A murder in the Alaskan wilderness is only the beginning of the unimaginable…
- FIRST PLACE-GOLD WINNER IN ACTION-ADVENTURE GENRE AT 2015 CIPA EVVY AWARDS!
- NAMED 2015 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY OUTSKIRTS PRESS!
Dave McClure is on a plane to Alaska in early winter, having quit his job with the FBI and turned his back on the world. It’s been a year since the horrific accident that claimed his wife and son, and McClure is still unable to move beyond his grief. Remembering the joy he once shared with his wife on vacation in Alaska, he heads north… seeking solace and also resolving to either put his painful past behind him or succumb to the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Instead, McClure finds a grisly scene in the forest – the body of a hunter whose throat has been cut ear to ear. And that’s only the beginning.
In SNOW MEN – equal parts international thriller and wilderness survival – McClure uncovers a cache of nuclear weapons and a Russian-Iranian plot to wipe the nation of Israel off the map. With only a hunting rifle, a pistol, and a few days’ worth of supplies, Dave McClure not only faces Russian Special Forces and the harsh reality of nature, but discovers a will to live he didn’t know he still had.
Spanning locales in Alaska, Paris, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Thailand, and Washington DC, SNOW MEN is a heart-pounding thriller set against the pristine beauty of Alaska’s rugged Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus Reviews - SNOW MEN
A former U.S. government agent faces off against Russian operatives who may be planning a nuclear attack in Alaska in Ceroni's (Meridian, 2000) thriller.
Ex-FBI agent Dave McClure leaves his Colorado home for Alaska. He hopes a wintry November trek will help him through the pain of losing his wife and son in a car collision a year earlier. But withstanding the cold takes a back seat when McClure finds a body in the snow. Nearby is the murderers' campsite, and McClure recognizes the men's weapons and dialect as Russian. They clearly have a mission planned, one that McClure aims to stop. Meanwhile, Mossad agents Raphael Mahler and Meira Dantzig team up with the CIA in America, surmising that the Russians will try to steal a nuclear warhead. The protagonist and Alaskan locale make a winning combo. McClure, for example, isn't just up against Russian baddies, but a blizzard and a couple of grizzlies as well. His survival skills, like using snow for drinking water, become second nature to the narrative. But the best scenes are of McClure in operative mode: he spies on the Russians to gather intel; sneaks into their campsite to steal a bit of food and sever their means of communication; and is well-prepared for inevitable confrontations against the armed men. At the same time, Raphael and Meira lead a story that feels completely separate from McClure's, even if the plots ultimately intersect. The Mossad agents spend much of their time guessing at what the Russians and Iranians are up to. These scenes, while never boring, lack tension since readers know more than the agents do. Their subplots gain traction once they connect with McClure's CIA pal Pete Novak, especially as a romance brews between Raphael and Meira. If nothing else, sequences involving the U.S. and Mossad agents making their ways to Alaska are reprieves from the much more exhilarating moments with McClure. He's a character who could have carried the story all on his own with only his intuition. And maybe a few guns.
A triumph thanks to its impressive snowy setting; should be read with a space heater handy. (KIRKUS Reviews)
Reviewed by Readers' Favorite - Snow Men
Snow Men by Andrew Ceroni is somewhat of an escapist adventure-cum-thriller. Dave McClure is an ex-FBI agent whose job resulted in his not being with his wife and child when they were killed in a car accident. He blames himself and makes the decision to embark on a journey to the wilderness of Alaska, where the harshness of survival will either bring back his reason for being alive, or take his life. A mysterious visit from his former boss prior to his departure hints that all is not as it should be, but Dave turns down the offer of an assignment and sets off on his journey to Alaska. Dave’s expedition, however, soon takes an unexpected turn as he finds a body that has clearly met an untimely death. What he discovers eventually leads to his having to call on all his former training, not only to survive but to avert an international disaster.
This is a stunning story involving espionage, terrorism, murder and survival. The author, Andrew Ceroni, has written an incredibly descriptive account of the Alaskan wilderness that would be a stand-alone story on its own, let alone a thriller, as this former FBI agent uncovers a secret world in the wilds of the northern hemisphere. The various aspects are cleverly woven to become a story of intrigue, tension, and excitement, and it is certainly a page-turner that had me on the edge of my seat. I will definitely seek out other works by this author. For those who love white-knuckle thrillers with adventure and extreme survival, this is one not to miss.
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