Cliffhanger meets Savages in Mike Bond’s new thriller, Snow.
Steve Montclair and Zack Wilson make the discovery of a lifetime, but what they do about it causes severe and violent consequences. In the middle of nowhere, Montana, deep in the wilderness, the two friends are hunting elk with the help of a guide when they come across a downed airplane.
The plane had obviously crash-landed but remained mostly intact. The duo isn’t sure when it fell from the sky and checked for survivors just in case there might have been someone clinging to life inside. Instead, they found the opposite–literally, as the plane is packed with coffins.
Upon opening the coffins, the friends discover that instead of dead bodies, they are full of drugs. They estimate that they’ve come across a small fortune’s-worth of cocaine and, it turns out, both men are in serious need of cash. Choosing not to tell their guide what they found inside the plane, they agree to alert the authorities and note a single pair of fresh footprints leading away from the crash site.
After racing to hide the drugs before the police show up, Steve and Zack each begin formulating a plan to capitalize on their discovery. Neither knows the true ins and outs of unloading mass amounts of drugs, or the dangers that come with it, though they’re about to be given a crash course from Maria Christina.
Christina is a cartel boss, and while she’s ruthless to a point, her henchman, Diego, is the one who does the bulk of her dirty work. Unwilling to just let their shipment of cocaine fall into the hands of two elk hunters, Christina unleashes Diego, who’s tasked with getting back their product at all costs…which means big problems for Steve and Zack.
The story itself is pretty short, with very little fluff between the moments of action and suspense. The problem, though, is that the characters are very underdeveloped and unlikable. With no reason to care about the two protagonists, readers may struggle to find a reason to keep reading. Even then, those who do will uncover very little to get excited about, as Snow is a mediocre thriller at best. It’s not awful, but far-fetched plot points and a few glaring holes subtract from a strong beginning that, sadly, fizzles out.
While Mike Bond has proven capable of delivering some really good stuff in the past, Snow is a slight misstep for the underrated author. The real redeeming quality of the book, though, for those who stick it out, is the story’s antagonist. Christina, an educated woman who’s made running drugs her business of choice, is a solid character who brings much-needed life to the plot. She’s so good at being bad that her part alone might be worth the read–which, at two hundred and fifty pages, doesn’t take long to knock out.
Book Details
Author: Mike Bond
Pages: 250 (Paperback)
ISBN: 1627040374
Publisher: Mandevilla Press
Release Date: October 1, 2017
Book Spy Rating: 4.5/10
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