I really wanted to enjoy this book much more than I did in the end. I had definitely been looking forward reading it for some time (actually, to listening to it during workouts). I've been a fan of this series for years, long before the TV series made an appearance, but I did feel a disconnect with Jane while reading, seeing Angie Harmon in her place!

One of the best aspects of the Rizzoli & Isles books is their interaction as they work together to solve a case. I like their cooperation despite the clash of their different personalities and approaches. In Ice Cold, Jane and Maura are separated for the majority of the book, and it did't really work for me, or give me what I expect from this series.

We end up too much in Maura's head, listening to her thoughts and worries, rather than watching her doing something. Her situation of being stranded with an injured person and having to deal with a live patient rather than a corpse only made me feel she was less competent, rather than more. Jane is more a doer than a thinker and she at least had Gabe to bounce ideas off of, but Maura's separation forced so much of her POV into her thoughts rather than dialog, and it was slow going.

I also felt shortchanged on the resolution to the mystery surrounding what happened at Kingdom Come. It was clear almost immediately that what we were supposed to expect wasn't what happened, and when in the end we learn the truth, it felt like a stretch to explain the deaths and the actions of people trying to cover it up.

Tess Gerritsen tried to take on two pretty big issues in this book (religious cults and the shady Dahlia group's actions), and keep her two main characters but failed to pay off on anything really new or interesting on either issue. I think she missed the boat on a chance to explore the cult and Jeremiah's end got wrapped up far too quickly to satisfy me.

I am a sucker for a happy ending, and I will admit to liking how they resolved the issue of Julian's future. I won't give away which characters make a return appearance, but it certainly gives me something to look forward to in a future installment when we get to see Julian again.