DRY ICE
Stephen White
Dutton Adult
Suspense/Thriller
ISBN-10: 0525949976
ISBN-13: 9780525949978

• About the Book
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview -- March 23, 2007
• Reading Group Guide

Each volume that releases in Stephen White's suspense/thriller series featuring Boulder, Colorado clinical psychologist Alan Gregory becomes a new benchmark by which his next effort should be judged. DRY ICE, the latest Gregory novel, is no exception.

A recurring, unifying theme of White's work has been professional ethics, specifically the issue of confidentiality. Things are rarely cut and dry in this area, and White continuously lays bare the problems that can occur when even the best-intended rule can result in unforeseen, adverse consequences. This is the case in DRY ICE when treatment begins for Kol Kruz, an enigmatic, bizarre individual whose appearance is both a harbinger and a catalyst of a series of events that promises to irrevocably change Gregory's life as he knows it.

Other happenings, which coincide with the initiation of Kruz's treatment, shake Gregory to his core. His wife, Lauren, experiences an exacerbation of multiple sclerosis, even as she is heavily involved in the supervision of a grand jury proceeding --- in which one of the witnesses is missing --- that is about to dovetail dramatically into Gregory's life. Meanwhile, Michael McClelland, the brilliant and determined murderer introduced in PRIVILEGED INFORMATION (the first Gregory novel) has escaped from the Colorado State Mental Hospital and is almost certainly after Gregory's family. Then suddenly, and unexplainably, Gregory finds himself a suspect in the disappearance of the grand jury witness; he is in danger of losing the trust of his wife and of his best friend, Boulder police detective Sam Purdy.

Yet, Lauren and Purdy each have secrets of their own that not only impede their ability to conduct an investigation but also impact their respective careers. And we discover, after lo these many years, that Gregory has an all-consuming secret as well, one that has influenced him --- for good and for ill --- for decades. It is a secret that may affect Gregory's ability to remove the cloud of suspicion and distrust over him and, more importantly, to defend himself and his family against McClelland, a seemingly omnipresent threat who can strike at will and without warning.

There is a resolution to DRY ICE that, while satisfying, is neither neat nor pretty, and leaves enough unresolved issues to keep the reader on tenterhooks waiting for White's next work. If you're familiar with what has transpired in previous Gregory books, then I'm preaching to the choir. If you're not, please stop depriving yourself and jump on board one of the finest current series in suspense fiction.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.

Back to top.