Burning Cold

Set during the Hungarian revolution in 1956 and the immediate Soviet response, this is a beautifully written piece of historical narrative fiction.  Budapest and the surrounding country are so perfectly described that I could visualize them and found myself swept away by the pace and plotting.

It's rare to find an author who is so gifted writing descriptive prose. I really felt completely immersed in the story.  I was engaged with the characters and really hoping everything would work out in the end.  The juxtaposition of brutal, even casual, violence and art and culture, love and humanity, living side by side were heartbreaking.

It's a relatively short book (Amazon lists it as 169 pages) and is a quick but very profound read.  It's not very often that I find myself finishing a book and having the desire to go back and re-read it.  This one did it for me.  I really enjoyed this book so very much.

It's listed as the second Cara Walden mystery, but works perfectly well as a standalone book.  I intend to go buy the first book, and have added the author to my future TBR list as well.

Exceptional book.

Five stars

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher