SNOW ISLAND
WRITTEN BY BOBBY NASH
REVIEW WRITTEN BY JOE COMPTON
8TH BOOK IN THE SNOW SERIES
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 9TH, 2025
PUBLISHER: BEN BOOKS
LENGTH: 159 PAGES
GENRE: SPY/CRIME THRILLER
SYNOPSIS: ABRAHAM SNOW RETURNS IN SNOW ISLAND!
Abraham Snow heads to Hawaii with grandfather, Archer in tow for a visit with his old friend, and former undercover operative partner, Samson Brooks and his brother, Walker Brooks, a former CIA officer. The Brooks brothers now work together as p.i./fugitive recovery consultants. Snow gets caught up in their latest case and finds himself in deadly danger in unfamiliar surroundings when an old enemy shows up with vengeance on his mind.
The first thing I think about when I dive into an Abraham Snow book is how long before it all goes to shit for Snow, and when does the enemy show their face? In this one, there is a mild buildup, but it doesn't take long. In Fact the pivot into Act 2 right on the nose, we get into the mayhem.
Still though Bobby has such command of the presence of his characters, there is a little bit of playfulness he uses to get us to the point where all is revealed, and even then, it's never all revealed right away.
This book gives a taste of a little bit new and a little bit of old, which is nothing new to this series, but interestingly, this one feels more like a movie of the week, like one of those prime time specials that series in the 80's used to do vs part of the episodic universe we most frequent. There are a couple of nice easter eggs and callbacks feathered in here, but for the most part, the true crew and normal protocols are a little less applied here, and that's not a bad thing. It actually helps ratchet how Snow will find his way out of this one. Even though we are more 99.9% sure that's happening here, that's not a spoiler either.
Sometimes with Snow, Bobby likes to leave a little more ambiguity about whether the villains escape, die, or get detained for justice. I, of course, will not spoil which one happens here.
It is also very refreshing to have bad guys and good guys. Yes, not always do they start on one side or the other, but ultimately the line does get drawn. In fact, with this entire series and this book, which I feel like moves a lot nicer than the past couple of entries have, you know you are in for fun, action, and just good old-fashioned spy shit.
Some of these have an Ian Fleming feel, some Arthur Conan Doyle, even a little Steven Soderbergh from time to time, but this one had a lot of Bellisario and Larsen (creators of Magnum PI) feel to it. I imagine the setting helps me feel that way, but the smart thing about how Bobby writes is that he leans into that. He doesn't shy away from it or make it abstract in any manner; he is straightforward, sometimes transparent (not a bad thing), and most of the time, very free flowing.
The other thing that I appreciate so much about the way Bobby approaches these stories is, while there is a manner of absurdity in how Snow always gets out of the situation, it rarely crosses the line of 'Oh come on,' or worse yet, the Fast and Furious fuck off territory. Not going to lie, I have rolled my eyes a couple of times in reading these books, but I think about it and go, yeah, okay.
Bobby has so much command of all the characters here, and they give you so much within every story, what I would call what you need to know when you need to know it kind of writing; perfect for this setting and series.
If you want to have fun reading, I don't know how this series could steer you wrong, and this book especially. I will say it helps to read the other 7, but you don't have too, its enogh of its own story to bring you in and keep you there.
YOU CAN GET SNOW ISLAND AND ALL THE OTHER 7 SNOW BOOKS HERE.
Thanks, Joe. You made my day.
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