I admit to being a sucker for tales set in Antarctica-be they fiction or non-fiction- and this was a good one! Kate has fled the shreds of her life in the UK to serve as the physician for a group of 12 spending the winter in Antarctica. It's a small station, doing mostly meteorological experiments but there's a lingering problem- a French physician who served there disappeared down a crevasse during an outing. Was he murdered or was it an accident? Kate, who has a drug problem (and who really shouldn't have been approved for this job) finds herself poking around to find answers. And that has consequences. Who can she trust? Who will survive? Great atmospherics, interesting characters and a mystery that's just twisty enough made this a really good read. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me but know that I read this in a giant gulp because it's a page turner.

i wished i liked the dark because the synopsis sounded like everything i ever wanted from a book. unfortunately, not even the setting – an Antarctic research station, couldn’t save this one.

the novel is very weirdly paced. the first 50% of it is just set-up for the murder. i understand we need to know the characters and their dynamics, but it didn’t even do that. it kept going in circles about the main character’s pills addiction, without really addressing it. after the murder happens, it all unfolds very quickly.

the characters were all over the place. i genuinely didn’t like a single one of them. the mc, kate, was such a stupid character that didn’t think about what’s she’s doing until the deed was done and she was in a lot of problems because of this. she missed clues that were right in front of her – the book really didn’t even try to keep the murderer a mystery. she just kept pointing fingers towards everyone without much evidence. the antagonist was such a joke. he didn’t have a single reason for why he got up one day and decided to be a killer. it’s just so annoying.

another thing stood out to me (idk how the editors didn’t see this one) – the chapters are dated. at some point the characters are fighting and it’s the 18th of June and someone says they have to get along because they have 8 months left on the station. a couple chapters after that, on the 22nd of June, during another fight, the station leader says they have 4 months left of the station. the math ain’t mathing.

the pregnancy trope was handled kinda well, but i still wonder how a newborn could survive walking through minus something degrees for a good 10 – 15 minutes. but what do i know about babies?

all in all, i honestly regret not dnf-ing it because the ending was also a mess. the “mystery” got resolved so quickly. it wasn’t even that much of a mystery tbh.

thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am not going to lie. The thing that drew me to this book was the setting. It has been 103 degrees Fahrenheit here, and the thought of losing myself in Antarctica had my finger-hitting request before I knew much about the story. Did I wind up making a poor decision? Why no, I did not!
Imagine spending the next year in a place so desolate, that no one could get to you if something went wrong. Kate North needs a break from her life and takes a job replacing the station doctor who tragically died in an accident. But it won't be that easy to escape the past as she is carrying a heavy monkey on her back.
From almost the first day, Kate feels that something is off with most of the members of the team. The brutal cold, the forced isolation, and soon total darkness have everyone on edge. When her predecessor's death starts to seem like anything but an accident, Kate starts to believe that someone got away with murder. As things start to disappear and the body count rises, she fears that she traded one nightmare for another.
Talk about an atmospheric locked room mystery! I don't think there is a location that could be more cut off from the outside world. I did ask myself more than once how Kate managed to pass what I would have to assume were rigorous mental and physical exams. Perhaps there aren't a ton of people interested in this type of job experience though, so I put that little niggling thought aside. I went back and forth between believing she was an unreliable narrator or that someone was indeed a killer. Once another death occurred, I knew which side of the fence I should stay on and just focused on guessing whodunnit and why.
A slow burn at the beginning upped the level of tension as it progressed. A job that sounded very cool at first, but by the end, one that I have absolutely no interest in pursuing.

After a tragic accident Kate takes a position as the physician in an Antarctic study lab. As her fellow researchers start having "accidents", she questions leaving the city. A fast paced read! You cant put it down

I read this book all in one sitting. The story progressed relentlessly without pause and I had to know what happened next.

I can’t say I loved Kate, the main character. She was terribly flawed but this made her all the more human and relatable. She wasn’t your typical hero, and this made her triumphs all the more powerful.

Very twisty ending. I didn’t automatically know who the culprit was till near the end. All the characters had motive and seemed like they were capable of murder, even the narrator.

Overall a fast paced thriller set in one of the most beautiful and isolated settings.

This was a very atmospheric tale, I really felt like I was there in Antarctica, which was a relief as it was one hundred degrees with the humidity today! I loved the detailed descriptions of the snow, ice and oh all that darkness...It was very creepy. I was really engrossed in this story as there was always something happening and that kept my attention and interest piqued throughout and I liked that there were lots of suspects to choose from. There are some hot topics, such as addiction, in this book so it has a very contemporary feel to it. If you enjoy books like Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" this is something you should pick up!

An extremely tense mystery/thriller set in an Antartica ice station. As the blurb says one killer 12 suspects as the action occurs in a claustrophobic setting isolated from the outside world for several months. An appealing heroine navigates the consistently ratcheting tension amidst several twists. A cant put down book.

Imagine total darkness. Imagine cold so piercing in the outside world that death is almost instantaneous. This is Antarctica and the world where Kate North has chosen to spend the winter months following a devastating accident. She’s replacing the previous station doctor who died in a repelling accident on the ice.

At first all goes well. Thirteen scientists will spend the winter conducting experiments on weather conditions, the climate and more. Kate acclimates to the altitude and the climate but not the mysterious loss of her pills. After the accident, she became addicted to pain pills and has added stronger pills and tranquilizers to the mix. This may be affecting her judgement as she begins to investigate the death of her physician predecessor. Odd things begin to happen or is Kate imagining them? Another death and a medical crisis threaten not only Kate but other lives as well. And there is the total darkness, the cold…and no chance of rescue.

The Dark is a thriller that is impossible to put down. It has everything - the classic locked room mystery plot, an atmospheric location, unforgettable characters, especially Kate, Caro and Arne, and enough twists and surprises to keep you wondering until the last pages. Kudos to Emma Haughton! 5 stars.

Thank you yo NetGalley, Mobius Books, Hodder & Stoughton and Emma Haughton for this ARC.

I can't thank Mobius Books and NetGalley for this amazing thriller!

The Dark by Emma Haughton is the best book I've read so far!
A classic whodunit with a set of amazing characters with a setting that makes you feel like you're apart of the story. Emma can sure write a great story. Her wiring flowed beautifully and amazingly well. I was captivated by the way this book was written.
The tension was amazing and honestly kept me on my toes with the amount of suspense.
This book deserves all the stars if I could give them!

Thank you again for the opportunity to read this amazing book!

The Dark is a mystery/thriller about a doctor, Kate, with a troubled past who takes an assignment at an Antarctic base for the winter, replacing the previous station doctor who suffered an untimely accident. In many ways, it reminded me of the movie Whiteout, except in this case it's a doctor, not a security officer, who arrives at the base only to find trouble.
The first half of the book is a slow crawl. While all the little things that go on don't feel that extraneous - they do give you insight into the various characters - eventually it makes you think "so when does something actually happen in this story?" Off-putting, strange and contentious things occur, but in a very slow burn sort of manner.
Admittedly, I went into the book thinking it might be more of a And Then There Were None/The Thing kind of narrative, whittling away the station members, but ultimately (spoiler alert) it was more of a traditional mystery, without everybody dying. Instead, all the surviving characters make for a long list of potential killers.
It even got to a point where I questioned, do we have an unreliable narrator? Kate has never fully recovered from her life altering accident, and has a mild drug problem. From the moment she arrives at the base, everything she does is wrong. No matter her intentions, she always manages to put her foot in her mouth.
As the Antarctic winter gets to everyone tensions rise, scuffles occur, dissension abounds. Little things occur to the doctor - her room is ransacked, her flashlight disappears while out on the dark ice, distrust for her spreads among the team members. Is someone targeting her? Is the Antarctic driving her mad?
Nonetheless, after a second death occurs and an unexpected medical situation arises, Kate is forced to continue trying to figure out who did what while being the good doctor. She discovers evidence to distrust people she previously had the utmost faith in, then doubting whether she should trust them....or not. One minute they seem guilty, the next utterly innocent. It's enough to drive one mad if they weren't already.
As resources and morale run low, Kate is forced to make some drastic decisions, leading to an intense finale. Sort of. Probably the best aspect of the novel is the fact that it is a tense story from the get go. In the latter stages of the book especially, the intensity does ramp up, making it a real page turner as you want to know just what really happened, who did what, and why. I actually did have a theory at one point that the reveal was going to be very unexpected and ultimately stupidly cheesy. Thankfully I was wrong, but when the truth was revealed it was a bit anticlimactic for me. Probably because the gravity of the story was so strong throughout, no ending could match its intensity.
You need some patience with this book because of the slow burn of the narrative, but overall it's quite well-written and an enjoyable mystery.

This was a fun read, centered on a doctor named Kate who heads to Antarctica to replace another doctor at a tiny research base. Kate almost immediately suspects something amiss with the death of the previous doctor and investigates it on her own, much to the chagrin of the leader of the base, Sandrine. This was a locked room type mystery where we know that if there really is a killer on the loose, it must be one of these characters.

I didn't really connect with Kate, though I generally love an unreliable narrator. I thought she took risks that someone in her position wouldn't actually take, and I found myself frustrated with her more often than not. That being said, it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the story, because there were constant mystery and action, not to mention other, more likeable characters. I thought I had easily figured out what was really going on, but wavered a couple of times. Turns out I was wrong initially, though I did finally figure out who the villain was, but only pages before Kate did.

This book painted the picture of the remote base and the constant dark really well- I could picture the environment clearly and put myself in the shoes of the characters. I thought the author did a good job in being very descriptive while not actually taking away from the action of the story.

Overall, I thought this was a unique and interesting read, and I'd recommend it for those who like mysteries. I am looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the premise of this book – murder occurs at an Antarctica research station staffed with less than a dozen people during the winter months where darkness is 24/7 and no outside help or evacuations are available. The sleuthing falls upon the new doctor, Kate, who due to her painkiller addiction (not a spoiler) may or may not be a reliable narrator. The atmosphere of this novel was fabulous – the location and cold were perfect to creating the classic locked-room mystery feel – the cold temperatures are described as more than a simple feeling but as a physical wall that you run in to when you walk outside. The actual mystery was a bit run of the mill and was easy to figure out from the beginning; however, this was still a very absorbing and fun read. Thank you to NetGalley!

A perfect Winter thriller, The Dark is a slow building and atmospheric piece of writing. When a new doctor lands in Antarctica tmshe brings her personal demons with her. Little does she know what she’ll have to contend with in the dark. As I was reading I felt the claustrophobia of the station and the building tension and suspense. As this is basically a locked room mystery there is a very limited cast of characters, but I was still guessing all the way to the end.

Kate, a doctor, joins a group in a station in Antarctic. She finds out she is replacing a doctor who has died. She is welcomed into the group by some, but not all, of the group members. Then more people die. Will she be able to find the killer before she becomes a victim? This is not my typical thriller to read, but I’m so glad I did read it. The isolated situation the group is in makes this story even more gripping!

When I saw the synopsis of the book, it immediately brought to mind Alastair MacLean's Ice Station Zebra and Bear Island. This is every bit as good. An amazing accomplishment for a first book.

The desolate, bleak and beautiful Antarctica springs to life in your mind as it's eloquently written. I kinda guessed the identity of the murderer very early on. But that doesn't take away from this very well written "cozy". The protagonist is vulnerable but courageous and it's this human characteristic that makes the book so good. The middle drags just a tad, but the pace picks up mid way through the book and ends well.

The only thing I didn't like about the book is the first person present tense. I really dislike books narrated in the present tense. It's supposed to be edgy and immersive. All it does for me is make it distracting. Writing a short story in present tense may just about be tolerable. But an entire book spanning multiple days is just meh.

I'm looking forward to more of her books.

This super-fun novel follows the most classic whodunit setup: a cast of characters who can’t escape and one of them is the killer. The Dark goes to one of the most extreme locations, the never-ending night of the Antarctic winter. Kate’s life fell apart and she decided that being the doctor in a place more remote than the International Space Station is a good idea to start rebuilding her life. She meets the people that she’s going to spend the next year with and learns that she’s replacing a dead man who could have been murdered. From there, things go from bad to worse. Then again, Kate has a drug problem and the death could have been an accident. The author is very crafty and it’s really hard to figure out what’s going on. All the characters are equally endearing and suspicious at once (well, almost all of them). The one character I disliked the most was actually the narrator, Kate. She’s a mess and doesn’t even seem to do much to pull herself out of her situation. That didn’t prevent me from rooting for her. These are the best characters, you don’t love them but you still care. The environment is very well drawn out and I really liked how engrossed I was in the story. This is a straightforward, classic mystery that would make Dame Agatha proud.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Mobius Books, Hodder & Stoughton!

Thank you Netgalley and Emma Haughton for the ARC of this book. At first I was put off by how long the book was. I was drawn into the story though and had a hard time putting the book down. The beginning was mostly character and location building and it took a while for the 'mystery' to start. It was okay, because I was interested in the location and liked the characters. Kate was a great character, even though (or maybe because) she was flawed.
.The mystery was good and was well-written. Lots of tension in the many events that happened. I had an idea who did it, then changed my mind, then realized I had been right all along. That didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book.

Wow! The Dark definitely gets 5 stars, if I could give it 10 stars I would! For some reason I started this book thinking it might be just alright.... Well, I was wrong. If you like a fast paced, thriller in the vein of Christie's And Then There Were None, you'll love this.

The character are all excellent, especially the main, Kate, a doctor who has come to work a 6 month stint at a station in Antarctica. She is someone you can definitely associate with, she's far from perfect, but is still a good person, she has made mistakes and has baggage but the situation actually helps her work threw it and get stronger.

The setting is absolutely beyond awesome, its winter in Antarctica, so it's all freezing darkness as far as the eye can see almost 24 hours a day, which adds an extra creepy element to the story!

This book may seem like your typical who dunnit, and in a way it is, but with the great characters and excellent location there were some twists and turns I did not see coming!

Go buy this book, you won't regret it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This was creepy but not shocking. I was hoping for a little more of a plot twist coming my way. I believe the author tried to make that happen, but I caught on a little quicker than I would have liked. Still a fun read, though.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Dark.

I was excited my request was approved since the premise sounded intriguing; an isolated camp in Antartica surrounded by darkness 24/7 and people you barely know.

Sadly, this wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped.

Kate North is a doctor struggling with drug addiction after a horrific car accident took the life of her fiance and almost ended hers.

When she joins a camp in Antartica as a replacement doctor, she finds the crew mostly friendly, but the death of a former colleague has foreshadowed the atmosphere and led to increased tension and anxiety among the staff.

When Kate discovers the dead colleague had suspicions about someone among the staff, Kate takes it upon herself to do a little investigating of her own, but her personal crisis threatens her credibility and when another death occurs, Kate realizes more people will die unless she does something.

I didn't like Kate; I understand she's struggling with addiction and guilt over the accident, as well as grieving for her fiance, but I found it difficult to see her as a competent medical professional.

Most of her thoughts center around how hunky and handsome some of the men are in the staff; she mentions it often and when she has suspicions about one of them, she's disheartened because she believed this person might have loved her.

Seriously? Is she an adult or a teenager? Is she and this guy dating? How well does she even know this person to assume he loves her?

The writing is good, and I enjoyed the world building; the isolation of the camp, the stark beauty of Antartica, how you can feel alone (but in a good way) in a place like that; the tasks and rituals the staff did to survive mentally and emotionally, their responsibilities and duties, what a doctor in a camp like that needs to do to keep everyone safe, sound and sane.

The story's pacing was painfully slow; there was little to no suspense or urgency; definitely not exciting, mostly we get plenty of scenes where Kate is feeling sorry for herself or nosing around and learning of everyone's secrets.

Her addiction, naturally, makes her an unreliable character, and her almost adolescent-like behavior makes it hard to like her, much less sympathize with.

There was not one character I really liked or related to, and the ending, though not a huge surprise, felt anti-climatic.