Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman

If first impressions truly make or break your opinion, then you may be turned off by Jenny Milchman's debut novel, Cover of Snow. As I began reading, I was attracted to the main premise. The problem, however, lied in the writing itself. It seemed that Milchman felt it necessary to include detailed descriptions, similes and analogies in nearly every sentence. Details can be helpful, but too much of a good thing can be overkill. Add to this the cold, seemingly two-dimensional characters, and you can begin to understand why this novel opened with a bitter taste. To use one of the author's devices, reading the opening of the novel was like fining a bone in the first course of a meal.

Despite this, the premise of the story is very intriguing. Nora Hamilton wakes up to an empty bed and immediately knows that something is wrong. Her husband is a police officer in their small town, and always follows a morning routine. When she doesn't hear the shower running, and notices that she overslept, she is certain something terrible has happened. Her world comes crashing down when she discovers her husband hanging from a light fixture.

With no note left, and no actions that would have indicated her husband's willingness to take his own life, Nora struggles to find answers. As she begins to dig into the last weeks of her husbands life, she soon realizes how little she really knew of the man. Even worse, he seems to have been part of a larger conspiracy that dates back over twenty-five years. Nora soon finds herself in a race to reveal the truth behind her husband's death before those responsible silence her as well.

The opening of this novel just didn't work for me. Writing style aside, I felt zero sympathy for Nora, whose husband had just committed suicide. Instead of being the sensitive widow that I expected from the situation, Nora came off as a callous, unfeeling woman who, despite the efforts of the author to convince me otherwise, was emotionally unaffected by her husbands death. Therefore, when she decided to find reasoning behind the suicide, I didn't really care to know how it occurred.

Fortunately, there is a silver lining of promise to this novel. After the excruciating first third, Milchman begins to take a much more direct approach to her writing, giving this thriller, the pace that it desperately needs. As Nora digs deeper into her husband's death, we are given the suspense, thrills, and intrigue that the excellent premise warrants. The ending, while a bit preposterous, really satisfied, and I was pleased that I continued to read the entire novel. Of course, the latter half of the book still contained a few cringe worthy descriptions, but the action and suspense had picked up to a level that made me disregard the author's shortcomings. While Cover of Snow is no masterpiece, it does provide enough intrigue to serve as an entertaining afternoon read. Author Jenny Milchman still has some growing to do, but I'm interested in seeing what she comes up with next.

For more information, visit the authors website, Amazon, and GoodReads.

(2013: week 3, book 3)


This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19, 2013 and is filed under ,,,,,,,,,,,. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

13 Responses to “Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman”

  1. I liked the book.have read great reviews would love to read it.Lomazowr@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I commented on Amazon. thank you for the giveaway. jtretin@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I liked your review! thank you for the giveaway as well.

    sareiner@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I read your review. Thanks. My email is ashpur7@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. email is wvpamb at gmail dot com. I read the review and this book sounded like something I would like to read.Thank you for the nice giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This looks like a great book! I read the review! Thank you for the giveaway! sliquephysique@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. This book sounds awesome..would love to win!
    I read the review .. thank you so much.

    melly66@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have clicked on yes.

    sallsue@q.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have read the review. the book sounds exciting. Just my type of book. email address is jmccomb724@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Read the review. Charlyk at Byu dot net

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sounds amazing
    tmertensjo@integra.net

    ReplyDelete
  12. parwaizriaz@gmail.com

    I completed the above step.

    Cant wait to win this one ..:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congratulations to Stephanie Reiner! She will receive an ARC of Jenny Milchman's Cover of SNow Thanks to everyone who entered this contest and especially to the publisher for providing a copy of this novel. Be sure to check back for more exciting giveaways.

    ReplyDelete

Powered by Blogger.