I read and reviewed Graham Smith’s books featuring DI Harry Evans and I really enjoyed them. Although I have a couple of the books featuring Jake Boulder on my ever increasing ‘to be read’ pile, I have never got around to reading them. Sorry Graham. However, when I was invited to take part in the blog blitz for ‘Die Cold’, I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to get to know Jake Boulder. Now I realise just what it is I have been missing and I can guarantee that the rest of the Jake Boulder series will not be on my ‘to be read’ mountain for that much longer. I must admit that I took to and liked the character of Jake Boulder from the start. In fact I developed something of a soft spot for him. I guess every girl and boy likes a hero. That’s certainly what I found him to be. Jake is a complex character. It’s obvious that he has been through some very traumatic incidents in his past and they still affect him to this day. Jake has cut himself off from his nearest and dearest to protect them. It’s as if he has gone into self imposed exile. Jake is taking time out to heal and to find himself again. It’s very true to say that trouble certainly follows him around and in that respect he is very much line John McClane from the Die Hard films. Jake is a loner and he avoids getting too close to others. Will Jake save the day again? Who are the terrorists and what is their motivation? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you. ‘Die Cold’ is a cleverly plotted book, which grabs you by the throat and it certainly doesn’t let you go until the moment you have finished reading. It was definitely a case of ‘settle down, strap yourself in and enjoy the ride (or in this case enjoy the read)’. That was certainly the case for me. Reading this book was much like watching a Hollywood movie in that you have a hero, you have terrorists, you have a situation but bam in comes the hero to save the day. I soon became addicted to reading ‘Die Cold’. The author’s writing style is such that he draws you into the story from the moment you begin to read. The more I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to be turning. It seemed to take next to no time for me to get through the book but in reality it was a matter of hours. I was enjoying the writing style, the plot and the characters so much I didn’t realise how quickly the time was passing. Usually I have the attention span of a gnat but not in this case because I was able to focus solely on the story. Reading ‘Die Cold’ was much like being on a rather scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with twists and turns aplenty. It is one of those books that causes your adrenaline levels to soar, your heart rate to hit the roof and will leave you speechless at times. I found that there were also certain moments that I didn’t see coming and when they came along, I felt as though I had taken a punch to the gut and had the breath knocked out of me. There were several occasions where I almost had to read through my fingers because I genuinely feared what was awaiting me and my hero over the page. In short I loved reading ‘Die Cold’ and I will definitely be reading the other Jake Boulder books just as soon as I can. I would definitely recommend this author and his books to anybody. I can’t wait to read what comes next from Graham Smith. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.