This short story is a tale of revenge. John and Pam were former husband and wife. He calls her to his death bed. Although Pam was the more highly educated, John was the more successful of the two. When married, he tried to control her life and was unfaithful to their relationship. Their troubled son Zachary died in an automobile accident. I'll let you read how this short story plays out. While I didn't love this very dark story, I didn't hate it. ( )

Cold, Cold Heart by Karin Slaughter is a Kindle Single and is truly a short story. The story itself is over and done by the 39% mark in the downloaded epub. It is then followed by an excerpt from The Kept Woman advertised to be on sale 20 September 2016. The prolog to that excerpt should guarantee sales. This is one of those times when it is good to take Amazon’s offer of a free sample. But back to the short story Cold, Cold Heart.

Jon (previously John, before the later than mid-life crisis) and Pam had been together and married for a long time. Both were high school teachers; they had little money and had to live on a tightly controlled budget. And Jon controlled the budget very strictly even refusing to give Pam lunch money when she had run out early in the week. He did give her advice; she was to budget more wisely.

Jon believed he had superior intellect even though Pam was the one with a doctorate in biology. Jon held no advanced degree. For any problem that popped up, Jon shrugged his shoulders and replied that they should just let things work themselves out. That did not work out so well with their son Zachary. Pam informed Jon about the drugs, the alcohol, the exuberant sex life of their teenage son but Jon just shrugged it off. But Jon could not shrug off Zachary’s death in a car accident. Jon could not get over ignoring Pam’s earlier concerns when it was found that Zachary’s blood alcohol content was six times over the legal limit. Jon blamed the failure of their sex life after the death of their son on depression.

But Pam already knew about some of Jon’s infidelities. She put up with some but could not ignore the one in which he ran away with a younger woman, went to California, and married her. Jon had spent a lot of time prior to his divorce from Pam writing a book. It was hugely successful; Jon became rich. He tried to give some money to Pam but the betrayed wife accepted none of it. And now Jon had phoned her to invite her to visit him in California and witness his death.

Jon had accepted death but wanted to be decapitated and have his head and body cryogenically preserved for a later return. He also wanted to see Pam one last time, not to apologize for anything but to confess. Jon had kept journals for all of the time he had been married to Pam. He wanted her to read them. In each journal, he named the women he had a relationship with during his marriage to Pam. There were a lot of journals. Rather than making amends to Pam, he wanted to gloat, to stick the knife in once again, with a shrug of the shoulders and a smirk.

And now it is Pam’s turn. Her reaction and behavior in response to Jon’s confession makes the story worth reading.

The characters in this short story are well developed. I felt sorry for the wasted life that was Pam’s. I loathed the superior attitude of Jon (John). Zachary was not around long enough to engender feelings but he was only important as a writing prompt. The story “action” is mostly in Pam’s mind as she looks back and reflects on her married life: what she knew, what she didn’t know, the unequal and unfair life she had with Jon. As her reflections alternate between her feelings about herself, her son Zach, and her changing feelings for Jon, the story moves quickly.

I almost never read the follow on excerpts. I did so here and now feel I have to buy The Kept Woman. ( )

COLD COLD HEART, is yet another deliciously evil, witty, and satisfying short story by Karin Slaughter, as fans anxiously await her upcoming THE KEPT WOMAN (5 Stars). Both are Must Reads! If you haven’t already read 2015 Pretty Girls , please do so. No one quite like the "queen" of crime thrillers.

John had been dead for almost two years. They had been married for many years and had met at a young adult Sunday school class some twenty-four years earlier. They dated, became lovers, married, taught high school chemistry and biology, and had a beautiful son Zachary. Everything was perfect at first.

Pam was now alone at age fifty-two, and for the first time in her life she did not care about her appearance. Her marriage had not been good. She recalled when he was dying and asked her to come.

Zachary was gone, too. At age sixteen. He died too young. She had warned her husband about their son’s drinking. Would her son be alive today if she had stood up to her husband?

John had said he wanted to be put into stasis. He wanted to be cryogenically frozen, so he could be reanimated one day. Who wants more of the sucker?

His book Biological Healing had been on the bestseller list. He wrote about his son and his ex-wife. Nine years earlier, she had caught him cheating with one of the other secretaries. He was mean, and hateful, and never mentioned the real truth in his stupid book. He had been with some woman the day before their son died, she discovered when reading his journals. The smirk on his face, when he was dying and the other wife, half his age.

However, now with his body, is her chance to get REVENGE once and for all! She will make sure he knows.

Even Slaughter’s clever short stories are entertaining! A sneak preview included of The Kept Woman. Do not miss the Will Trent/Sara/Angie saga!

In addition to the e-book, also used an Audible credit and Shannon Cochran was a perfect voice for the protagonist!

JDCMustReadBooks ( )

YAY! I was so happy to get my hands on Cold, Cold Heart, A Short Story, by Karin Slaughter. I love her novels and I am curious to see if she can draw me in and leave me wanting more with this short story.

They couldn’t get past the tragedy, so after twenty years of marriage, she was on her own.

I wonder, is she out for revenge?

I love that she is her own person, doing the things she had denied herself to stay in shape. Don’t we all do that, wanting to look different, wanting our older bodies to look like it’s twenty?

She is strong, stronger than John, her ex.

And John, I really don’t like him. He’s a jerk and makes it easy not to like him! The more I read about him, the more pissed off I get! When you read about him, I think you will agree.

As morbid as the book gets, I can’t help but laugh at Pam’s thoughts, at times. To me that speaks to Karin Slaughter’s ability to write a great story.

OMG. I didn’t see that coming. I am really pissed now. What a…oh man, I can’t say it. I can’t give away too much. BUT, I so badly want to talk about my feelings of hatred and disgust.

I LOVE it. Cold,Cold Heart is filled with cruelty, vengeance and, at least for me, some laughter. The twisted ending left me with a smile on my face and a feeling of satisfaction.

I had some difficulty getting my review copy, but seeing it is Karin Slaughter, I broke down and bought it. I read it in an hour and it is worth the ninety nine cents I paid for it!

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COLD COLD HEART, is yet another deliciously evil, witty, and satisfying short story by Karin Slaughter, as fans anxiously await her upcoming THE KEPT WOMAN (5 Stars). Both are Must Reads! If you haven’t already read 2015 Pretty Girls , please do so. No one quite like the "queen" of crime thrillers.

John had been dead for almost two years. They had been married for many years and had met at a young adult Sunday school class some twenty-four years earlier. They dated, became lovers, married, taught high school chemistry and biology, and had a beautiful son Zachary. Everything was perfect at first.

Pam was now alone at age fifty-two, and for the first time in her life she did not care about her appearance. Her marriage had not been good. She recalled when he was dying and asked her to come.

Zachary was gone, too. At age sixteen. He died too young. She had warned her husband about their son’s drinking. Would her son be alive today if she had stood up to her husband?

John had said he wanted to be put into stasis. He wanted to be cryogenically frozen, so he could be reanimated one day. Who wants more of the sucker?

His book Biological Healing had been on the bestseller list. He wrote about his son and his ex-wife. Nine years earlier, she had caught him cheating with one of the other secretaries. He was mean, and hateful, and never mentioned the real truth in his stupid book. He had been with some woman the day before their son died, she discovered when reading his journals. The smirk on his face, when he was dying and the other wife, half his age.

However, now with his body, is her chance to get REVENGE once and for all! She will make sure he knows.

Even Slaughter’s clever short stories are entertaining! A sneak preview included of The Kept Woman. Do not miss the Will Trent/Sara/Angie saga!

In addition to the e-book, also used an Audible credit and Shannon Cochran was a perfect voice for the protagonist!

JDCMustReadBooks ( )