Synopsis
WORMS GONE WILD! It’s 1998, and the town of Demise, North Dakota, is recovering from the Meteor Murders, hundreds of deaths caused by alien worms but blamed on a mass poisoning by a doomsday cult. While nineteen-year-old Realene’s heroic actions saved the lives of many, she wants nothing more than to hide from the world and mourn the ones she couldn’t save. When a second half of the meteor is found north of the border where her best friend Nate is on a spring break trip, she’ll have to face her fears and venture into Canada to find him. The only thing standing in her way are rampant alien worms, a covert military op, and the cold snap of the century.
Review
Huge thanks to the author for the eARC! I swear I uploaded my star rating much sooner. I’m just behind on written reviews!
You can read my review for book 1 here!
Look at this cover, dudes! This might actually rival book one’s cover, and that’s a tall order. It perfectly encapsulates those old-school movie posters that you just know were gonna get slapped onto the front of the VHS release. Scantily-clad spring breakers, a religious fanatic, nods to the infected animals, and, of course, the cast and crew. I need physical copies of both, stat.
It’s just months after the recently titled (and covered up) Meteor Murders took place. With so much chaos and so many lives lost, a mass funeral procession took place, and while Realene is sinking into her sorrow, something sinister is on the horizon. Nate tries desperately to get her out of her funk, to join in on the spring break plans. A trip to Canada, a week away from the sadness at home, and even better, all taken care of by Harmon. The family friend has continued to look after Realene since the death of her mother, but why Canada??
So, how does this stack up as a sequel? For me, leaps and bounds better than the first, and I thoroughly enjoyed book one. The character work is something special, the action is well-crafted, and the location shift kept the setting exciting. The author even manages to shift the focus off of infected animals (although they are still there, and bigger than ever…), and we get to see the way it interacts with the human body. At first, this gives it more of a zombie feature feel, but the author doesn’t seem to do anything in half measures. The memory loss is amped up, so those not infected with rage are losing what seems to be years of themselves. It was an added layer of anxiety-inducing close calls for the gang. The switch to Canada was a great idea. Dragging the gang out of Demise allowed for the introduction of new characters, overall made everything feel new, and the fact that they didn’t know where they were, in a blizzard no less, was just another thing keeping me on the edge of my seat.
Cold Snap also takes a darker turn. The fun-filled 90s references and neon colors are still there for us, but the subject matter is dark! Realene is deep in her loss and grief. She’s pushing away the only close people left. Not only that, but the climax reveals some implications for her that really successfully drove home the depths the author was taking us (as spoiler-free as possible for ya). And of course, there’s Nate, the lovingly endearing bestie that can’t let her stay down. The juxtaposition of the best friends’ diverging paths after the Meteor Murders was deftly handled, and really made for such an enticing read. Nate lost his father, who, frankly, was kind of a bad dude. So for him, his struggle is how he wants to move on with his life. His mother may be struggling to forgive him, but he also has a new girlfriend, so he has reason to look forward. If anything, Realene feels there’s little reason to look anywhere but back. While her mother was suffering from dementia before, and slowly losing herself, her abrupt death has now left Realene with neither parent. The author does a fantastic job of crisscrossing the friends’ behavior/mindsets by the end.
This sequel features one hell of a climactic twist. Not only that those close to you can deceive, but that your entire perception can shift at the drop of a hat…as if an alien worm that turns anything it touches into mindless, rageful freaks wasn’t enough. A military bunker and a whole bunch of secrets await those who read (and everyone should), and if I don’t get a sequel soon, Dark Matter Ink will be hearing from me!
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