"A pulse-quickening read about a hot-button topic..."

• ASIN: ‎ B0CVQWY75Z
• Publisher: ‎ Heathen Press (February 21, 2024)
• Language: ‎ English
• Paperback: ‎ 338 pages
• ISBN-13: ‎ 979-8986329857
• Genre: International Police Thrillers

The BookViral Review:

Every bit as thrilling and engrossing as Chernov’s previous releases, Commissar and Severed Echoes, Cold Trace sees the return of Nick Severs in another smart and enormously enjoyable thriller.

A pulse-quickening read about a hot-button topic that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish Chernov does what he does best as he shines an authentic light on one of the criminal horrors of our time.

All decent people share a fundamental outrage at child sexual abuse but Chernov is prepared to go where the majority of authors would shy away from to give us a focused piece of storytelling with a powerful sense of empathy.

Whilst most mainstream thrillers are slick enough to engage their readers they tend to be rather mechanical, soulless affairs that avoid anything that might clearly define who their characters are and why we should care about them. On this level, Chernov’s style of writing takes us back to a time when thrillers were written with maximum skill and the minimum pretence underpinned by strong dialogue, motive and clearly identifiable characters.

As events unfold Claire finds herself drawn once again to Roses and her hacker collective as Chernov peels back the veneer of daily life to comprehensively depict the cruel and dehumanizing practices of human trafficking and the child sex trade on a global scale. Taking readers into a world where thousands of children are groomed or abducted for sexual exploitation and sex tourism.

Nick Severs is a quietly spoken but resolute character who thinks before pulling his gun and it’s the strength of his character along with Chernov’s thoughtfulness and ambitious narrative that makes Cold Trace unusually suspenseful, gripping, and disturbing whilst engaging the heart with the same fervour it engages the mind.

A superb release from Chernov which will leave readers eager to see where the Nick Severs series takes us next Cold Trace is an unreservedly recommended Golden Quill read.