Published By: Viper
Pages: 400
Released On: 02/03/2023
ON THE TOUGHEST REALITY SHOW ON TELEVISION
A KILLER IS HIDING OUT OF SHOT
Frozen Out is set to be a TV sensation. On a small ship off the coast of Greenland, eight contestants will push themselves to breaking point for a £100,000 prize.
The show is Tori Matsuka’s baby. After years working her way up the ladder, she’s finally launching her own production company with Frozen Out, and the late nights, the debts, the strain on her relationship will all be worthwhile. Everything is riding on the next twelve days. For camerawoman Dee, it’s a chance to start again after the tragedy that tanked her undercover journalism career. Not even Tori, her oldest friend, knows the full truth of why Dee left her previous job, and she plans to keep it that way.
But as errors and mishaps mount on set, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. And when one of the contestants is found dead, only Dee realises the death wasn’t natural – and from what she’s seen from behind the camera, it won’t be the last. As the Arctic ice closes in around them and all chance of escape is cut off, it becomes clear that although the world outside wants them dead, it’s the secrets inside the ship that might cost them their lives.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Viper for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is definitely an “on the fence” kind of book. I’ve been hearing about it for a while now and it sounded like it would be really good. Such a great premise, it sounded like it would be really tense and creepy and atmospheric and claustrophobic. But sadly, it fell short of my expectations.
It started off slow (I kept looking at the page number to see how far I’d got) and unfortunately, it never really hit its stride. It sounded like it would be this creepy thriller, but it never got that far. It felt very everyday, and I never felt much concern or fear for the case. Even the location fell flat. The middle of the icy ocean, it could have been so good, but it almost felt like an afterthought.
One positive point is there was a small cast, which meant it was relatively simple to figure out who was who, which means you can focus more on the actual story. The problem is, none of them are very memorable. You have Dee and Tori who are the leads, but I never really fell into either of their stories. No-one was really standout in either a positive or negative way, and so then you end up not caring. I’d rather someone be a really horrible character than a “meh” character, as at least I’d have something to get my teeth into.
It felt a bit bitty. Lots of things dropped into conversation to whet the appetite but never picked up on. This was probably with the hope it would build up the tension, but I just felt a bit annoyed after a while.
I think it would have been improved by introducing the deaths earlier. I know you have to introduce everyone and build up this sense of unease, but that only works if the setup is worth it. But I was already considering giving up before it got to the first death, and it needed that to hook you in. However, if I’m honest, even when things started to kick off, I still found it somewhat tedious.
I have seen some really positive reviews, and I’ve also seen some negative ones. I’m definitely somewhere in the middle. Great promise but it didn’t live up to its potential. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good. A bit vanilla and unsatisfying for me.
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