A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s not a doomed Arctic Exploration without cannibalism and queer longing, am I right, ladies?

We follow disgraced ship captain William Day, who when the real captain died, became the leader of an Arctic exploration where their only chance of survival was by feeding on their dead comrades. While Day is seen with revulsion by the general community, his second-in-command Jesse Stevens is seen as a hero who found help for the remaining survivors. Day is haunted by this past, and lives hidden in shame away from anyone who might recognize him - or the monster he had to become to survive.

But now Stevens has gone missing in those same doomed Arctic waters, and Day is the only one determined to find him - and keep him from having to repeat those same actions 13 years ago.

As Day follows in Stevens’ footsteps, he unwillingly uncovers the past he tried to hide so well from both the public - and himself. Forced to confront the truth of what happened 13 years ago, and the true nature of his relationship with Stevens, can Day grow from his past and move on from his mistakes, or will he succumb to becoming the monster everyone already thinks he is?

I loved this gothic novel about the hopelessness and isolation of the Arctic, that forces the reader to really confront what they’d do to survive.

His relationship to Stevens is complicated and tragic, and we can only imagine how both their lives might have been different (as well as everyone else’s) had the two never met. Day begins the novel quite literally haunted by Stevens, and seeing him as the better part of himself - but as the book continues we start seeing Stevens as he truly is as Day confronts the reality of their relationship, and his complicity in his actions.

It’s not really related, but I think “Just a Man” from Epic the Musical fits Day’s internal monologue throughout this novel extremely well. He’s never certain where he ends, and the monster begins - and whether or not he’s only simply fooling himself into believing he’s better than he is. I thought of these lines multiple times during this novel, as Day reveals and uncovers more and more of what happened, and his actions, during both the doomed original exploration, as well as the current one we are on.

But when does a comet become a meteor?
When does a candlе become a blaze?
Whеn does a man become a monster?
When does a ripple become a tidal wave?
When does the reason become the blame?
When does a man become a monster?

This book is perfect for anyone who likes doomed gothic fiction where there’s never really a happy ending to be had, but there is a resolution. The isolation and temperatures of the Arctic set for a perfect location for the depravity that unfolds when all hope is lost and rescue is impossible.

Ugh I love a good arctic thriller to read in the winte, especially a victorian era based read...This was one of my most looked forward to reads for January.
I really enjoyed this book and will continue to read this author

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book

What I loved about this one was the atmosphere. You could feel the brutal cold and ice. The reviews say this is a Polar Gothic that follows a Victorian explorer in search of his lost shipmate and his own redemption. That pretty much sums it up. I thought it was a bit slow at times but overall really enjoyed this.

I had many thoughts about it but will start with a summary for everyone who hasn’t already seen my bullet list:

☠️ Queer arctic survivalist horror
☠️ In the past voyage, Day yearned for Stevens
☠️ In the present, Day yearns for Stevens but they haven’t talked for like 13 years
☠️ In the present, Day has to take STEVENS’ WIFE TO HELP FIND/RESCUE HIM
☠️ Also, so much cannibalism

Shoutout to @netgalley for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

Consider the energy of taking your love interest’s wife into the Arctic to find her husband and also you’re still pining over him MORE THAN A DECADE LATER.

I loved this book, and it’s the same slow burn energy as All The White Spaces, which is the last queer Arctic survivalist horror book from @av_wilkes but this slow burn is definitely different.

This is a mystery and horror unfolding, learning of the past while witnessing parallels and changes in the present, it holds a very different type of suspense. Imagine the gayest pining you’ve ever even considered and then just ratchet it up 13 years worth of notches. And then like hold that and have it be, oh idk, vaguely haunting?

The number of gut punches this delivered, especially in the last hundred pages or so, was gasp-worthy and had me murmuring “oh no, oh no” and having to explain it all to my fiancée and I bless her patience as I explained timelines and triangles lol

I did struggle a bit with the organization in some places, like I had to flip back to make sure I was understanding scenes correctly, but given we’re in Day’s perspective, this totally makes sense.

This didn’t have me throwing the book across the room like All the White Spaces did (it broke my soul, ok) but I enjoyed the hell out of it. The story Stevens told Day will mess with me forever.

If you’re like me and you want GAYS in the ICE who would throw themselves to the ends of the earth for each other, go find Wilkes’ books!

@av_wilkes Keep it up cause you know I love it. Somehow we have the exact same niche interest 🤣🤣

3.5 stars. Where the Dead Wait, Ally Wilkes' second Polar gothic horror novel after last year's All the White Spaces, is a vividly atmospheric, slow-burning, unsettling story of self-discovery and redemption.

William Day's career as an Arctic explorer didn't turn out the way he'd hoped. Instead of returning a hero, he returned a disgraced, broken man after a failed expedition ending in cannibalism and utter desolation. Now, thirteen years later, Day's second in command from that failed expedition, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in those same Arctic waters. Hoping for a chance to restore his reputation, Day agrees to lead a rescue expedition to search for Stevens. But nothing could prepare him for the mission's challenges. On the ship, Stevens's self-proclaimed spirit medium wife and a nosy reporter distract him from his responsibilities, while off the ship, on the frozen Arctic ice, something seems to be watching and waiting. And within Day himself, a struggle is taking place, as he attempts to reckon with his past and the ways it haunts his present.

Ally Wilkes is a deliberate, descriptive writer, with prose that reads like a novel written during the Victorian era, when her stories are set. In Where the Dead Wait, she fully immerses the reader in the Arctic setting, with evocative writing that creates a chilly, chilling, and claustrophobic atmosphere. This is a deeply psychological character study that delves into the effects of abandonment, isolation, and desperation on the human psyche, while also offering some genuinely unsettling moments of terror. Through William Day and Jesse Stevens, two complicated men with a complicated relationship, she explores themes surrounding survival and sexuality, regret and redemption, grief and ghosts.

Having read both of Wilkes's novels now, I think I can definitively say that her books require patience. Because she spends so much time setting the scene, it takes a while for the plot to get going. Where the Dead Wait is probably 75 or 100 pages longer than it really needs to be, but the payoff is worth it, with a spine-chilling conclusion I'm still thinking about long after finishing the book.

Although set at the opposite pole, Where the Dead Wait does share many similar plot points with All the White Spaces. It's clear that Wilkes excels at telling atmospheric Polar gothic stories, but I'd be interested to read other types of stories from her. Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

I read several chapters of this novel and could not get into it as hard as I tried. I put it in a folder that allows me to return to it to see if I change my mind. I was attracted to the description, but then could not connect with it as it unfolded. I was not into the Captain who has a dark back story, the search for one of his former friends, the wife who is into seances. The only character I sort of liked was the orphan girl who left the place she was being raised and trained up to accompany the wife. Just couldn't get into the visions and dreams and so forth. I do think there are readers out there for this novel but unlikely I will finish it.

Many thanks to Netgalley for this early preview. This was one of the best books I've read in awhile. Though it was a fictional tale, situations such as this did indeed happen during the expeditions of the arctic circle in the late 1800's. Victorian history is something I am profoundly interested in and the Polar expeditions were so exciting in that era. Ally Wilkes puts you right there in the freezing, freezing cold. You're trapped, starving, sick with scurvy and on the edge of sanity. Captain William Day is trying his best to keep not only himself alive but his dwindling crew as well.

Fast forward thirteen years and Day never thought he would be a reviled source of rumors.
His second in command Jesse Stevens has gone missing and Day is given the chance to go back to that horrid place with a caveat. Day must be accompanied by Steven's wife who just so happens to be a Medium who, along the way performs Seances. This adds to the gothic vibe perfectly.

I put this in my top 5 books of 2023.

⁉️: Do you like to travel and/or explore? Which country has been on your must travel list?

I absolutely love to travel, and tend to prefer warmer climates. With that said, I do want to see the Northern lights someday. Also, with the cold weather comes tales of explorers.

In Ally Wilkes’s novel, Where The Dead Wait, comes an eerie, atmospheric Polar Gothic novel which tells the story of a Victorian explorer in search of his lost shipmate and his own redemption.

William Day should have been an acclaimed Arctic explorer but fails expedition, and like the Donner family, his crew turns to cannibalism to survival. Thirteen years later, Jesse Steven - his second-in-command, has gone missing. And, this event becomes Day’s mission to recover him and face his past.

Abroad this ship, he encounters unwanted passengers: a report obsessed with the first expedition of his, Steven’s wife, who is a spirit-medium who uses seances to recover and find her husband.

At the heart of the novel is at the question about what makes us as “good” or “bad” human beings and how much our actions play a role in the way our life unfolds. The tension between Day and Steven is palpable is ultimately makes the story for what it is. If you enjoy horror, and are looking for winter reads about Arctic survival, then this one is for you.

Thank you @av_wilkes, @atriabooks and @simonandschuster for the gifted arc.

#WhereTheDeadWait #AllyWilkes #SimonandSchuster #Atriabooks #shnidhi

Similar vibe to Dan Simmons The Terror. Also like that one it is a bit too long and slow. Has great writing and an exciting climax, it just meanders for too many pages before getting there. It does a great job of setting the environment and the dire surroundings. I had some trouble connecting with the characters. We spend a ton of time in Captain Day’s head but his mental state is all over the place making it hard to follow him.

I am sorry to report that I had to dnf this book at 27%. Nothing horribly wrong with it, but I was just not having a good time, I found myself struggling to want to pick it back up and this was severely hindering my ability to actually enjoy any of it.

Some elements I believe to be factors in my overall view of this book and my decision to put it down:
- Dare I say it... I wanted more cannibalism? I feel like I went into this thinking it would be front and center but it was actually avoided being talked about (with good reason realistically, but I really had hoped for more earlier on). I never really got too much of the horror element because everything was so vague in the first quarter of the story.
- Having the story set in the late 1800s did not help me at all. I don't do well with historical piece, apparently.
- While I thought that the story sounded interesting from the description, in actuality it had a very slow pace and less-than-interesting characters.
- I do feel like this book could have worked well had it moved a little faster OR if the beginning of the book jumped right into the second return expedition because that is what I was interested in reading about anyway. There was too much foundation building of the who and why but not enough of the action.
- I did appreciate the subtle queer theme, I just wish I could stick around long enough to see it become anything more than just wistful daydreams/memories.

I have read a short story by this author previously, in a found footage horror anthology, and I really liked it so I was excited for this release. I didn't end up liking it that much, but in this instance I can absolutely see why people will enjoy this. The atmosphere was so well done, and that fear-of-the-unknown Arctic vibe was so spooky and well done. Where the story lost me was the formatting and actual plot--I found it a bit hard to parse through this story because I was having trouble keeping present day, flashbacks, hallucinations and other characters separated in my mind. I just couldn't get drawn into the story because I was spending a lot of mental energy trying to keep it all straight in my mind. I can absolutely see why people will enjoy this, though. It reminds me a lot of the part in Frankenstein (I think? Don't quote me on this) where Frankenstein flees to the Arctic/North Pole to escape his pursuer, and the sort of desolate and spooky vibes.
Overall, not a bad story just not for me, but if you like slow, spooky, exploration horror/gothic stories then you'll probably get a kick out of this!

Firstly, as always, a massive thank you to Altria/Emily Bestler Books, Ally Wilkes and Netgalley for the ARC edition of this book!

Freezing waters. Cannibalism. Mystery. and a Betrayal.

I mean, it's a great mix for this bone chilling (no pun intended?) gothic horror. I absolutely love all things Ally Wilkes, and Where The Dead Wait did not fall short of my expectations! Like all her other read, the storytelling, the atmosphere, and the dread are all there and immediately captivate you as a reader. The characters are compelling, the story is addicting, and you find yourself overwhelmed with the need to know what happens next!

I read this in a single day because I did not have a choice. The compelling nature of Wilkes' writing style makes it so that you become one with the story; you are "in" that world whether you want to be or not. The times I had to take breaks felt off kilter and weird because I felt disconnected to my real life while immersed in the story.

I don't want to give much of anything away, as this is a great one to just dive right into at-least partially blind. And be prepared to have a hard time walking away. I highly recommend this, especially now for my fellow north of the equator folks. Nothing like biting cold weather while you take a deep dive into this terror!

Yay, Ally Wilkes! Wilkes’ previous spooky novel of cold desolation, All the White Spaces, is an absolute favorite of mine, so I couldn’t wait to get my mitts on Where the Dead Wait.

William Day returns from a failed and horrifying Arctic expedition to accusations of cannibalism. Men will do unspeakable things to survive, and Day did just that. Over a decade later, Day returns to the scene of his undoing, in an attempt to find his missing former shipmate (and clandestine lover), Jesse Stevens. In all these years, Stevens has been Day’s the unwelcome voice in his head, a flicker in the corner of his vision. To make things extra awkward, Day is joined on the journey by Stevens’ wife, a renowned medium.

Where the Dead Wait is a cracking novel of creeping dread. Switching between timelines from an episode of complete desperation to Day’s current fraught mental state, the reader is constantly on-edge. As if the Polar atmosphere isn’t surreal enough, there are a few truly disturbing and uncanny moments that I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

And poor William Day. I loved this character so much. Placed under an enormous amount of pressure at such a young age, and spending the rest of his life reeling from it, not to mention suppressing his sexuality, would be enough to push anyone over the edge.

I would have loved to see more from Mrs. Stevens; she seemed like a fascinating character. Her final interaction with Day was especially touching.

Wilkes belongs among the ranks of Michelle Paver as a master of “Polar Gothic”. This is a slow burn of a novel, which perfectly reflects the slow progress involved with such voyages. Perfect for winter nights in front of a fire.

I enjoyed this! It was spooky and atmospheric and definitely unique. As someone whose career aspirations include Arctic or Antarctic research trips I always enjoy reading about the area. The spooky vibes were top notch and it was a wild ride being inside of Day's head!

I really enjoyed the author’s previous book and have been really look forward to this one. Unfortunately it just did not draw me in. I found it a bit of a challenge to discern what was the current story versus a flashback versus an hallucination. The characters were very one dimensional and the pacing was a tad slow. Some may like this but it just wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley opportunity to read and review this book.

An intense story with a complicated and intriguing main character kept me interested in this too-long book. Wilkes’ ability to create atmosphere and drama that doesn’t feel hokey is a welcome addition to the thriller genre.

This story is told in third person with chapters labeled Then and Now as well as dates and locations. It follows the journey of an Arctic explorer, William Day, as he sets off on a rescue mission to bring back his second-in-command, Stevens, with whom he holds both fascinated and mixed feelings. Day is haunted by his previous Arctic explorations, especially concerning cannibalism, and is accompanied, somewhat uncomfortably, on this rescue mission by the wife of Stevens who is a psychic medium.

The writing is incredibly atmospheric giving the story a dark, dense feeling of cold and desolation both in setting and emotions. The desperation of the starving, stranded explorers who have lost all hope was unmistakable. However, despite the careful labelling of the chapters, I often got lost in time during Day’s narrative due to his hauntings and hallucinations. It was difficult to tell what was real and what was not, which led to an ambiguity for me that I found frustrating.

There were moments that were so atmospheric and spiritual that I was holding my breath with the tense suspense followed by cryptic questions or actions that left me scratching my head wondering what just happened and despite rereading entire sections, I was still left puzzled. At the same time, I enjoyed the real monster versus mythological being aspects of the story.

Recommended to those fascinated with Arctic exploration and the travails of those stranded in desolate conditions that can break the mind.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC of this chilling title.**

I got myself super hooked on the synopsis for this one, looking forward to an atmospheric polar gothic.

Unfortunately, the writing just wasn’t for me and I found myself slogging through the beginning and not looking forward to picking the book up.

For me, this story didn’t have enough reward to warrant the amount of effort I had to put into it. I know people love this author (and I wish I did too,) but Where The Dead Wait just didn’t deliver.

The scene was set very well - I could definitely FEEL how cold the characters were in the Arctic, and I found myself struggling along with the explorers. Wilkes does an incredible job of showing rather than telling, and that’s definitely the main positive I can give to this book.

Ultimately, I think readers that enjoy historical fiction and intense atmosphere will really appreciate this book. I think if more emphasis had been placed on the historical aspect of the story, I would have known ahead of time that this book wasn’t for me.

Rarely do I feel so totally immersed in the setting as I did with Where the Dead Wait. Ally Wilkes' latest is a little graphic, and should be read with that in mind, but for the true gothic/horror fan, this one shouldn't be missed. Thanks for the opportunity to review!

I really enjoyed Ally Wilkes previous books and her newest, WHERE THE DEAD WAIT, did not disappoint. This book is beautifully written, and a slow burn horror, that would be perfect for horror fans or historical fiction fans looking for a scary read.