If Agatha Christie, Michael Crichton, Isaac Asimov, and Alfred Hitchcock had a (literary) love child, it’d likely take the form of Timothy S. Johnston’s second book in The Tanner Sequence series, THE FREEZER. A masterful combination of horror, sci-fi technothriller, and locked-room mystery, Mr. Johnston’s sophomore novel delivers a tautly paced thriller with Hitchcockian pitch-perfect tension and suspense that surpasses his excellent debut, THE FURNACE, and will have you staying up all night to finish it.
Homicide investigator Lieutenant Kyle Tanner—whom we first met in THE FURNACE, though the mysteries are all self-contained—is en route to Pluto for his engineer girlfriend’s latest assignment and working cases along the way when a mysterious death on a colony in the asteroid between Mars and Jupiter summons him to Ceres. The case is a strange one: a physician-scientist formerly on Jupiter’s ice moon Europa, dead from an aneurysm caused by a nano-bomb inserted in his aorta. A second, more personal—and shocking (apologies to the passersby startled by my very vocal “you did NOT just go there!” outburst upon reading it)— murder by the same MO and Tanner’s discovery that he harbours a nano-bomb himself that will rupture his aorta in four days sends him to a military outpost known as The Freezer in the barren and inhospitable wasteland that is Europa to investigate. Nothing at The Freezer is as it seems and no one is cooperating, and Tanner must unravel the facility’s secrets and find the killer whilst his life ticks away and he stands at the edge of an emotional precipice. The successful locked-room mystery requires that the tension be kept high and the characters (and reader) feeling claustrophobic throughout to stretch everyone’s psyche to the breaking point, and Mr. Johnston does it masterfully from the opening pages. Tanner’s happiness and blossoming new life with girlfriend Shaheen; the deeply personal nature of that second murder; the looming death sentence from the bomb; the dangers of The Freezer’s environment, where the unstable ice, cold, or radiation could easily kill you; the scarce means of escape; the secrets and deception and inability to know whom to trust; the horror of The Freezer’s true purpose; the gruesome murders—it all combines to ratchet up tension with every passing page in a way that does Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense himself, proud.
Less heavy on the science—but still very much science-driven and clearly well researched—than its predecessor, THE FREEZER is more fast-paced and action driven than THE FURNACE. In keeping with Mr. Johnston’s style of melding mystery and suspense/thriller elements, the first half of the book is primarily an Agatha-Christie-in-space whodunit, and Kyle Tanner is a futuristic Hercule Poirot whose knack for uncovering clues and putting together the pieces of seemingly unsolvable crimes is astonishing. Unlike the bombastic and egocentric (albeit admittedly brilliant) Poirot, Tanner is humble, likeable, and real, and on an emotional journey that challenges who he is and what he believes in. The Tanner Sequence books are set in the not-too-distant future where the Terran Confederacy and its Council have saved humanity from greed and corruption and now rule with an iron hand, ruthlessly crushing any semblance of opposition to its authoritarian rule. As a member of the military, Tanner is a tool of that dictatorship and finds himself conflicted between the unquestioned obedience & adherence to the chain of command demanded by the military and the disgruntlement & dissidence of civilians. Tanner’s growth as a character and evolution in this respect is most evident and compelling reading the series in order, but new readers who discover Mr. Johnston’s work with THE FREEZER will still be able to appreciate the richness and awesomeness of Tanner’s character. I’m generally not a fan of first-person narratives, but it works beautifully to make the Tanner Sequence books experiential for the reader and greatly up the ante: I felt as if I was Tanner, racing against the clock to kind the killer and unsure of whether I would live past the next minute.
THE FREEZER is a gripping page-turner that surpasses its already-excellent predecessor and makes a fantastic addition to The Tanner Sequence series. The science is compelling, the writing is excellent, and the depth of human depravity it explores is both disturbing and realistic. It’s not for the squeamish, but fans of mysteries and technothrillers should certainly check out Mr. Johnston’s work. I look forward to Tanner’s next adventure in THE VOID, and any future books in The Tanner Sequence!
**ARC provided by Author**
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Uncivilized was a seriously sexy read by Sawyer Bennett, and I really enjoyed reading this one. This book was so different from anything that I have ever read before, and I really liked how unique it was. I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something that is not only different from others out there and are looking for a book with some a lot heat and steam.
I have been waiting for Kate and Carson's story since I finished Scarred by Love. I knew that there was so much more to those two, and I couldn't wait to see what was next for them. Broken by Love was really well written, and I loved seeing these two again. Broken by Love can be read as a standalone story without having read Scarred by Love. But I would start at the beginning to get some of the back story on these two, as well as to get to know a lot of the other characters featured in this story.
Maggie Robinson is a former teacher, library clerk and mother of four who woke up in the middle of the night, absolutely compelled to create the perfect man and use as many adjectives and adverbs as possible doing so. A transplanted New Yorker, she lives with her not-quite perfect husband in Maine, where the cold winters are ideal for staying inside and writing hot historical romances. Her books have been or will be translated into French, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Thai, Dutch and Italian.
Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah, that's it. She is the National Bestselling Author of The Loving on the Edge series from Berkley Heat.
As a child, Angela Corbett’s most prized possession was a set of read-along books. She used to follow along with the narrator on the stereo and dream of when she would be able to read by herself. Her childhood reading habit led her to consider her future career. However, after consulting with her parents, she realized she had already exceeded hobbit height and since fairies and dragonslayers were tricky jobs to get, she decided she wanted to create worlds of her own. She started writing poetry in elementary school and worked as a journalist in high school and college, but could never leave her love for writing fiction behind. 
USA Today bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly grew up in the Chicago area and earned her degree in Fine Arts from Loyola University. She met the love of her life while studying abroad in Rome, Italy, only to discover he’d been living right around the corner from her back home. Having spent her twenties working and playing in the Windy City, she’s now settled with her husband in rural Minnesota, where their four beautiful children provide an excess of action and entertainment. When she isn’t reading, writing, or running to keep up with the kids, she loves watching movies, blabbing with the girls, and cooking with her husband and friends.
