SUSAN: BOOK REVIEW "Cold" by Brandon Shire

SUMMARY:
Prison is a brutal, heartless, and demeaning environment. No one knows this better than a man sentenced to life in prison for murder. Lem Porter is a high-profile prisoner who had a solid career ahead of him in a field he loved until he killed his brother. He has spent almost eighteen years behind bars and doesn’t have much hope left.

Anderson Passero had it all. He built a career, a name, and a relationship with a man he thought he loved. Only after he very publicly landed in prison did he realize how ignorant he’d been. He has eight months left on his sentence and he is eager to go home and put prison life behind him. He doesn’t know it yet, but he will always carry these eight months with him, and they may just help him to understand what love really means.

REVIEW:
You know when a character just gets you…grabs your heart & doesn’t let go…snakes under your skin and weaves into your mind…and you just won’t, don’t, can’t forget him? 

Meet Lem Porter. He’s a convicted murderer. He’s a lifer. He’s a loner. He’s a mystery. And I love him.

When you get this affected by a character, it’s hard to review the book as a whole. 

Much of Cold is about Lem and his life in prison, his refusal to hope, his secrets, his resignation to his fate.
Much is about Anderson, just months away from being released, trying to look forward, keep to himself, and rebuild his life on the outside. 
Some of this book is about the two of them and their unlikely relationship, their attraction, and the brutality AND beauty of their short time together. 
And some secrets just remain untold…

Yes…there is some repetition, some suspension of what I assume-to-be prison reality is required, and some holes to the story. 

BUT…the characters are just so well-written and impossible to forget. 

Lem...stop invading my dreams…

***some people have asked if this is "dark" or "violent" like other prison books. I would say there are some dark parts and some suggestions of violence, but it's not in your face or uncomfortably so. Hope that helps!

IN A NUTSHELL:
Finding friendship, companionship, and love in the midst of the cold walls and life of prison...beautiful...