The Deep, Deep Snow

By: Brian Freeman

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

In an intense, emotional mystery that spans a decade in the life of a small town, best-selling author Brian Freeman brings us an unforgettable heroine who discovers that the dead may sometimes be easier to rescue than the living. 

Deputy Shelby Lake was abandoned as a baby, saved by a stranger who found her in the freezing cold. Now, years later, a young boy is missing - and Shelby is the one who must rescue a child. 

The only evidence of what happened to 10-year-old Jeremiah Sloan is a bicycle left behind on a lonely road. After a desperate search fails to locate him, the close bonds of Shelby’s hometown begin to fray under the weight of accusations and suspicion. Everyone around her is keeping secrets. Her adoptive father, her best friend, her best friend’s young daughter - they all have something to hide. Even Shelby is concealing a mistake that could jeopardize her career and her future. 

Unearthing the lies of the people in Jeremiah’s life doesn’t get the police and the FBI any closer to finding him. As time passes and the case grows cold, Shelby worries that the mystery will stay buried forever under the deep, deep snow. But even the deepest snow melts in the spring. 

When a tantalizing clue finally comes to light, Shelby must confront the darkest lie of all. Exposing the truth about Jeremiah will leave no one’s life untouched - including her own.

©2019 Brian N. Freeman (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Critic Reviews

"Freeman brings all the characters to life, highlighting their strengths as well as the darkness that lies within each of them, thus adding a delicious sense of uncertainty as to their motives. Readers will have a tough time putting this one down." (Publishers Weekly)

M'eh!

The story does suck you in but the ending just made me angry. I don't want to play spoiler but there are twists and turns that leave you saying "REALLY? You have this person do this and that person do the other thing, Really? How could that ever possibly happen?" One person gets totally hosed and the author resolves their situation in something like 2 sentences. I would be like "oh HELL no! I'm suing everybody!!!"
Aside from that, the author uses A LOT of silly similes that started to wear on me as the book went on. Not the best read and ultimately made me want to return the book to Audible, which I've never done before.

Just bad

Dumb police procedures,dumb people. A young boy disappears,no alerts go out,dumb. Questions asked go unanswered by smart-ass ppl then dropped or are met with, “well,why”? Hello,again..young boy missing. ANSWER THE QUESTION! Mother of kid is reeeaally obnoxious. The Sheriff showing signs of obvious dementia is ignored by daughter deputy, seriously?? The use of “teasers” got old quick.Just frustrating all around. The whole story drug from the start. Couldn’t take more than a few chapters.

Excellent

The story was perfect. Just the right amount of complexity, twist, turns & resolutions. The author crafted an excellent multi-layered mystery, and the narrator presented the story without a flaw.

Get this while it's the daily deal!!!!

Could not believe a brand new release from Brian Freeman is the Daily Deal! This is a no brainer, get the book. If you've listened to any of Freeman's other series (Jonathan Stride, Frost Easton or Cal Bolton) you will know that this is a Great book.
The publisher's summary gives a very good overview of this police procedural. The protagonist (Shelby Lake) has a very unique story about her infancy and how she came to be adopted by her father. The beginning of the story made me like Shelby's father and have a soft spot for her.
Ten years after a man is convicted of killing his wife and a little boy goes missing with out a clue, the first one turns up. Everything this story has led you to believe will be a fallacy. None of the characters will escape unscathed.
January LaVoy's narration is wonderful. Her inflections are perfect for each character.
This is an EXCELLENT book, it has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
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Wow!

I don’t usually have time to do a full review but this book touched me and I was riveted from the beginning. Because this is an Audible book I put a lot of weight on the narrator, and I can tell right away if it’s going to be a good, bad, or great performance. This was not a great performance... it was SUPERB!!!! Her voice took me deeper and deeper as each character formed. The story was also wonderful. I LOVED it and listened every chance that I got- even in the shower! Lol! Bravo!!!

Poorly written, heavy handed.

The story is ok. There’s nothing particularly cool or novel about it, but it will do. But the characters are so over the top in whatever direction, such caricatures. Ugh.

Great police procedural!

This book must have been offered as a bonus the day it was released. Since there were no reviews, I thought at first this might be a new and not very experienced author, but I clicked on Brian Freedman's name and saw that he has many books under his belt and in fact was selected as the official author to continue Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series. I love that series so I decided to give this one a try.

I downloaded it this morning and listened to it on my early morning walk. Obviously I haven't finished it yet but so far I'm enjoying it. The narrator is fine - has a good strong voice and is very convincing as the main character (the story is told in the first person).

I will add more when I finish the book. So far I am hooked on the story.

OK, here's an update. The narrator is flawless - distinctive voices for every character. The plot is interesting and the solution to the mystery was completely unexpected yet plausible in every detail. The book captivated me until the very end. Highly recommended!

Eye rolled through the whole story

(may have spoilers up ahead)
I rolled my eyes way too much while listening to this. From the silly spiritual stuff that didn’t make much sense (why an owl? Why the dreams with Jeremy?), to the shallow relationships, to the story itself that didn’t quite fit right.
I thought the police work described in the book was awful- don’t you think an ABANDONED AREA in a small town would be one of the first places you look when a kid is missing- not even FBI thought to look there? How did it take 10 years to solve that? Why weren’t people taken in for questioning instead of casually being spoken to off the record? Why was it so easy to solve 10 years later with no evidence, just epiphany? It was just dumb.
A lot of the characters seemed unnecessary, and I also thought it was really lame how much Shelby cared about her high school past and defined her old school mates by who they were then. Also Anna was an awful character and I don’t believe she deserved redemption- it’s one thing to be a child and make a mistake, it’s another to grow up, let someone else pay for your crime, and have the audacity to be a huge bitch to everyone instead of trying to be a worth while human being.

Great story even greater performance

I have to say that although somewhat predictable this story was very well written and they could not of selected a better reader to take you on this journey. I listen to a ton of book tapes and she is now in my top 3. I will now search for others she had performed. She has so many different characters she can encompass taking the listener on a believable journey.

As to the story. Very well written and yet if you are one of those that tries to solve it instead of let it unfold you can likely guess much of it aside from all the little details.

I liked how it didn’t have all the gushy heroin parts and instead you have a solid lead who can do it on her own. It doesn’t make you feel like she’s a damaged women nor that’s she’s manly strong, just a very likable believable real life woman. With that being said no this is not a book only a woman would be interested in. And although it is around the very touchy subject of child gone missing it is bearable to listen to and without the gore that makes you visualize graphic scenes. More like a real this could do very easily happen let’s protect our children tale.

My first by both author and reader. I will search for both again. Enjoy.

A tiny gem

While there were no true surprises, the book was very well written and narrated. At a time where anti-heroes/heroines are all the rage, and unreliable narrators par for the course, this book was a breath of fresh air. Believable characters, tightly crafted story, avoidance of cliches. A thoroughly enjoyable story of small-town life.

Impressive and engaging story

This is a rather "slow burn" story, but it's worth sitting back and letting it unfold. It has multiple interwoven threads, like real life, and two mysteries to be resolved, neither of which is typical of a "police story". Strong and plausible female first-person character, an engaging "support cast", and set in a rather different "small town" environment from any I've found in other stories.

Not sure I'd want to read others in the series, as I can't see the same character developing in an interesting way which even matches this story.

Superb storytelling

By far the best thing about this book is January LaVoy’s superb narration. Every character perfectly performed to the point where sometimes it’s more like listening to a radio play. A very fine piece of work. It’s a gripping story that will keep you guessing.