Fatal Frost by Nancy Mehl is the first of the Defenders of Justice series.  If you enjoy reading books about law enforcement and their fight against evil, this is a decent read.  Be warned though that it is not a soft and easy read.  There are many discussions of the harsh realities of gangs and their ruthless behaviors.

The main character, Mercy Brennan, feels flat and unengaging; however, some of her friends are more intriguing.  As the story progresses Mercy does become a bit more interesting, but it just doesn’t inspire a deep connection to her.  One good thing about Mercy is that she does not give up even when things are hard.

The story itself has an okay plot that gives readers plenty of opportunities to guess what might be coming, but at the same time, it is fairly predictable.  There are a lot of instances of jumping around to multiple people’s perspectives and it felt disjointed.  Part of that can be attributed to the Advanced Reader Copy as it had no transitional markings.

Review of a Digital Advance Reader Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Bethany House Publishers

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None 

Violence/Gore:  Many reports of people being shot, some fatal, some not, some give details and others are merely mentions; a multiple chapter instance of characters shooting one another and trying to capture one another – in this several are wounded and there is blood oozing from wounds and on people’s clothing, hands, etc. some of the gunshots are fatal, other scenes involve people being handcuffed or bound and people striking others with objects; several instances in which a person is threatened with a gun; characters speculate about whether or not there will be a blood bath; several instances in which a character expresses intent to kill someone; report of a person being shot and killed in front of a child. 

Sex/Nudity:  Non-married characters kiss and embrace; a male character is required to remove all but his underwear, not sexual; a man removes his shirt to dress a wound; character says a past relationship wasn’t chaste; character recalls a mom entertaining men, but the specifics of the entertainment are not given.

Mature Subject Matter:

Child abuse, addictions, gang activity, death of family members, deception.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Subject of book is drug cartels and gangs; report that a person was an alcoholic; report that a character was a drug addict and had needle marks.