What They Say:
Declan enters the realm of chaos, the eerie Boston inhabited by the mentally unstable, in search of the woman who cared for him. But with his body temperature rapidly dropping, he might not make it out in time…much less save the girl.
The Review: (please note that content portions of review may contain spoilers)
In order to save Reece from Nimble Jack it is going to take a bit more than just blindly charging in to win the day and in order to increase his chances for success Declan is going to try to increase his odds, though the extent of his preparation is simply to visit a local supermarket and pick up a digital thermometer in order to properly gauge how much of his power he can use before his own life comes to an end and thwarts his rescue attempt. Unfortunately for a couple of people around him Declan still hasn’t gotten over his time spent silent and the freedom to speak he now has and the words keep coming out, even if the receiver is rather disturbed by the frankly unbelievable nature of things…well other than the man who hears dog’s talking who finds it not that incredible and whose mind Declan uses to enter the other world.
Upon entering the other world the man whose mind Declan used for passage seems to be more lucid than he was in the “real” world and Declan uses the opportunity to share some of what he knows of the place with the man, though he also has to deal with some of the man’s personal fears that haunt the place but worse in the shadows lurks Jack, just waiting. As they chase after Reece the pair learn that Jack isn’t the only one in this world that they should fear…though perhaps this makes things worse as even the enormous and terrifying things here at least respect- if not outright fear- Jack. With his time running out is Declan going to have enough heat left to start to repair some of his mistakes or is he just preparing himself as the perfect meal for Jack?
Like a well paced horror movie the current issue of Colder really has a wonderful sense of timing to draw its audience in as it uses some absurd situations and humor at the beginning of the book to disarm the reader and place them off guard as the story then reinterprets the world that had been seen previously through the eyes of another person that Declan uses to enter it showing off that while similar in construction each person he encounters with “madness” in them is stuck in their own private hell. And as the two try to move forward with Declan trying to save Reece and his new “friend” in tow the two are stalked which ups the danger quotient while also increasing the reasons to fear Jack that Declan already has when he learns that even some of the residents of this world are not eager to cross him.
The volume also restores to Declan a bit of the good Samaritan like role that he first displayed in the second volume but cast away in panic in the previous volume when being hunted. Now that he has a clear goal of rescuing rather than protecting and had a bit of time to gather his wits and courage about him Declan is operating in a far more collected manner as he is more careful about who he uses to gain what he needs and the danger to them while trying to be careful about his excretions so that he doesn’t wind up perishing from the cold before he can rescue Reece. Of course, Jack has other ideas of how Declan should perish and in this surreal and incredibly conceived and drawn world it is possible that anything might happen…though miracles seem further away than ever.
In Summary:
The penultimate chapter in this story arrives and brings with it the chance that Declan might have been better served having never woken up as not only has he found himself reigniting the voracious desires of Nimble Jack but his actions have put into jeopardy the woman who looked after him out of kindness and who now finds herself being repaid in a most horrible way. With time seeming to run out as his body temperature drops Declan has one chance to save the woman as a form of penance for his actions…but all the while the ultimate predator patiently stalks from the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to strike and feed.
Grade: B+
