guessing on who the killer was and then surprise!

Please don't go by my rating of 3.5 stars read other reviews and read the book. Make up your own mind if you liked it or not. I liked it. The story is complex and will keep you guessing until the end and then you will be like "What just happened?"