Amazon customer reviews
Leisurely passages of obsessively observed detail – froth bubbling up through the pinprick hole in the plastic lid of the coffee cup – visions of London streets, the cold Dorset coast of the title, and glimpses into the fevered world of professional musicians shape the background against which the action is carried forward in sharp, exciting bursts. The balance between stoic detachment and love is nicely held throughout.
Cooper teases us, but he also delights us with consistently fine turns of phrase. Scenes early on at a country auction, a funeral and a rock festival are expertly painted vignettes. The music theme weaves effortlessly through the narrative.
Sometimes I’ll read a book and think, “I wish I could write that well.” Cold Hillside is one of those books… Mr. Cooper likes to skip around in time and tense, a juggler tossing up a new ball without fanfare, until you realize he’s got eight or ten in the air, and all you can do is applaud.
Tara Calaby
With the bigger publishing houses currently focussing on genres and ideas that are proven best-sellers (the Dan Brown-style thriller, the supernatural teen romance), there is little room for books that deviate from the fashions of the moment. Self publishing allows books like Cold Hillside, which don’t fit so easily into genres and sales patterns, to find a readership. And this book deserves a readership. Read the full review
The Indieview
I steal people’s physical characteristics, and the stories they tell me. One or two have recognized themselves, but mostly they get worked and re-worked until they come out as someone completely different. I think. Interview with Martin Cooper about the writing of Cold Hillside.
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Cold Hillside 