BOOK REVIEW: FROSTBITE 2: LABYRINTH BY DAVE JEFFERY

Prepare for a dangerous journey into yeti country….

If there is an author due a totally stellar 2021 then Dave Jeffery must be close to the top of the list. This versatile and classy writer is well overdue discovery by a much wider audience, and I hope Frostbite 2: Labyrinth and the soon to be released (not to mention excellent) A Quiet Apocalypse: Cathedral both help the cause. Although both books are being published very close together, they are distinctly different beasts, with Frostbite 2 a pulpy Himalayan yeti action story with a science fiction spin, and Cathedral a gripping dystopian nightmare, set some years after an apocalypse. I’ve already read Cathedral and am happy to vouch for its quality and although the latest Frostbite yarn does not hit the same emotional buttons, nor does it try to, it remains fast paced and easy to read fun. The plot is truly preposterous, and then some, but that is part of its b-movie style charm. If you have ever watched the cult horror film Dog Soldiers, switch the werewolves for yetis, and you are heading in the right direction for what lies ahead in the freezing snow drifts.

Frostbite was originally published in 2017 and Labyrinth continues the same tight story, picking up the action on Mount Machapuchare immediately after the conclusion of book one. It would be relatively easy to just directly into this continuation without having read its predecessor as the narrative fills in the various gaps, however, completists might want to head back to the beginning and there is nothing wrong with that, as Frostbite was an outstanding action, over the top, horror novel. Neither is particularly long, so if you are new to the series reading them back-to-back might be the preferred tactic.

By way of brief recap, the original concerns a special ops team who are sent to rescue an anthropologist who is feared trapped on a sacred mountain in the Himalayas, a place where the locals fear the mythical yeti roams dishing out bloody retribution on anyone who is dumb enough to stray into its territory. Unfazed by local superstition and folklore, the team see an opportunity to make some easy money at the expense of their employer’s gullibility (nobody believes in yetis right?) and once they make it onto the frozen mountain all hell breaks loose and the body count increases and the crazy plot switches up the gears. But hold onto your hats, the truly bat-shit crazy stuff is saved for the long-awaited sequel, which throws plenty of new stuff into the story mix.

Frostbite 2: Labyrinth picks up the action on the mountain, with the story continuing with the same characters Knowles, Sully and Johns, as well as plenty of other new dudes who are given extensive back stories which help pace out the action (even if you are certain this character is going to end up as dogmeat). There were some outstanding action sequences, including a cool one when a helicopter is brought down and others within the caves of the mountain as various characters are stalked and picked off, threatened by avalanches or have their guts spilled in the deadly snow. Throughout the story the weather is atrocious, and you will be reaching for your winter warmers and a wee snifter to unchill your bones in no time.

There was a muted, but crucial, science fiction strand in Frostbite which is impressively developed into the main storyline in Labyrinth. To be honest, I had forgotten about this and had to doublecheck it featured in book one, but it adds much to the plot, making this considerably more than a trashy yeti story. In fact, the yetis start fighting with these other ‘false yeti’ bastards (and the rest) in some particularly cool scenes which have serious bite and are amongst the strongest in the book. It is because of this storyline I would recommend reading the predecessor first as it is dropped into the plot very early in this sequel and could be a tad confusing if you have jumped straight into Labyrinth.

Dave Jeffery wisely realised that he had to make his yetis something more than vicious killing machines and does this with great aplomb in this second instalment. How, you may ask? I did say this story has strong science fiction elements and he creates a way in which the yeti can communicate with the main character Knowles and thus becomes something more than a brutal nameless enemy. This was very cool, and I quickly found myself rooting for the yeti, and when three other yetis were introduced things got better and better as two of them were the equivalent of teenagers. I loved the teen yetis and the brief glimpses of yeti culture, how they are named for example, which was interwoven into the story. In fact, I would have preferred to have found out more about the yetis, rather than the backstories of the mercenaries. The nameless bad guy monster from book one quickly develops a face and ‘Sully’ had serious game and the banter between him and Knowles was entertaining stuff, and they were both top notch central leads.

Frostbite 2 is not a deep and meaningful novel, it wears its heart on its sleeve and delivers action, death, lots of blood, some great kill scenes and entertaining banter between the characters. You might not shed a tear as many of the mercenaries meet their maker and you might even find yourself rooting for the hairy beasts. It also has a cool ending which will have you wondering when part three might be with us. Let us hope we do not have to wait another three years.

Finally, Dave Jeffery previously wrote a very cool werewolf novella called Tooth and Nail and so if there was ever any literary demand for a werewolf-yeti monster mash-up I know which author I would suggest write it.

Tony Jones