Audiobook Review
Author: Alexandra Sokoloff- Performed by RC Bray
- Published: July 2015 by Brilliance Audio
- Category: Crime, Thriller, Suspense
The hunt for mass murderer Cara Lindstrom is over. FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke has been working for this moment: the capture of a killer who savagely hunts the worst of humanity. But Roarke remains traumatized by his own near-death at the hands of the serial killer who slaughtered Cara’s family…and haunted by the enigmatic woman who saved his life.
Then the sixteen-year-old prostitute who witnessed Cara’s most recent murder goes missing, and suddenly pimps are turning up dead on the streets of San Francisco, killed with an MO eerily similar to Cara’s handiwork.
Continuing the story of Cara Lindstrom, the sole survivor at five years old of her family’s horrific massacre by a serial killer, and FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Matthew Roarke, whose career in law enforcement is a direct result of Cara’s tragic past.
Cara is being held, captured after saving Roarke’s life, at County Women’s #8. The case against her rests on the testimony of sixteen year old Jade, who witnessed Cara killing Jade’s abusive pimp, Danny Ramirez. When a comparable murder is committed, obviously not by Cara, she is granted bail while awaiting trial. As soon as she is free, she disappears. Even in prison there’s no getting away from physical and sexual abuse and someone has to pay the price.
Although killing generally is unacceptable, somehow Cara’s perception of ‘It’, the evil that never dies, her view of the world and experiences with predators make her actions, if nothing else, conceivable to a degree. It’s hard to feel sorry for the loss of those who exploit and abuse children and young women.
She has that few moments’ advantage because she knows Its sound, Its smell: the hoarse and grating breath, the stink of sweat and malevolence. She knows what has come for her because she has been in a room with It before. She is only twelve now, but she is bigger and stronger and deadlier than she was at five. And she has something else. This time she is angry. This thing, this excrescence, has stolen her family, has left her alone and scorned and shunned. This time she will fight, and fight to kill.
Roarke and his team, Special Agents Damien Epps, Antara Singh and Ryan Jones have lost sight of Cara amid the media frenzy following her arrest, the spate of killings and Cara’s now almost cult status among the online community, equating her with Santa Muerte, the goddess of death. Roarke’s horror and hopelessness at the depth of depravity being uncovered as the investigation progresses, and the seemingly insurmountable task he’s faced with, is completely believable. It begs the question how do people in law enforcement cope with the dreadful things they see and have to handle.
Cold Moon deals with and confronts the heartbreaking and appalling practice of child abduction, trafficking and forced prostitution, in the chilling knowledge this unimaginable practice is real and prevalent in our cities and towns … ‘gangs had caught onto the fact that selling kids was more lucrative than selling drugs and carried lighter criminal penalties.’
Alexandra Sokoloff’s understanding and insight is shown by her characters’ dialogue, introspection and inner conflict. I love this series although it’s a very hard listen in places. The depth of research must have been quite a traumatic experience. But the end result is compelling, well written and full of suspense and emotion, with engaging, true to life characters. Another superb performance with moving and powerful characterisations from RC Bray.
My thanks to Alexandra Sokoloff and NetGalley for a complimentary review copy. This does not affect my opinions or the content of this review.
Book links ~ Amazon UK Amazon US
My reviews for Huntress Moon and Blood Moon, books 1 & 2
About the author
Alexandra Sokoloff is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill Award-nominated author of the supernatural thrillers The Harrowing, The Price, The Unseen, Book of Shadows, The Shifters, and The Space Between, and the Thriller Award-nominated, Amazon bestselling Huntress FBI thriller series (Huntress Moon, Blood Moon). The New York Times Book Review has called her a “daughter of Mary Shelley,” and her books “Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.”
As a screenwriter she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written two non-fiction workbooks: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog (ScreenwritingTricks.com), and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA, west (the screenwriters union) and the board of the Mystery Writers of America.
Alex is a California native and a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, where she majored in theater and minored in everything Berkeley has a reputation for. In her spare time (!) she performs with Heather Graham’s all-author Slush Pile Players, and dances like a fiend. She is also very active on Facebook. But not an addict. Seriously, it’s under control.
Alexandra Sokoloff can be found on Twitter, Facebook and her website
betweenthelinesbookblog.com 
Great review, Cathy.
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Thanks, Michelle.
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I’m definitely going to have to add this to my list, a great review Cathy for what sounds like a terrific read.
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I loved the whole series, Georgia
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