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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
A dark and twisty thriller set in one of the most remote places on Earth. You could sense the tensions of being so cut off from the rest of the world, as well as the realisation of all the dangers and "what if something goes wrong?" Superbly written and keeps you guessing right to the end. Loved it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are a few genres in fiction that I'm repeatedly drawn to. I love a pandemic novel. I like books about women living quiet lives in the 40s and 50s.
Another trope which consistently appeals is the group of people in an isolated and wintry location where someone gets murdered. For example [b:The Hunting Party|37642030|The Hunting Party|Lucy Foley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569862373l/37642030._SY75_.jpg|59229722], [b:The Sanatorium|56935099|The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)|Sarah Pearse|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612344489l/56935099._SY75_.jpg|79048138] or [b:Sleep|40584479|Sleep|C.L. Taylor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547140926l/40584479._SY75_.jpg|63025533]. So The Dark is right up my alley: in fact, the location is peak wintry isolation being Antarctica in the middle of winter. A small group are living at a UN research station and Kate is an emergency doctor who is flown in to be their doctor after the previous doctor died in a tragic accident. Over the winter it never gets light, the extreme temperatures can swiftly kill and flights cannot land in the area.
The book starts slowly which allows us to get to know the characters well and sympathise with Kate's growing sense of disquiet about her predecessor's accident. About halfway through there is another death and that dramatically ratchets up the tension. Kate is an unreliable narrator: damaged, addicted to pain killing medicine and trying to forget something that happened to her back in the UK.
It annoyed me slightly that Kate was so unstable - I found it hard to believe that she would really have got such a job and that she could have continued to command anyone's respect. But I loved the sense of isolation and the mystery kept me guessing about who was going to be the villain.
Another trope which consistently appeals is the group of people in an isolated and wintry location where someone gets murdered. For example [b:The Hunting Party|37642030|The Hunting Party|Lucy Foley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569862373l/37642030._SY75_.jpg|59229722], [b:The Sanatorium|56935099|The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)|Sarah Pearse|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612344489l/56935099._SY75_.jpg|79048138] or [b:Sleep|40584479|Sleep|C.L. Taylor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547140926l/40584479._SY75_.jpg|63025533]. So The Dark is right up my alley: in fact, the location is peak wintry isolation being Antarctica in the middle of winter. A small group are living at a UN research station and Kate is an emergency doctor who is flown in to be their doctor after the previous doctor died in a tragic accident. Over the winter it never gets light, the extreme temperatures can swiftly kill and flights cannot land in the area.
The book starts slowly which allows us to get to know the characters well and sympathise with Kate's growing sense of disquiet about her predecessor's accident. About halfway through there is another death and that dramatically ratchets up the tension. Kate is an unreliable narrator: damaged, addicted to pain killing medicine and trying to forget something that happened to her back in the UK.
It annoyed me slightly that Kate was so unstable - I found it hard to believe that she would really have got such a job and that she could have continued to command anyone's respect. But I loved the sense of isolation and the mystery kept me guessing about who was going to be the villain.
This is a murder mystery set on an Antarctic research station, which I read via Pigeonhole. The base's doctor has died in an accident so Dr Kate is flown in as a last minute replacement just before the long Winter darkness descends and the base can no longer be reached for several months.
Unfortunately Dr Kate comes with a few issues of her own, including an opiate and prescription painkiller addiction, to the extent that as a reader you wonder how she can actually function as a human being, never mind as a doctor responsible for 13 lives including her own. And this is one of the biggest problems that I had with this book - it seems unlikely that a job involving being in a closed environment with very few other people and no daylight for several months wouldn't require some pretty serious screening, both psychological and physical. And so it seems unlikely that Kate's issues wouldn't have been picked up, thus preventing her assignment to the base in the first place.
But there she is, and she stumbles from situation to situation, blundering her way through her working days, while picking up clues that perhaps the previous doctor's death wasn't the accident that everyone thinks it was. Because of her addiction and its effects on her, she's unfortunately a difficult character to like, and some of the situations she ends up in are pretty implausible.
That aside, the book does a pretty good job of setting the scene of a small, claustrophobic working environment, so remote and hostile that you may as well be on a space station, and the effects that such a location would have on your psyche, compounded with the growing suspicion that maybe you're locked in with a killer. After all, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you!
Unfortunately Dr Kate comes with a few issues of her own, including an opiate and prescription painkiller addiction, to the extent that as a reader you wonder how she can actually function as a human being, never mind as a doctor responsible for 13 lives including her own. And this is one of the biggest problems that I had with this book - it seems unlikely that a job involving being in a closed environment with very few other people and no daylight for several months wouldn't require some pretty serious screening, both psychological and physical. And so it seems unlikely that Kate's issues wouldn't have been picked up, thus preventing her assignment to the base in the first place.
But there she is, and she stumbles from situation to situation, blundering her way through her working days, while picking up clues that perhaps the previous doctor's death wasn't the accident that everyone thinks it was. Because of her addiction and its effects on her, she's unfortunately a difficult character to like, and some of the situations she ends up in are pretty implausible.
That aside, the book does a pretty good job of setting the scene of a small, claustrophobic working environment, so remote and hostile that you may as well be on a space station, and the effects that such a location would have on your psyche, compounded with the growing suspicion that maybe you're locked in with a killer. After all, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you!
I loved and hated this book.
The narrator was super unreliable and made some really stupid choices, but the twists at the end made up for it. This is a page turner!
The narrator was super unreliable and made some really stupid choices, but the twists at the end made up for it. This is a page turner!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have realised I love books set in the intense cold and dark for much of the time out of the way places like the Antarctic, and one of my favourite genres is a locked room murder mystery so I am very happy to have read this which combines both.
It's an intense read about a newly arrived replacement doctor in a research station with a diverse group of other workers and finding it claustrophobic and frightening when murders start occurring. The characters, although a lot of them, are fairly well rounded and the book has enough regular life of living in the station so it's not just relentless action. The author keeps you on your toes trying to guess who the murderer is by leading us to think it could be this person then that one right to the end just as a good murder mystery writer should.
It's an intense read about a newly arrived replacement doctor in a research station with a diverse group of other workers and finding it claustrophobic and frightening when murders start occurring. The characters, although a lot of them, are fairly well rounded and the book has enough regular life of living in the station so it's not just relentless action. The author keeps you on your toes trying to guess who the murderer is by leading us to think it could be this person then that one right to the end just as a good murder mystery writer should.
I wasn’t sure if I liked this book or not for the longest time, but I ended up really enjoying it!
First of all, the setting is great. I’ll say it again: I love snowy settings, I love an isolated location murder mystery, I love survival stories, and this book had all of those things. Shit going down on a research station in Antarctica during winter? Sign me up right now! This was a huge plus point going towards me liking this.
A few things did bother me at first. Although I did get a feel for the different characters the more I got into the story, the skeleton crew staying for the winter season was introduced in like one paragraph (it’s like twelve people) and stuff like that stresses me out, makes me feel like I have to take notes.
I also couldn’t really warm up to the main character. She was just kind of meh to me. Although she does have her backstory and baggage and stuff, I still found her a little too bland. It was also kind of funny how she was so bummed out when the crew didn’t welcome her as enthusiastically as she would have liked, when she literally is only there as a replacement for a crew member who died. Pretty obvious that some people would feel conflicted about her being there. Anyways!
There were also some things where she acted super unprofessionally, and didn’t get the most obvious things which was frustrating. She’s also weirdly sensitive about marijuana for someone abusing much stronger drugs herself. But to be honest she really came into herself towards the end and became a little more interesting to follow.
In general, I really started liking this book during the second half once shit stars going down. Thing after thing starts happening and it got quite dramatic at times, but I loved it, I was on the edge of my seat for the last hundred pages or so when things really go in survival mode!
I will admit it’s not too hard guessing the culprit, and I found the motive reveal a little… if not unbelievable, at was definitely weird. But I didn’t mind that because I enjoyed the overall ride.
I also liked that there were a few instances where the non-native speakers didn’t understand certain English phrases and asked for clarification. It is a small pet peeve of mine when on an international crew everyone miraculously speaks perfect English including slang and idioms. I really liked that the book did that differently.
This was a fun isolated location thriller!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Pregnancy
4-4.5
I had a great time with The Dark! Haughton successfully describes my worst nightmare: cold, dark, being cooped up with a bunch of strangers without any means to get out. Never would I ever! But that visceral reaction I had to the setting definitely made me enjoy this story even more. It's a slow-burner, but that allows you to fully get your head around the bleakness of the situation, and to get a feel for the characters. It would even appear I had got too good a feel for the characters, as once the murders started, I never once doubted the identity of the culprit. That didn't bother me though, I had a great time with this locked room mystery and I'd happily recommend it to readers who enjoy the trope, especially set in a unique location like Antarctica.
I had a great time with The Dark! Haughton successfully describes my worst nightmare: cold, dark, being cooped up with a bunch of strangers without any means to get out. Never would I ever! But that visceral reaction I had to the setting definitely made me enjoy this story even more. It's a slow-burner, but that allows you to fully get your head around the bleakness of the situation, and to get a feel for the characters. It would even appear I had got too good a feel for the characters, as once the murders started, I never once doubted the identity of the culprit. That didn't bother me though, I had a great time with this locked room mystery and I'd happily recommend it to readers who enjoy the trope, especially set in a unique location like Antarctica.
I was a bit frustrated by this book. Months and months go by with Dr Kate popping pills all over the place, making very few friends and losing her belongings. It was just bizarre at times. It felt quite disjointed and ultimately disappointing, as it was a great idea for a thriller. I really didn’t buy how damaged Kate supposedly was. The killer was obvious from quite early on too, which added to the frustration, just get on with it! A shame, could have been very good.