I stayed up late to finish this and don't regret a thing. This book has a gorgeous cover that made it an instant buy for me as soon as I saw it, and it's already pre-ordered. The nicest part? The book is just as well done as the cover. Inspired by the author's grandfather's imprisonment on an infamous island, this book goes from a creepy post apocalyptic survey mission on a menacing hunk of rock long talked about for the cruelties the prisoners there suffered to a claustrophobia inducing body horror and beyond. The characters all have their own orders and agendas, so the team leader has his work cut out for him from moment one as everyone nearly dies before they even set foot on the island. Deserted long ago and nearly barren of vegetation, the place is completely unwelcoming and it doesn't get any better once the team starts to survey the island's structures for who knows what. Things don't add up once they begin fighting and revealing what scraps of information each has for why they are there. There is a sense of impending doom and otherworldliness to the whole book, and I found the hints of how society has reformed since plagues and nuclear war ravaged the planet. The main protagonist speaks in a way that feels foreign even to him, and archaic. I would have placed him as a character from the era of Dracula based on his stilted prose, but once it became apparent that the universal language is something that was imposed on the population, it's no wonder everyone sounds so uncomfortable. When members go missing and the camp starts to come under attack, the team ventures into the island and the abandoned prison farther and find out many things are not what they were told. It gets wild. I won't spoil the last half of the book, but it was tense and crazy and I'd love a follow up to this because the world sounded fascinating.

Want to start off by saying, a story based on history normally isn’t my go-to for reading. But the cover was gorgeous, and I loved the authors other book so I gave it a go & I’m so glad I did!!! The characters were all well developed & intriguing! The atmosphere was brimming with dread & gave me a sense of claustrophobia throughout which made me highly anxious while reading WHICH just added to the experience! It was kind of like Tomb Raider meets The Ruins meets The Thing! Very well written, great cast/plot/atmosphere! Loved it!