Book of the Month: March

I had to think hard about which book is my favorite of the month. The contenders were The Fourth Princess by Janie Chang, Cold Zero by Brad Thor and The Star From Calcutta by Sujata Massey. The authors of these three books each wrote their best books in their series to date. After reflecting on them for a few days I decided that Cold Zero by Brad Thor was my best novel for March.

Cold Zero is a spy thriller but it isn't part of Thor's Scot Harvath spy series. There are fresh new characters and the main character, Kasey Sheridan, is a CIA spy extraordinaire. In fact, she would be a great protagonist for a new series. Now, I don't know what the authors think about this but I am giving them a strong hint that I would like a new series.

Cold Zero opened with an autonomous taxi causing mayhem in Hong Kong streets. Chinese scientist Chen Li and CIA officer Kasey Sheridan are trying to escape from China along with Chen's briefcase which contains the Sky Fire technology. Chen is not in this taxi though. The Chinese, however, believe he is and are chasing it. During the chase Chen and Sheridan board a private plane in Macau heading towards New York City where Chen plans to defect. It is soon determined that the two are list in a plane crash. The plot just gets crazier after the crash.

The writing between the two authors, Brad Thor and Ward Larsen, is superb. There are no lows in the plot. It has nonstop action throughout the story and the short chapters help the fast pace of the book. Cold Zero is a thriller reader's thriller. I loved this book and can see it on my top ten mysteries of 2026.