A paranormal thriller from Carnegie Medal?winner Tim Bowler! It starts with a phone call. ?I?m dying,? a voice tells Dusty. Who is he and how has he gotten her cell number? Dusty wants no part of this strange boy . . . until he begins saying things that only someone who knows her intimately could say?things that lead her to think he knows the whereabouts of her brother, who disappeared over a year ago. Suddenly drawn in, Dusty very much wants to save this boy. Trouble is, she cannot find him. Part human, part spirit, he won?t let himself be found. He is too dangerous, he says. There are mobs of people who agree and who want to see this boy dead . . . and who will hurt anyone who stands in their way. A gripping, hair-raising mystery about a boy not of this world, and a girl determined to protect him. Grade 9 Up—"I'm sorry, little Dusty. Good-bye, little Dusty." These words, spoken by a stranger on a cell phone, are the same ones uttered by the British teen's brother before he disappeared. The boy on the phone claims he has overdosed and is dying. Dusty walks out into the snow to find him and enters into a supernatural puzzle beyond her imagination. She follows his snowy footprints to a place where they inexplicably vanish, but not long afterward, she learns he has not died. She soon finds herself pursued by vigilantes who are also looking for this boy. They claim he has abnormally snow-white skin and hair and is responsible for a number of reprehensible crimes. Dusty, convinced that he knows something about her brother, refuses to give him up to the mob before he reveals his secrets. Dusty is a bitter tomboy with many disagreeable characteristics, yet readers will find themselves rooting for her. The rest of the characters are flat. The mystery is creepy and compelling, and readers will want to know more. Unfortunately, that which is revealed is surface level, and the deeper mystery remains unsolved. Copious pages of dialogue thrust the story forward and will appeal to many readers; however, interpreting what has happened will take more effort than most teens will be willing to expend.— Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. In this atmospheric, British supernatural thriller, a stranger comes to town. Fifteen-year-old Dusty first hears his voice on the telephone, and she is startled by his words—last said to her in similar language by her long-missing older brother, Josh. As snow falls on the remote English countryside where Dusty lives, she searches for the mysterious boy, and the closer she comes to him (and he to her), the more danger surrounds her. Bowler’s writing chills, both in the way the author heightens the tension, chapter by terrifying chapter, and through his descriptions of the relentless snow beating down, brightening and frightening—the frozen fire of the title. Sometimes the descriptions burden the story, because readers will be anxious to get back to the compelling interplay between Dusty and the boy. Both spectral and powerful, the boy sends messages (by phone, in person, even through the snow) that propel Dusty forward, always hoping the boy will lead her to Josh. The tension doesn’t wane until the last possible moment. Grades 7-10. --Ilene Cooper Shimmering suspense and atmosphere highlight Bowler's trademark mysteriousness. -- Kirkus The mystery is creepy and compelling...Copious pages of dialogue thrust the story forward and will appeal to many readers. -- School Library Journal Tim Bowler lives in Devon, England.