Published by Hodder and Staughton on August 19, 2021
Format: Hardback
Source: Publisher
Pages: 384
Goodreads
ONE DEAD BODY
TWELVE SUSPECTS
TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR DARKNESSIn the most inhospitable environment - cut off from the rest of the world - there's a killer on the loose
A&E doctor Kate North has been knocked out of her orbit by a personal tragedy. So when she's offered the chance to be an emergency replacement at the UN research station in Antarctica, she jumps at the chance. The previous doctor, Jean-Luc, died in a tragic accident while out on the ice.
The move seems an ideal solution for Kate: no one knows about her past; no one is checking up on her. But as total darkness descends for the winter, she begins to suspect that Jean-Luc's death wasn't accidental at all. And the more questions she asks, the more dangerous it becomes for them all . .
Wowzers! This book packs a punch and a half! When I first read about this book I instantly had Fortitude feels, you know the Sky Atlantic series, only in the respect that they are a small town cut off from civilisation and surrounded by darkness. Then I also began to think of films with isolation, so basically every type of space film!
Here, I found the darkness was its own ominous character. It was thrilling and absolutely terrifying at the same time. One scene had me holding my breath when Kate lost her torch and just the description of the darkness around her, had me pulling the blanket a little bit tighter. I mean as much as the opportunity sounds amazing to work out in the Antarctic, the idea of 24 hours of darkness does scare the bejesus out of me!
I was completely hooked on this book from the opening pages. I felt Kate trepidation as she reached the Alpha house. I felt her isolation, not only from the rest of the world but from the crew she has been thrust upon. A tragedy had fallen on this group of people and she was the newbie. Not only was she struggling with that, but she was running from her past and her guilt over an event that had wrecked her knee. Not that she needed to carry all the guilt for that night. You can sense the weight of the blame she carries, it made her irrational at times, and you wanted to give her a good talking to. Yet, you couldn’t help but be drawn to her. I wanted to know her story and everyone else’s. I wanted to know why she was there, was Jean-Luc’s death really an accident?
I loved the whole isolation, the darkness, that feeling to always look over your shoulder, it makes for some fascinating reading. Here, it also adds to the tension, you can feel everything reach boiling point, or in this case temperatures well below freezing! I felt cold the whole time I read this, despite reading it in a hot bath and later under the duvets. It has left me cold to the core with the revelations.
I struggled to put this down! Once I started, the next thing I knew a couple of hours had passed and I was basically finished. The writing just sucked me in straight away. I could picture the station clearly and the different sections, although, I did kind of swerve off more into a space station in my head sometimes! I will be back to read more by this author for sure.
Until next time xxx
Thanks to Jenny from Hodder for the tour invite and the author for a copy of the book in return for my honest and unbiased review
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Melanie’s reads says
Just started reading this on pigeonhole x
bertyboy123 says
Great review. Sounds one for the TBR
gaynoradams says
This review is making me count the days till this book is available. Great review.