Ice : a novel by Linda Howard

Ice: a novel by Linda Howard. 198 pp.

Linda Howard's last few books have been romantic suspense novels that, at some point, have a large section featuring the hero and/or heroine escaping from a very difficult physical environment--a house fire, an isolated town with a storm coming on--while simultaneously dodging bad guys of some kind. In Ice she jettisons most of the setup section, where normally we'd get invested in the characters, and immediately starts out with the hazard: oncoming ice storm in rural Maine, complicated by a home invasion by a couple of meth users. The tension is high for most of this short book, and the author is smart enough not to slap a "happily ever after" ending on a 24-hour relationship (although, of course, signs are good that this couple could develop such an ending eventually). A perfectly serviceable book, but not outstanding in any way.