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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Thank you to Jenny Platt for my invitation to the blog tour and for my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.
Right from the very outset you know this book is going to be a gripping read. When Kate arrives at one of the remotest locations on earth, Antarctica she is getting over a tragedy in her own life and she knows that the previous Dr Jean Luc died here.
She is plagued by altitude sickness in her first few days and tries to work out the personalities of her colleagues who will be here with her for the next eight months.
There is a tension between the others that she picks up on immediately and she also feels a sense of foreboding about the place.
This book had the feels of And Then There Were None with a group isolated at the research station. Slowly Kate begins to realise that there maybe more to Jean Luc’s accident than she first is led to believe. This is a great read, I love a book that has lots of twists and surprises and this one has plenty. Will Kate discover the truth about Jean Luc’s death without putting herself at danger.
This is a great debut thriller with lots of great characters and a really atmospheric setting.
4 stars ****
Right from the very outset you know this book is going to be a gripping read. When Kate arrives at one of the remotest locations on earth, Antarctica she is getting over a tragedy in her own life and she knows that the previous Dr Jean Luc died here.
She is plagued by altitude sickness in her first few days and tries to work out the personalities of her colleagues who will be here with her for the next eight months.
There is a tension between the others that she picks up on immediately and she also feels a sense of foreboding about the place.
This book had the feels of And Then There Were None with a group isolated at the research station. Slowly Kate begins to realise that there maybe more to Jean Luc’s accident than she first is led to believe. This is a great read, I love a book that has lots of twists and surprises and this one has plenty. Will Kate discover the truth about Jean Luc’s death without putting herself at danger.
This is a great debut thriller with lots of great characters and a really atmospheric setting.
4 stars ****
I had the killer worked out from near the beginning but I enjoyed the character's journey of discovery.
Dark, atmospheric and well written.
Longer review to come.
Dark, atmospheric and well written.
Longer review to come.
The Dark is exactly the sort of book that pulls me in from the blurb. Thirteen people are wintering at the United Nations Antarctic base. Kate was a late inclusion to the team after the previous doctor was killed in an abseiling accident just before the start of winter. Kate starts to suspect that his death wasn't the accident it might have seemed, especially when other team members start to die.
The first problem is that this has been done before. "The Head" is a 2020 TV series with a very similar premise, that I absolutely loved. Additionally, the author makes it as hard as possible to keep the 13 characters straight. There's Jean-Luc and Luuk, and Ark and Arne, so it's hard to see them as separate characters and therefore separate suspects. And Kate is rather annoying.
But I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
The first problem is that this has been done before. "The Head" is a 2020 TV series with a very similar premise, that I absolutely loved. Additionally, the author makes it as hard as possible to keep the 13 characters straight. There's Jean-Luc and Luuk, and Ark and Arne, so it's hard to see them as separate characters and therefore separate suspects. And Kate is rather annoying.
But I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Normally I like my thrillers to be straight crime / domestic and I've never really thought much about picking up something like The Dark (apart from dark matter and recursion by Blake Crouch!) but I I thought I'd give it a go. I'm so glad I did as this was a really great read.
It's set in Antarctica where our protagonist Kate has a new job as the base scientist. We've got a body and the 12 suspects of people who are now effectively trapped there due to bad weather. The whole setting of this book was very creepy and strange and I thought the author did a fantastic job of setting up the base in a very creepy setting and make you understand the weirdness of being on base. I don't want to say too much but this honestly had me hooked and I loved how it ended. The main issue I had with the book (which is why it's not getting 5 stars) is the main character pill problem - I just felt like it was mentioned too much - mentioned again and again and again) but other than this, the story was excellent and I'd recommend picking this up if you're looking for a creepy thriller!
Thank you to NetGalley UK and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an advance copy of this book.
It's set in Antarctica where our protagonist Kate has a new job as the base scientist. We've got a body and the 12 suspects of people who are now effectively trapped there due to bad weather. The whole setting of this book was very creepy and strange and I thought the author did a fantastic job of setting up the base in a very creepy setting and make you understand the weirdness of being on base. I don't want to say too much but this honestly had me hooked and I loved how it ended. The main issue I had with the book (which is why it's not getting 5 stars) is the main character pill problem - I just felt like it was mentioned too much - mentioned again and again and again) but other than this, the story was excellent and I'd recommend picking this up if you're looking for a creepy thriller!
Thank you to NetGalley UK and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an advance copy of this book.
‘White. Endless, featureless, mind-numbing white. A white so bright it hurts your eyes, at once beautiful and dreadful. I’ve arrived, finally, at the end of the earth – or rather its southernmost tip.‘
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WARNING, read this book in a nice warm bath or wrapped up in bed as the cold creeps out of the writing and into your bones!! … Now that you’re settled in and warm, just another heads up, you’re gonna love this book!
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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 opportunity. 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…
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This book was such an engrossing read! I loved the setting so much and felt like I knew every step of the Antarctic base. A wonderfully nuanced take on the locked room mystery, with literally everyone completely locked… in the Antarctic, over winter, with no hopes of seeing or hearing from anyone for a good few months. All in all such a clever thriller that had me absolutely stumped at the end as to who was behind these mysterious deaths.
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Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC!!
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WARNING, read this book in a nice warm bath or wrapped up in bed as the cold creeps out of the writing and into your bones!! … Now that you’re settled in and warm, just another heads up, you’re gonna love this book!
-
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 opportunity. 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…
-
This book was such an engrossing read! I loved the setting so much and felt like I knew every step of the Antarctic base. A wonderfully nuanced take on the locked room mystery, with literally everyone completely locked… in the Antarctic, over winter, with no hopes of seeing or hearing from anyone for a good few months. All in all such a clever thriller that had me absolutely stumped at the end as to who was behind these mysterious deaths.
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Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC!!
I really enjoyed the premise of this book. Set on a remote base in Antarctic during winter when they are subjected to 24 hour darkness. The harsh surroundings, darkness, isolation and close living quarters created a unique catalyst of tension before we even add in an unknown murder within the camp. I enjoyed learning about life in such a situation as time went on and could imagine well how much fear the characters would experience when things started to go wrong.
The main protagonist of Kate was resourceful and determined, her back story provided another interesting layer to the story but I can’t say I particularly warmed to her.
Unfortunately I also found the writing to be a little grating in places, it was over explained and frustrating. The story was dragged out due to Kate’s reluctance to trust or speak to people and in the end the “twist” was obvious and a little lack lustre. I was compelled to keep reading and had expectations of a clever shock but it never materialised.
Overall this was a decent thriller, it wasn’t a chore to read but it didn’t wow me either.
The main protagonist of Kate was resourceful and determined, her back story provided another interesting layer to the story but I can’t say I particularly warmed to her.
Unfortunately I also found the writing to be a little grating in places, it was over explained and frustrating. The story was dragged out due to Kate’s reluctance to trust or speak to people and in the end the “twist” was obvious and a little lack lustre. I was compelled to keep reading and had expectations of a clever shock but it never materialised.
Overall this was a decent thriller, it wasn’t a chore to read but it didn’t wow me either.
This was my first book by this author. I was very excited to read it. I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, and this felt like a tribute to And Then There Was None. It also gave me Daisy Darker Vibes which I loved. With all that in mind, I was ready to jump in.
The book treats us to the hostile and the unforgiving backdrop of Antarctica. I thought the setting was original and a perfect backdrop to a locked room mystery. Our character Kate who is a doctor flies to UNA station to be their doctor for a year. She is running away from a tragic past. She is emotionally and physically scarred, and is looking for a place to hide from her trauma. You want to feel bad for her, but she is a character who doesn’t inspire love.
From the onset, you find out she is addicted to painkillers. Her constant need to pop pills makes it hard to like her especially when she starts stealing them from the medical supplies.
Kate starts to realize that something is going on and tries to figure it out. I didn’t find it plausible that she could be a good doctor and someone who was catching on to something Sinister when she was high as a kite. I thought it was hilarious that she was judging others at the base for smoking pot when she was popping pills like they were candy.
The book kept me reading but many parts were beyond silly and implausible. I am one that can suspend disbelief and enjoy the story but this one…it was hard.
I only liked one character the rest were hard to connect with. The ending was abrupt and I wish the author had flushed out her many plot points at the end. I also knew who the killer was almost immediately.
I feel like I’m being negative, but I did enjoy the book and it kept me interested. It just felt messy. It’s worth the read but check it out from the library, it’s not worth the buy.
The book treats us to the hostile and the unforgiving backdrop of Antarctica. I thought the setting was original and a perfect backdrop to a locked room mystery. Our character Kate who is a doctor flies to UNA station to be their doctor for a year. She is running away from a tragic past. She is emotionally and physically scarred, and is looking for a place to hide from her trauma. You want to feel bad for her, but she is a character who doesn’t inspire love.
From the onset, you find out she is addicted to painkillers. Her constant need to pop pills makes it hard to like her especially when she starts stealing them from the medical supplies.
Kate starts to realize that something is going on and tries to figure it out. I didn’t find it plausible that she could be a good doctor and someone who was catching on to something Sinister when she was high as a kite. I thought it was hilarious that she was judging others at the base for smoking pot when she was popping pills like they were candy.
The book kept me reading but many parts were beyond silly and implausible. I am one that can suspend disbelief and enjoy the story but this one…it was hard.
I only liked one character the rest were hard to connect with. The ending was abrupt and I wish the author had flushed out her many plot points at the end. I also knew who the killer was almost immediately.
I feel like I’m being negative, but I did enjoy the book and it kept me interested. It just felt messy. It’s worth the read but check it out from the library, it’s not worth the buy.
A gripping read which kept me guessing right up until the end. I really enjoyed the setting of this novel. The extreme cold and total darkness of the Antarctic winter added to the tension and suspense throughout the novel. Thanks to Emma Haughton and Pigeonhole for the ARC.