I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This should have been a book I loved and raved about. The story was potentially interesting, the setting was great but the narrator...ugh massive butthole. His whole alpha-male wannabe just rubbed me up the wrong way. He was supposed to be the leader, the women were smaller than him so he was constantly amazed that they could walk and breathe at the same time. And then when he got him panties in a bunch because the first thing his so called competition did after being separated from the group was hug his wife rather than acknowledging the narrator caused me to just nope out.

I got 60% through the book before I called it quits.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Very interesting thriller. Post-apocalyptic book set in the near future. Hooked me from the beginning and kept me interested until the end.
I don’t like a lot of post-apocalyptic books but this one was very good.

The near future is a world in which scientists and their AI got it wrong.

Rising temperatures have caused fires that burned landmasses, and the ash from these fires block out the sun. The resulting cold is extreme, like a nuclear winter, and was a mass extinction event for human beings the world over. Electricity grids, communications and services all failed. Societies collapsed. Humanity is reduced to small groups of survivors, scraping by however they can.

Resources are scarce, and bands of survivors resort to violence to obtain enough food and fuel to survive.

A man and his family group have survived the cruel winter by hiding in a house in Surrey, but when a roaming gang starts to ravage the area, they are forced to run. As they flee to safety, the cohesion and tolerance that had kept them going for so long starts to fracture…

It’s time once again to dip my toes into the waters of apocalyptic fiction. Regular visitors to the site will know I am obsessive when it comes to extinction-level events. I’m drawn to novels that describe our end. I can’t help myself. I find that not only does apocalyptic fiction offer an endlessly fascinating insight into the human condition, it also manages to be surprisingly educational. For example, recently I learned the term Anthropocene epoch. This is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity has started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. Jim Pearce uses this theory as the jumping-off point for his new novel Cold.

At its core, Cold explores some of the most personal questions when it comes to the end of the world. What would you be prepared to do for your family? How far would you be willing to go? Would you be prepared to do absolutely anything to keep them alive? Could you take another person’s life? These are the sorts of moral dilemmas that wake me in the wee, small hours of the morning. So of course I was enthralled.

As ever, when I’m reading novels in my favourite sub-genre, I’m always on the lookout for the tiniest spark of hope. I’m comforted by the thought that though I’ll be long gone*, in this instance most likely a human popsicle, the best part of humanity might survive. I love the idea that if we are given a second chance then maybe, just maybe, we can do a better job than we have done the first time around.

My only criticism, I’d have preferred it if the novel was a little bit longer. It’s a minor quibble, but when I’m enjoying a story I always want more. I like my characters to have the opportunity to breathe. What can I say? I’m a sucker for wanting to know what happens next. Overall I enjoyed Cold. It’s a solidly entertaining story that reminded me of the classic near-futuristic survival thriller The Day After Tomorrow with just a dash of The Grey thrown in for good measure.

Cold is published by Matador and is available now.

The soundtrack I’ve chosen to accompany this novel is from the 2015 film Extinction by Sergio Moure. The movie has a distinctly wintery vibe and it feels like a good fit with the novel.

*A couple of medical conditions that require daily doses of drugs in tandem with no obvious survival skills means I’d be dead within minutes. If I was really lucky it would be a week at best.

This was not only compelling but also super interesting too. The premise hooked me into the book and the engaging plot, well-developed characters and brilliant pacing kept me reading. I’m excited to see what the author writes next. Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Set in the near future, this is dystopian action thriller. I enjoy the genre but the story did not engage me, too much tell and not show and the characters were underwritten. A promising debut however.Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This book isn't terrible - it's quite gripping and I was interested in the descriptions (scary!) about how the climate deteriorated quickly to the point of the world freezing.
But there was quite a lot I didn't like. For a bit of background, I usually choose British rather than US dystopia-type genre novels, for one single reason: the British ones usually don't have guns. US ones not only usually have a lot of guns, but they are often drowning in gun porn: near-lascivious descriptions of weapons that disgust me beyond measure. So I was not happy to find that in this novel.
Secondly, the characters are pretty unlikeable: there's a lot of selfish, sneaky behaviour from all of them (with the exception of Richard).
I'll skip a few other things I disliked, but I have one final quibble. They drink a lot of wine. Yet we are told that the temperatures everywhere are -20 to -40 degrees. Wine freezes at -5 degrees. And if you've ever forgotten a bottle of wine in the freezer, you'll know that if it freezes, the bottle explodes. And even if it doesn't contain broken glass, the taste will not be good.
It's a small niggle, and this is fiction not fact, but details like this added to my mounting irritation as I read the book.

The world turns freezing cold. The novel centers upon a group of people and how they struggle to survive. I enjoyed the book.

My first novel from Jim Pearce and I was happily surprised! I’m a big lover of dystopian books and this definitely didn’t disappoint.

A mismatch family try to survive in a world which is permanently cold as ash covers the sun.

I loved how real this felt, I could totally see this happening in real life😅 the characters were all nice but they could have been a little bit more fleshed out.

The future looks bleak and the remaining survivors on earth have to make do with limited resources in freezing weather.
This was a great concept for a novel and one which you don’t have to try too hard to imagine happening in real life.
It was interesting to see how individuals behaved under extreme conditions as well as the group dynamics and how they adapted with little resources.
I loved the inclusion of a dog to the story as it seemed to give a little normalcy to a dire situation.
A great effort for a first novel.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Science and AI is expected to be precise and to never be wrong. Well it happened, they could never have expected ashes from wildfires would block out the sun leaving the world wrapped in a blanket of pure cold and ice. As society becomes estranged from each other, with the population decreasing quickly, survivors must gather in small groups in order to survive. It’s an apocalyptic chiller thriller of a book.

This was my first book by this author and it definitely won’t be my last. Fast-paced I was hooked to the story from the start and found it hard to put down. What really makes this story stand out is that the author really knows what he’s talking about and writes about these events in such a way that you’re glued to the pages. If you like end-of-the-world thrillers, this book is for you.

I received an ARC of this book and leave this review of my own accord.
#NetGalley #Cold

This was a brilliant story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was extremely hard to put down. The storyline of this book was easily 5 stars. As it was so very interesting and realistic. Having a degree in environmental management this is what could certainly happen if climate change continues. That's what made this book extremely scary to read. There was one small detail that the author seemed to exaggerate, but it's fiction you can. The only reason this book didn't get that 5th star was the atmosphere, and tension was slightly lacking. From the authors background, he is a non-fiction writer, and the move into fiction books is always a big step. With a little practice of creating the atmosphere that this book deserves, the next book will be epic!!!!!! However, you still must read this book. I highly recommend it. I loved the pace of this book as there was never a dull moment . There is plenty of action with some great unexpected events. It's certainly a brilliant page turning novel. I have everything crossed that the author writes a sequel.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a realistic and action-packed story. I will have my eyes peeled for more books by this brilliant author.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/cold-by-jim-pearce-matador-books-4-stars under my name ladyreading365

5/5 stars! What an epic, thrilling, futuristic tale of survival. After a mass extinction event, one family fights to survive in a new world where the stakes couldn't be higher, and fellow man can't be trusted. This book read like "The Last of Us" brought to life. The author's ability to bring out that raw, animalistic tension in a post-apocalyptic world was stunning. I couldn't read this book fast enough and will be desperately waiting for the next release from this author.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Dystopian novels can go either way for me. Some I love and spend what seems like every waking hour thinking how and where I would escape to in a similar survivor situation. With others not holding my interest much without me genuinely being able to say exactly why. Unfortunately Cold fell into the latter category. I see from other reader reviews that poor character background and development is an issue to some and I agree with more information I might have been more engrossed.

Climatic catastrophe has turned the world into a very cold and inhospitable place with few survivors. One group have found a life in Surrey with their own hydroponics, power generating and the like but they are about to come under attack from a militarist group of scavengers. They up sticks and head for the Alps, first in a catamaran across the ice and then in an old Land Cruiser. There is a lot of sound science in the book and the writing atmospheric - life in the cold is not easy at the best of times. The characters, I feel, however, are rather one-dimensional - we know little of their backgrounds or even what they look like, meaning that the book starts to feel like a trek across a very cold landscape with some bad guys chasing them. It's a debut novel though and the author has definite potential. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

A dystopian novel, Cold tells the story of a group of climate change survivors who must flee both brutal freezing conditions and a violent group of rampaging killers to survive. The narrator, traveling with his son, is a former geologist in the oil field. His work, and that of many others, caused the problems he is facing today. The group leaves their compound as the attackers are close. Their goal is to get to France, find a warmer location and evade the men following them. They don’t know that the leader of that group has a personal reason for finding them. They travel by foot, sled and boat but can’t avoid a final confrontation.

Cold is author Jim Pearce’s debut novel, Like his main character, he has been an oil driller but now supports sustainable energy. The concept of Cold is very good. However, I would have liked to see more character development. Most of the group were one dimensional. More background would have helped, perhaps flashbacks to their lives before the climate disaster. The plot pacing is, in my opinion, too fast. Slower action would build the suspense that Cold lacks. This is primarily an “action” novel but could be so much better if it were longer. I’m looking forward to what Pearce does next. He has a lot of potential. 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Matador and Jim Pearce for this ARC.

Another interesting read was Cold by Jim Pearce which I received from Matador via Netgalley and it will be out on the 28th of January.

It is set in the near future after rising temperatures caused enormous fires. The ash blocked out the sun resulting in an extreme winter causing a mass extinction. A group of survivors are forced to move away from their hide out when a gang starts ravaging the area. They start this perilous journey taking them from England to France searching for shelter against the deadly cold. The journey is not without danger, even from within the group itself.

This was quite the exiting read as I like books and films dealing with this futuristic end-of-the-world drama. This book was a great one dealing with this subject and I enjoyed it. The thing I didn't enjoy was that the book should have been longer. Now, it was all told quite quickly, sometimes going through days/weeks/months in just a page. If this would be more elaborate, it would have been a great book. Furthermore, the relations between the people living in the house were set, but not that developed in depth. I would have liked to know more about the characters and the irritations between them and how these came into existence.

An enjoyable book that should have been longer😉.

3,5/5⭐