According to her creator, Cass Neary
is "your prototypical amoral speedfreak crankhead kleptomaniac murderous rage-filled alcoholic bisexual heavily tattooed American female photographer." She's all of that and smart and kind of funny. She accepts a job authenticating a series of photographs in Helsinki, partly to make some much needed money and to get out of the path of the police who may come looking for her. When the photographer and his assistant turn up dead, she makes a quick detour to Iceland to try to track down an old chum who recently got in touch. Fast, dark, and fascinating, this book is really something else.
OK, so call me freaky (only with a touch less enthusiasm, please), but I was fascinated with the descriptions of the photos and with how they were taken. I so wanted to learn all about them and to solve their mystery, so was a bit disappointed with the somewhat mundane solution of who was offing the members of the group, and why. I liked the crystals and hope that they are real! Cass left me cold, like the landscape of Iceland. In fact, all the characters, as well as the book itself were frozen, cold and barren to me, unlikeable, in fact. Dispite this, the writing kept me reading. The descriptions of the landscape were wonderful and let me see clearly all around. Would I read another by this author? If I saw her books on the shelves of the library, I would probably read one, just to see how it differs from this book, but I don't think I'd buy one.
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