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lazygal's review
4.0
Ok, the ending? I was surprised: didn't see that one coming. Looking back, I probably should have (there were clues... I just ignored them). Alaska really does seem like a different place, with a very different view of 'outsider' than the rest of the forty-eight. Cheeon and Vernon's friendship was... words fail me. How anyone does what Cheeon does because of friendship? Surely there was more. As for Cole and Marium, I liked the partnership.
In a weird way this reminded me of Haruf's work because the writing was relatively sparse. No lengthy passages of explication, instead there's a lot held back that adds to the tension and atmosphere.
ARC provided by publisher.
In a weird way this reminded me of Haruf's work because the writing was relatively sparse. No lengthy passages of explication, instead there's a lot held back that adds to the tension and atmosphere.
ARC provided by publisher.
sjcou's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
nathanrester's review against another edition
3.0
On the surface, Hold the Dark has all the hallmarks of a successful thriller: tough-as-nails characters; gorgeous, menacing landscapes; a detective chasing a killer; a husband chasing his wife; and a healthy dose of violent anarchy to keep the pages turning. The novel is practically dripping with style, from the beautifully-penned prose to the sharp, straight-to-the-point dialogue.
But the book falters a bit at the resolution. The bloodshed is rendered meaningless, and the book's thematic nihilism is at odds with the necessaries of the plot. It's still a fun read, but the last-minute dip into the surreal might leave you disappointed if you're hoping for something more concrete to justify everything that comes before it.
But the book falters a bit at the resolution. The bloodshed is rendered meaningless, and the book's thematic nihilism is at odds with the necessaries of the plot. It's still a fun read, but the last-minute dip into the surreal might leave you disappointed if you're hoping for something more concrete to justify everything that comes before it.
thebooktrail88's review
3.0
See the locations in the book on the booktrail
You might want to wear your thickest woolen cardigan when reading this book and have a cup of something hot in your hands as this book will give you the chills. Not sure if the idea of wolves coming for the villagers’ children or the landscape of snow and ice is the most chilling but when together, the result is eerie to the extreme.
The wolves came down from the hills and took the children of Keelut. First one child was stolen as he tugged his sled at the rim of the village, another the following week…..
Keelut is a small and remote village in Alaska. When Russell arrives on the plane he is immediately lost in a land of snow and ice, of snow up to his shins and hills which “loomed in protection or else threatened to clamp”
This place doesn’t have roads he is told so even his journey to Keelut from the airport is one fraught with danger. And once there his journey gets harder when he is told more about the wolves and the missing children. Torn between his love for the animal since he has worked in Yellowstone park as part of overseeing their reintroduction since the gray wolf has been hunted to near extinction by that point.
The warnings that he shouldn’t be there come thick and fast-
Do you have any idea what’s out those windows. Just how deep it goes?How black it gets?How that black gets into you?
The warnings don’t come soon enough however for in his search for the wolves responsible, Medora Slone goes missing. This is the part of the journey where violence and grim grim reality come to the surface….
There are eyes in those woods and they are watching…
A short novel at only 190 pages but one which packs a punch. Its writing is as stark and direct as the subject matter but this fits nicely to highlight even more the fear and the rawness of the story and landscape.
Disturbing in many places (more so than the blurb even suggests with the killing of children) and detached characters made this a short sharp shock of a novel. The landscape is both seen through the eyes of the ones who live there – the families who have lost their children but we as readers see it through the eyes of the nature writer and traveller Russell Core who loves and fears the creatures but who tells us later on that he even disliked the book Peter and the Wolf for the way it taught us to hate and fear the creatures. So seeing him in this landscape, having to face the possibility that these creatures are responsible for deaths is interesting.
Once Medora Sloane goes missing, the novel takes a new dark and twisted turn and the psychological study which follows is perhaps one of the darkest dips into the human mind that I’ve read in a while.
Grim but ultimately fascinating
You might want to wear your thickest woolen cardigan when reading this book and have a cup of something hot in your hands as this book will give you the chills. Not sure if the idea of wolves coming for the villagers’ children or the landscape of snow and ice is the most chilling but when together, the result is eerie to the extreme.
The wolves came down from the hills and took the children of Keelut. First one child was stolen as he tugged his sled at the rim of the village, another the following week…..
Keelut is a small and remote village in Alaska. When Russell arrives on the plane he is immediately lost in a land of snow and ice, of snow up to his shins and hills which “loomed in protection or else threatened to clamp”
This place doesn’t have roads he is told so even his journey to Keelut from the airport is one fraught with danger. And once there his journey gets harder when he is told more about the wolves and the missing children. Torn between his love for the animal since he has worked in Yellowstone park as part of overseeing their reintroduction since the gray wolf has been hunted to near extinction by that point.
The warnings that he shouldn’t be there come thick and fast-
Do you have any idea what’s out those windows. Just how deep it goes?How black it gets?How that black gets into you?
The warnings don’t come soon enough however for in his search for the wolves responsible, Medora Slone goes missing. This is the part of the journey where violence and grim grim reality come to the surface….
There are eyes in those woods and they are watching…
A short novel at only 190 pages but one which packs a punch. Its writing is as stark and direct as the subject matter but this fits nicely to highlight even more the fear and the rawness of the story and landscape.
Disturbing in many places (more so than the blurb even suggests with the killing of children) and detached characters made this a short sharp shock of a novel. The landscape is both seen through the eyes of the ones who live there – the families who have lost their children but we as readers see it through the eyes of the nature writer and traveller Russell Core who loves and fears the creatures but who tells us later on that he even disliked the book Peter and the Wolf for the way it taught us to hate and fear the creatures. So seeing him in this landscape, having to face the possibility that these creatures are responsible for deaths is interesting.
Once Medora Sloane goes missing, the novel takes a new dark and twisted turn and the psychological study which follows is perhaps one of the darkest dips into the human mind that I’ve read in a while.
Grim but ultimately fascinating
tracethelight's review
1.0
Left unfinished in the middle. Too much Cormac McCarthy, not enough William Giraldi. Where are the quick-witted, deep characters of Busy Monsters? The multi-layered, relatable characters we love and hate? What happened to his smart writing style? Why the shift? I applaud exploration and play in writing but this just felt forced to me and I was uninterested in continuing to the end, which is a problem with a literary mystery.
lolajoan's review against another edition
3.0
Can an entire book be one long onomatopoeia? The characters, the setting, the story, and the prose itself are all hard, lean, confused, savage and yet poetic. I feel like some of the rave reviews blurbed in the book are a bit hyperbolic, but it definitely leans towards literature rather than airport novel. The writing is almost surgical, and the story is something new, I think. It's an absolute tragedy in every way (I'm pretty sure it's not a spoiler to say that it didn't exactly have a happy ending) so maybe don't make this your light beach read fire the summer.
jaclynday's review
3.0
The wolves have taken three children in the remote Alaskan village of Keelut and wolf researcher Russell Core gets a call to come help. This dark, haunting book doesn’t bother with subtle metaphors (the characters occasionally wear wolf masks, THE HUMANS ARE THE REAL ANIMALS) but the story is not a run-of-the-mill thriller. I was genuinely disturbed, especially when one character—the father of one of the dead children—joins the story. After his son is taken by the wolves, he is called back to Alaska from an unnamed tour of duty in a “desert” region. (Pick one, I guess.) At this point, things start to spiral. If you’re still suffering from Gone Girl withdrawals, this short book might help you through the slump. (Be forewarned: Gone Girl is disturbing but not particularly bloody. This book is violent.)
hiroto's review against another edition
Someone's review I completely agree with (spoilers) > https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1152577545
I am thoroughly confused about this book. One good reason might be that I only read the first 100 pages and the last 30. That's also why I won't rate it. And I'm not confused because I missed good parts of it.
Let's just say that the writing lost me. And I feel really dumb. I mean, even the french edition includes a quick note from the translator gushing about the writing !
Let's also say that the plot losts me. Violence for the sake of violence mostly, the mc who's only talking and dreaming about his own death, psychos on the loose... WHERE WERE THE WOLVES ? I wanted a story about wolves dammit.
165 Keep in mind that I missed 150 or so of the story. But even without it, I understood without problems the end. Wich I guessed. Because the big reveals were the most shocking things to happen. I mean, to have a good twist, it must be really shocking, amiright ? Ah.
I don't know, guys, I picked this book because I was promised an atmospheric read in wild Alaska, but what I got was a bunch of characters saying to the mc how much "worse than his imagination" the land was. Variations of lines like "this place is colder than what you've experienced" or "this isn't the real world here" appeared wayyy too many times, and it just annoyed me.
I don't have much to say about it, I'll forget this sooner than later.
I am thoroughly confused about this book. One good reason might be that I only read the first 100 pages and the last 30. That's also why I won't rate it. And I'm not confused because I missed good parts of it.
Let's just say that the writing lost me. And I feel really dumb. I mean, even the french edition includes a quick note from the translator gushing about the writing !
Let's also say that the plot losts me. Violence for the sake of violence mostly, the mc who's only talking and dreaming about his own death, psychos on the loose... WHERE WERE THE WOLVES ? I wanted a story about wolves dammit.
165 Keep in mind that I missed 150 or so of the story. But even without it, I understood without problems the end. Wich I guessed. Because the big reveals were the most shocking things to happen. I mean, to have a good twist, it must be really shocking, amiright ? Ah.
I don't know, guys, I picked this book because I was promised an atmospheric read in wild Alaska, but what I got was a bunch of characters saying to the mc how much "worse than his imagination" the land was. Variations of lines like "this place is colder than what you've experienced" or "this isn't the real world here" appeared wayyy too many times, and it just annoyed me.
I don't have much to say about it, I'll forget this sooner than later.
daemonad's review against another edition
4.0
I stopped reading thrillers when I turned 15 and never felt the urge to pick them up again. I prefer stories that go to places that most people pretend don’t exist, where good is worse than evil and morals become just another flesh to be feasted on out in the wild. I didn’t expect much from this book. I certainly didn’t expect to be captivated by one of the characters. I am happy to say that I was wrong.
I became interested in Vernon Slone, shortly after he stepped into the story. By the time the plot unfolded I was mesmerized with this alpha-male-antihero. He was the wolf pushed to the edge by the civilization that is proud of its own manufactured values.
It felt immensely satisfying to see the civilization marginalized, to watch its feeble attempt to contain the animal, to dominate the indifferent nature and fail.
I became interested in Vernon Slone, shortly after he stepped into the story. By the time the plot unfolded I was mesmerized with this alpha-male-antihero. He was the wolf pushed to the edge by the civilization that is proud of its own manufactured values.
It felt immensely satisfying to see the civilization marginalized, to watch its feeble attempt to contain the animal, to dominate the indifferent nature and fail.
meeka55's review against another edition
2.0
A most unusual book. Didn't really understand how all the characters fit together