Cold snap

It's only been two weeks since Christine Sinclaire's husband, Derek, slipped off the roof of their house while putting up Christmas lights. She's still reliving that horrifying moment when he slipped and she couldn't grab him in time to stop his fatal fall. Needing to get away from all the memories in their home and the stream of well-meaning neighbors, she packs up her angsty 15-year-old son and the cat, both of whom preferred Derek to her, and they head to the remote cabin in the snowy Pennsylvania Wilds that Derek had booked them for the holidays. Instead of peace, Christine experiences even more torment, as a great horned figure lurks in the shadows and calls her name in her dead husband's voice; the figure turns out to be decidedly dangerous. In descriptive prose, Ryan makes readers feel the anguish and terror that everyday life becomes after a devastating loss, almost as horrifying as the creature that stalks Christine. VERDICT Ryan (Bless Your Heart) writes a haunting and affecting novella that portrays the wrenching nature of grief and guilt.--Melissa DeWild