Cold Light by Traci L. Slatton

Cold Light:
The end of the world brings chaos, madness, and psychic powers. For Emma and Arthur, separated by an ocean, it brings a love that demands everything. Emma's beloved daughter is kidnapped by vengeful raiders, and Emma embarks on a soul-crushing journey to rescue her. When Arthur finds Emma, can she trust him? Against impossible odds, Emma draws near the rogue camp, where she also confronts the deepest choice of her heart....

Cold Light takes its readers across the cold plains of Alberta with vivid scenery, and it was full of action and fast paced storytelling. This is the second book in the After trilogy by Traci L. Slatton, if you haven’t read the first book, Fallen, you really need to in order to understand what is going on in this story. While I did enjoy most of the story, I still had a lot of qualms with Arthur and his controlling, demanding ways. There were a few points that I took issue with, for example: Emma goes off alone (her husband promised to stay with their youngest daughter so she wouldn’t be without at least one of her parents) into sub-zero temperatures to rescue her oldest daughter, but after teaming up again with Arthur (who left Europe in order to get Emma back) suddenly they cross paths with her husband—who miraculously “saw” that the path to rescuing their daughter was open, and he should be among the rescuers. It felt like a very forced love triangle and took away from the story for me. On the other hand, Traci wove a successful tale of heartache, sacrifice and survival. Emotions run high as well as the danger and tension surrounding the characters. Emma is successful in rescuing her daughter but now she has to make a decision: return to Europe with Arthur, the man she has fallen madly in love with, while he tries to destroy the mists forever. Or stay in Canada with her husband and children.  While to me, this wasn't a very strong second for a trilogy, I am interested to see what happens to Emma and the world in the final book: Far Shore.