Cold

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

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⭐

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.