Marlene's Reviews > The Man Burned by Winter

”The Man Burned by Winter” is the first book in the Rooker Lindstöm thriller series. The scene is set in Minnesota during the middle of winter with lots of snow and bitter cold.
The book focuses on a serial killer who is evading law enforcement.

Rooker Lindstrom is a former journalist from California who just happens to be the son of the known serial killer, Gunner Lindstrom, who prowled Minnesota in the 1990’s. Rooker was also credited with catching another serial killer in California which ultimately cost him his marriage and his young son’s life.

Rooker is back and now living in his psychotic and very abusive father’s cabin on a Minnesota lake. He is ruthlessly trying to avoid his all consuming emotional pain by regularly drinking himself into oblivion.

Detective Tess Harlow is the lead in the frustrating investigation into the gruesome murders of women by an elusive killer. Tess and her team have run out of leads and her job is on the line if they fail to stop the killer before another female victim is found. In desperation, she makes a controversial decision by persuading Rooker Lindstrom to join her team as a consultant.

As a member of the team, Rooker soon realizes that the killer is taunting him as he gruesomely displays the women he murders just like Rooker’s father did years ago.

The suspense was heightened by the eerie description of snow laden forests and frozen lakes. I did find that there were loose ends especially between the under developed characters and the ending. When the killer was revealed, I had to go back to review the connections between many of the characters in order to make sense of the ending. I mainly questioned how the killer stayed hidden from friends and family while growing up in a small town.

I found this to be a captivating, psychological thriller that kept me wondering what was going to happen next. The author created an interesting albeit troubled and imperfect protagonist in Rooker, the son of a serial killer, who grew up to catch serial killers. Also, without spoiling the plot, the author subtly included intriguing perspectives from Tess and the murderer which added insight to the story.