Synopsis
A paranormal thriller from Carnegie Medal—winner Tim Bowler!
It starts with a phone call. “I'm dying,” a voice tells Dusty. Who is he and how has he gotten her cell number? Dusty wants no part of this strange boy . . . until he begins saying things that only someone who knows her intimately could say—things that lead her to think he knows the whereabouts of her brother, who disappeared over a year ago. Suddenly drawn in, Dusty very much wants to save this boy. Trouble is, she cannot find him. Part human, part spirit, he won't let himself be found. He is too dangerous, he says. There are mobs of people who agree and who want to see this boy dead . . . and who will hurt anyone who stands in their way.
A gripping, hair-raising mystery about a boy not of this world, and a girl determined to protect him.
KLIATT
"I'm dying," says a boy's voice on the phone in the opening line of this spooky thriller. Dusty, age 15, doesn't know what to make of the call, especially when the boy says his name is Josh—the name of her brother, who vanished two years ago and is presumed dead. Or could Josh really be alive? Dusty is determined to find the caller, undeterred by mysterious threats, menacing men with guns, and more than a hint of the supernatural. The "frozen fire" of the title refers in part to the snow constantly falling on the British countryside where Dusty's quest takes place, and also reflects Dusty's obsession with her brother—she's frozen, unable to move forward—as well as the cold, creepy, tense tone of the story, despite its lyrical language. The suspense is nail biting in this psychological mystery, and fans of Bowler's other imaginative works, like River Boy and Storm Catchers, will be eager to read this new page-turner. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick