Cold Pursuit by Nancy Mehl: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

Ex-FBI profiler River Ryland still suffers from PTSD after a case went horribly wrong. Needing a fresh start, she moves to St. Louis to be near her ailing mother and opens a private investigation firm with her friend and former FBI partner, Tony St. Clair. They're soon approached by a grieving mother who wants them to find out what happened to her teenaged son, who disappeared four years ago. River knows there's almost no hope the boy is still alive, but his mother needs closure, and River and Tony need a case, no matter how cold it might be.

But as they follow the boy's trail, which gets more complicated at every turn, they find themselves in the path of a murderer determined to punish anyone who gets in his way. As River and Tony race to stop him before he kills again, an even more dangerous threat emerges, stirring up the past that haunts River and plotting an end to her future.

Nancy Mehl (nancymehl.com) is the author of more than fifty books, a Parable bestseller, and the winner of an ACFW Book of the Year Award, a Carol Award, and the Daphne du Maurier Award. She has also been a finalist for two Carol Awards and the Christy Award. Nancy writes from her home in Missouri, where she lives with her husband, Norman, and their puggle, Watson.

Nancy Mehl is one of those authors who I know is going to always deliver a great story. She is a master at suspense that will keep me on the edge of my seat every single time... and Cold Pursuit was no exception to that. 

Right from the beginning, this story drew me in and had me wanting to see what was going to happen next. I mean seriously... that intro! Unlike some suspense story where part of the fun is trying to figure out who the bad guy is, in this one we know pretty early on. In fact, we get several glimpses inside of their head, which adds quite a unique element to this story, and really added to the overall creepiness of the story too. 

While I really enjoyed the story, I must admit that because it was dealing with a killer who we know struggles with mental illness (schizophrenia among them), I struggled with that a bit and worried that it would perhaps paint all mental illness or at least with that particular one in a negative light. As someone who struggles with various mental illnesses myself (different to those in the book), I was definitely probably overthinking that just a bit as I do tend to be more sensitive to such things. In the end, it does make mention that not all people with schizophrenia are dangerous or bad people so that made me feel a little better about it.

Another thing that I really appreciated in the story was how it took on the topic of faith in a way that felt very realistic to the characters. They weren't perfect by any means, but I particularly enjoyed seeing River's perspective change throughout. 

Overall, it was definitely a page turner and a great set up for the series to come! If you enjoy Christian suspense, this is certainly one to check out.