Frozen Fire - Tim Bowler

The Gist

Frozen Fire
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It starts when Dusty gets a phone call late at night. The voice on the other end is a boy she doesn't know, telling her that he's dying. He's committing suicide, but he wants someone to talk to. Then it gets weird, as this boy knows things about her life that he couldn't possibly know. Dusty is sure that the boy knows something about the disappearance of her brother Josh, so she sets out to find him. Trouble is, others are looking for him too, and they're out for blood.

What We Think
Reviewed by Living Destiny
Number of Pages: 328
Normally while writing a gist, I have to think hard about what to say, so I don't give anything away. In this case, there isn't anything I could give away, because very nearly nothing is resolved. And that is possibly the most irritating thing a book can do. There are so many interesting threads within the story, and ignoring the lack of good writing, these could have been fantastic aspects of the story if they were given answers. But they weren't. We're instead left wondering, as readers, how these elements fit, how they could be explained, and ultimately why we don't get to know. Does the author even know? Or did he just write down whatever popped into his head, but doesn't really know why it's there. Examples. Sometimes, when Dusty is walking through her snow covered town, everything gets too bright and she feels like she's leaving her body, and the whiteness envelopes her. The way it's described sounds dangerous, like she could die or something equally awful. The boy tells her that very few people see the fire, which we assume is the brightness. But then it's never explained. Why can she see it? What is it, exactly? I'll never know. The boy himself is, it appears, not quite human. So what is he? And how can he do what he does? Well, that isn't explained either. It's essentially a mosh pit of confusion.
And the writing. It wasn't good at all. There was too much description that didn't add much. It's been pretty well established that the town is cold and snowy. That doesn't need to be explained every time Dusty goes outside or looks out the window. The relationship between characters is dysfunctional, in every case. Dusty and the boy, Dusty and her parents, Dusty and her friends. Maybe she's just a messed up girl, but it's not believable. And speaking of unresolved issues, there's a group of kids in her grade that she hates. They're introduced for that specific purpose. And when they come in a second time they help her, and everyone's all nice. And that's it. It hangs there, and we're left wondering what happens between Dusty and this group. Again. I will say, there was something about the writing that drew me in. I'm not sure what it was, but it's the only thing that salvaged this book for me.
The characters were bad. Nothing else to say about it. Dusty's dad was whiny, her mom was a dead beat. Her friends were stuck up. The bad guys were completely unbelievable in their actions. Subtlety is a thing that is apparently unheard of in the works of Tim Bowler. Forming a lynch mob in the middle of a small town to go after a boy you can't even find is ridiculous. Oh, and the boy. He was ok. Except he understood nothing. He was a hot mess, basically. Dusty I didn't like. I get that she's headstrong and feisty, and I respect that, but she's always looking for a fight and not listening to anything anyone says, and those are foolish qualities. She's so fixated on her brother, and I know that losing a sibling must be a tragedy, but it's been two years since the time he vanished, and she has made no attempts at moving on. Side note on Dusty, or really the writing in general. I said she likes to get into fights. What I didn't mention is that people have no problem fighting back. Boys her own age will gladly punch her in the face. What happened to not hitting girls?
One good thing I can say, I'm impressed it's not a series. So often authors try to stretch out a story, either to make money or because they can't think of any other ideas. I have to respect Tim Bowler for writing a stand alone novel that, while not good at all, isn't just one in a series. Which I guess is a nice way of saying I'm glad there aren't more of it, but I really do have respect for the singular novel.
The more I think about it, the more I hate this book. There's something there, a little spark, that in the hands of a more competent author could turn into something good. But it seems nowadays that people don't write good books. I can't remember the last time I read a book I wholly enjoyed. And that's a sad fact.
Real Teen Rating ~ D: It passes time. I guess.