The new psychological thriller by Ashley Kalagian Blunt is a perfect crime read – I couldn’t stop obsessively turning the pages, desperate to know what happens, but I also tried to slow down my reading because I didn’t want it to end. Cold Truth (Ultimo Press 2025) is the second of Kalagian Blunt’s techno crime novels, a genre that is gaining traction as quickly as AI, malware, spyware, identity theft, data breaches and phone hacking seem to be intruding into our daily lives.
Previously a nebulous sort of threat, these technological terrors are becoming more and more common, invading our privacy, our homes, our workplaces and our lives with an insidious relentlessness. This author takes this high-tech reality and imagines the very worst case scenario –somebody using technology for absolutely the wrong reasons: to steal our identity or our money, to imitate or intimidate our friends or family, to become the reason for murder.
The book’s tagline is ‘When you can fake anything, how do you know what’s real?’ The author plays on this premise with creativity, research, imagination and fear, exploring every angle of what could possibly go wrong, and the result is a terrifying thriller that is made even more horrifying because it is based on everyday technological software and devices that are available now on the Dark Web for anyone with the nous, the cash or the evil intentions to use them.
The story centres on Harlow Close, an influencer in Winnipeg, Canada, who operates a small tour and information company that provides visitors with a ‘secrets of Winnipeg’ experience. Known for its freezing temperatures (sometimes minus 40 degrees) and its isolation, Winnipeg is often referred to as North America’s strangest city. Harlow takes advantage of everything unusual Winnipeg has to offer, planning her tours to be fascinating, unique and unforgettable.
It is during one particularly bad cold snap that Harlow’s father disappears. Suspicions arise immediately and the police confirm they suspect foul play. Scott Close is not the type to leave town without notifying his two daughters, Blaise and especially Harlow, with whom he has an extremely close bond. Hampered by the terrible weather and frustrated by the slowness of officials to follow up on leads, Harlow attempts to find her father herself.
The book hooked me immediately from the first page. The chapters are short, sharp and compelling, each one ending in a cliffhanger that forced me to begin the next chapter! Every chapter is headed by a date and time (not unusual) but also by a temperature, which had the effect of reminding me every few pages of the desolate conditions and freezing cold hampering everyone’s attempts even to leave the house, let alone investigate a missing person. Incredibly, the entire novel takes place over only five days, so every action and incident is reported in detail, almost minute by minute. This creates a high stakes, time-critical and pacy situation that is tense, taut and nerve-wracking.
The linear narrative is interspersed with two other formats: the first an intermittent section labelled mysteriously ‘Elsewhere’, and it is in these sinister and menacing sections that we learn of the evil occurring out of Harlow’s sphere, although of course we suspect that eventually this will intersect with her life. The second is a series of interactions on the Dark Web which are equally frightening and unsettling. Kalagian Blunt cleverly uses these two alternative narratives to update us on the terrible things that are actually going on, so as readers we are provided with certain information unknown to Harlow. This has the effect of tightening the tension even further.
By only page 28, the suspense was so severe I couldn’t believe the author had got us so entangled and invested in such a short time. By page 50, we have already been constantly surprised by characters not being who we thought they were, and this confusion only continues to deepen throughout the novel. The character development is superb, the building of tension is immersive and the measured reveals are enough to give us small moments of reprieve but also serve to create more questions than answers.
The whole novel looks effortless, but as a writer, I can understand how tirelessly Kalagian Blunt has worked to perfect this scaffolding without us being able to see it or even know it’s there. It is not visible and contributes to the seamless narrative.
Ashley Kalagian Blunt has truly found her niche as a writer of techno psychological thrillers (get ready bookstores – you will need a new shelf for this genre). And as technology advances every year, I suspect there will always be something new for this author to exploit. There were so many tech surprises in this book that I had never heard of, and as with her first crime novel, Dark Mode, the author shows through the story just how vulnerable and naïve we all can be regarding the internet, privacy and social media. I had no idea that some of the techniques and devices used in this novel were a real thing. It’s scary stuff, and definitely made me think about my own security (or lack of) in this area.
Trust and ignorance are big themes in this story. I was unsure of so many characters. In fact, I think that this is one of only a few books (perhaps the only one) where every single character, at one time or another, felt unbelievable, suspicious, untrustworthy, unreliable or duplicitous. But then I’d read the next chapter and think, no, that can’t be right, that character is ok, it must be this other person. Over and over again that happened, until the final pages of the story. The author gives us enough hints or police information to make us suspicious of certain individuals but then contradicts that with other details that force us to doubt our suspicions.
In addition to themes of trust and ignorance, the book delves into family relationships, scams, rumour and speculation and the effects of distrust, ambition, greed, deceit and loyalty. Cold Truth is compelling, vividly raw and visceral, full of twists, fast-paced and, quite frankly, terrifying. The setting – atmospheric and evocative – places us firmly in the freezing cold of a Winnipeg winter. My hands felt numb, my voice hurt, the tips of my ears tingled and my eyelashes froze – I completely understood the feeling of wading through deep powdery snow or slipping on ice, the anxiety of being outside in the weather (underdressed) for even a minute or two, and the fear of frostbite or immediate hypothermia. (And I read the book in the midst of a Brisbane summer!)
Authentic characters, touches of warmth to dispel the cold, witty humour and playing on our worst fears all contribute to Cold Truth being a truly unputdownable and engrossing psychological thriller.