Book - Supernatural: Cold Fire

Does Supernatural fan Romeo Kennedy get chills over the tie in novel Supernatural: Cold Fire by John Passarella... 

I don’t usually read a lot of tie-in novels and this is probably the first Supernatural tie-in novel I have read. Cold Fire takes place during the episodes ‘About a Boy’ and ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ in season Ten of the long running (and quite brilliant) TV series. Sam and Dean Winchester, along with everyone's favourite angel, Castiel investigate a brutal murder but as most things with Supernatural all is not as it seems.

When a gruesome murder takes place in Braden Heights, Indiana, the local authorities suspect the disembowelled and eyeless corpse is the result of an animal attack. But when another body is discovered, the eyes gouged out, Sam, Dean, and Castiel start looking for connections between the victims - and discover both men were soon-to-be-fathers. As the boys hunt the killer, they unearth the town’s troubled past, and secrets some would prefer stay buried forever.

(Spoilers ahead for those who have not yet seen season ten of the show.)

This is a standalone story and its events happen whilst the boys take a break from trying to rid Dean of the Mark of Cain. Of course “taking a break” for the Winchesters means that they will no doubt go and upset something lurking in the dark.

Passarella starts things off with a little of what the reader can expect from the main plot, and we also see Dean and Sam hunting a Chimera. I found the beginning few chapters very slow and difficult to connect with. The Chimera fight went on a little long and at times I felt a little bored. However, after that, things picked up and Passarella paces the story nicely and the revelations as to what on earth is going on are slowly revealed. Castiel fits nicely into the mix with helping the brothers and doesn’t just feel jammed in their for the fans and there were some nice references to Jimmy and Claire Novak. At times it felt like reading a screenplay for the TV series. As the mystery unfolds and the twists and turns the reader can experience quite a good finale.

It is all in all a good story, but I wasn’t blown away. Castiel was the highlight of the book for me, he was well written and is just as he appears on the show. It was my beloved Winchester brothers. Something about their interactions with each other and even with Castiel made me feel a little empty, like something was missing, but that's just me. There is however some lovely stuff about Dean’s struggle against the Mark though along with some references to the First Blade.

If you’re a fan of the series then I would suggest that you definitely give this book a go. Even I will be giving it another read.

Supernatural: Cold Fire is out now from Titan Books.

Image - Amazon