Winter Rising
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Winter Rising
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Narrated by:
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Ell Potter
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By:
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Alex Callister
Summary
Winter returns to face the most feared hitman of all time, the Guardsman.
Winter has put the world of organised crime into crisis by unmasking its boss, Alek Konstantin. Hunted and permanently on the run, he has been caught on camera in Mexico, Virginia and Marseille. Retracing his steps, Winter attempts to uncover his motives and bring the world's most wanted man out of hiding using the tracker he embedded in her wrist. But things aren't quite that simple. After finding Lucy and watching her die a sickening death, Winter's desire to bring down the legendary Guardsman overrides her orders. Knowing Firestorm’s top contract killer is experimenting on victims, she takes a contract out on herself to catch him.
Once again disguised as her alter ego, Snow White, Winter follows the Guardsman to Moscow expecting to spring the trap. However, things aren't quite what they seem. Who is the Guardsman and why does he know everything about Winter? With the reality of the situation unravelling as the world’s leaders assemble in London, just how much has Winter underestimated her opponent and is the realisation all too late?
Winter faces her biggest challenge yet in this dark commentary on our surveillance society.
©2019 Alex Callister (P)2019 Audible, LtdPraise for Winter from listeners of Winter Dark
Winter is a vivid character with a daring, wild attitude - a heroine who breaks the stereotype of government spies and action heroes. I could almost picture her and and Jack Reacher meeting in a dark alley, knowing Winter would give him a run for his money.
- CarolC
So unusual to have a good, strong, female lead character and in Winter Dark we finally have one.
– twolittletinkers
Winter is the perfect protagonist mixing Lara Croft/Jason Bourne
- Stephen Hollins
Continue the series
Critic reviews
"If you like Becky Sharp or Emma Peel or Lisbeth Salander, you will love Winter: she can out-punch Bourne and out-pull Bond. And her zinging one-liners leave Jack Reacher for dead." (Andy Martin, author of Reacher Said Nothing and With Child.
Even our greatest writers fail at the hurdle of delivering a second novel to match the admired qualities of their first offering—indeed, it is virtually a truism of literary criticism. But everything which garnered so much praise (not to mention a loyal fan base) in "Winter Dark" where Winter made her debut is there in this sequel—and to the same high standard. Its well-judged pace, its many moments of dark humour, its use of present tense narrative in a way that increases dramatic visualization for the reader are all there; and most of all what the author does best, small-scale interactions between her female characters on all levels, from the momentarily empathetic to the skeptically ironic—and occasionally overtly sexual. Alex Callister seems incapable of creating even a transient walk-on female character who does not immediately come completely alive before the ears, even if that character’s existence is confined to a mere couple of sentences. No contemporary thriller writer known to me does female-to-female interaction better. And talking of other writers, their imprint is there for the hungry literary detective to unearth, if so minded. A book like this does not emerge from a vacuum, but Alex Callister nods only to the crème de la crème: Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, John le Carré’s Smiley, and even dame Agtha—not to mention a host of action movie references for those in the know.
The performance—and it IS a performance, not a mere reading—is just as superlative as it was in "Winter Dark". Ell Potter, Audible’s "break-out narrator for 2019", as the present reviewer understands it, breathes a kind of passionate life into the whole that frankly makes one wonder why Audible does not use her more. For example, see the devilishly clever finale, where both performer and writer are at their finest. This is surely what Audible was invented for.
The word "finale" here is deliberately chosen, for there is a distinctly operatic feel to the climax. It falls in two distinct parts, the first being a small group ensemble and is quite the best scene in the book: doused in black humour, we are treated to the delicious spectacle of an increasingly bewildered Winter faced with her failure to predict correctly imminent events, not once, but three times in succession. From here we move into a grand large cast ensemble second scene for the finale proper, which brings everything to a Wagnerian conclusion. As the final chord dies away and the curtain comes down, before you applaud and head for the exit and the cold street air of quotidian life, you will certainly be asking yourself what this star composer is planning for you the next time you take your seat in the stalls. Whatever devilment it is, my advice is to book early and avoid disappointment.
WINTER—NOT RISING, BUT SOARING...
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Brilliant
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Better than first book!
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This (and the first book) has been a gripping and entertaining listen. It’s everything you could want in your classic modern spy story. Alex’s writing is fast paced and satisfying. I love how her descriptions, sense of immediacy and use of place draw you into the action. Ell Potter skilfully brings the characters to life.
Why has it taken the literary world so long to come around to writing with a strong female lead like Winter? The Winter series are the thrillers that I wish had always been around. I can’t wait for the third book.
I’m glad Winter is here again.
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Top Marks
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