Title: Heart of Ice: A Triple Threat Novel
Authors: Lis Wiehl with April Henry
Published by Thomas Nelson, 2010
Kindle 3.1 edition
Heart of Ice, the third novel in the series, opens as Joey Decicco prepares to do his favorite thing: light a fire. His purpose: to burn down a house, on orders from a woman he first knew as Sissy.
In fact, Sissy, or Elizabeth, as she calls herself now, has no heart, if by heart we mean an ability to feel sympathy, empathy, compassion or understanding of another person. No one else is important, in her mind, except as they may be useful to her. The reason she pays Joey to burn down the house is that her boyfriend’s ex-wife and son live there. They take too much of his time, attention and money, all of which Elizabeth believes he ought to be giving to her. The fire is punishment for the ex-wife, punishment that backfires on Elizabeth, a bit later.
Throughout the book, Elizabeth punishes the people who get in her way. Anyone she can steal from is useful; anyone she can manipulate to do her dirty work for her is useful. When they become troublesome, she manipulates someone else to kill for her, preferring to keep her own hands clean. Before the story ends, though, Elizabeth has killed several people—not counting the children she had killed many years earlier.
So where does the Triple Threat come in? Allison Pearce, Nicole Hedges and Cassidy Shaw enter the story in Chapter 3. Allison is a federal prosecutor, Nicole an FBI special agent, and Cassidy the major crime reporter for Channel Four News. The three have worked together in two other major crimes, but their “Triple Threat” moniker came from their favorite shared dessert in which chocolate reigns supreme.
I first read about this trio in Hand of Fate, the second book in the series (Face of Betrayal was first). I liked the three protagonists so much that I could hardly wait for this third book to come out. After I began reading it, I wasn’t sure I could get through Chapter 2, which was all about Elizabeth. Fortunately, most chapters thereafter focused on one or all of the three protagonists; at least, the rest of the book was reasonably balanced. And I still really like Allison, Nicole and Cassidy. I just hope the authors don’t settle on such hard-core storylines.
Psycho-type movies or programs find no fan in me, and I wasn’t up for reading a psycho-thriller. That characterization is mine; the book is cataloged as a murder mystery, with related tags, but Agatha Christie wrote murder mysteries. Erle Stanley Gardner wrote murder mysteries. Jessica Fletcher, protagonist of the TV series, Murder, She Wrote, solved murder mysteries (based on Christie’s Miss Marple series). Their respective stories were definitely softer than many on the market, now, but they were truly child’s play, compared to this book.
Many people enjoy the cold, calculating, totally self-involved characters who brook no sympathy, feel no empathy, for their victims or anyone else. It’s all about them. So if you enjoy movies and books of that sort, you will love Heart of Ice. For that reason, I highly recommend the book and, for you, I’ll give it four stars. If you are more like me, I’d suggest you pass on it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze program. TN did not require me to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
