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A review by jacki_f
The Dark by Emma Haughton
3.0
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.