“Whiteout” follows Rachael a scientist in the Antarctic trying to gather research and stop a vote to prove that the drilling will cause a massive piece of ice to fall off and cause havoc for the world. She starts off in a team of four alongside her boss Guy and two other explorers named Mika and Zak. She leaves behind her husband and daughter in London to help save the world. When Guy becomes sick as soon as they get to their destination and already has to be airlifted out Rachel has to convince Zak and Mika they can complete the research as a team of 3 and pretty much nothing is as it seems.

The book definitely started off slow. It did not seem like it was going to be a mystery/thriller until I was about 50% or so into the book. But when the twist, twisted I was like WHAT?!? Then the ending literally had me mind blown and asking myself what the… I could’ve done without the politics Rachael was a total baddie who did not give up! It went from 3 stars to 4.5 stars.

This is a well-written adventure survival story that takes place in Antarctica during the winter. Rachael is part of a 4-member party gathering data to try to prevent the U.S. from drilling for oil. When one of the group needs to return home due to illness, Rachael takes it upon herself to gather remote data, and thereby gets herself into trouble. Meanwhile, news from a radio tells her that a nuclear bomb has been detonated so she is unsure what the future will bring or if her family is even alive. This strong story with realistic, believable characters and a fascinating location would make a terrific movie! Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC.

Ice cold thriller with a survival plot in the extreme cold. The premise sounds so good but it felt like the plot melted away after a while and I couldn’t keep myself invested.

Rachael sits alone in her Arctic home, an insulated tent like structure, listening to the broadcast from London “…This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted and the number of the casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known.” It repeats every two hours. When she left for this five month long mission, planned to convince world leaders that the damage from climate change had to be dealt with immediately, she left behind an unhappy husband and a 15 month old daughter. Now she fears they are dead with the rest of the world in a nuclear holocaust. No one answers the stations near her. Is she the last person alive?

Disaster after disaster follow Rachael. First her tent burns down. Then she begins the long walk to the nearest station, hoping to find the two surviving members of this ill planned winter mission. She must survive a blinding blizzard, hidden crevasses where one missed step leads to instant death, starvation and more. Even rescue comes with danger.

Whiteout is Rachael’s story. Physically, she fights to survive an unforgiving climate. Emotionally, she thinks about her marriage and possible divorce. Why has she pushed her husband away? The answers come but are they too late?

Whiteout is impossible to put down. Its’s a mystery and a thriller where the enemy is nature itself. The larger story of drilling for oil in Arctic regions, global warming, and climate control is the reason for Rachael’s mission and the disasters that follow. Whiteout is well written and totally unique. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and R.S. Burnett for this ARC.

Nuclear war, Antarctic blizzard, understaffed study, fire, death. How much trauma can one person endure. This is a page turner I could not put down. Great story

Wow! What a superb thriller. Rachael is a climate change scientist who has recently had a child. She finds herself having to leave her family against her husband's wishes, to join a team at the Antarctic who are carrying out an urgent survey. The team have just a few months to show that a planned drilling will cause devastating effects. After a series of calamitous events, Rachael finds herself stranded alone, miles from base in the middle of the arctic winter. To worsen the situation she hears a radio broadcast from the BBC, telling her that the world has fallen victim to a nuclear war. She realises that she and her team may be the last humans left alive. Her struggle to survive leaves her unsure who to trust and doubting whether it is worth the effort with her husband and child no longer alive. The thrills keep coming in this story. There is a real sense of the terrible cold and dark and the isolation that Rachael experiences. The writer makes skilful use of flashbacks to tell us about the relationship between Rachael and her family and to show us how she came to be on her own. There are just enough flashbacks to set the scene without slowing the pace in any way. I really loved this book; there are twists at every turn. The story evolves in an almost cinematic way and would make a fantastic feature film. I would highly recommend it.

(3.5 stars)
Whiteout is a fast-paced snow survivalist novel centred upon a female protagonist (for a change), Rachael Beckett. She’s struggling in her marriage and with a twenty month old daughter, so chooses to escape to save Antartica when her old mate calls: “Her pristine paradise was under threat. It was dying.” While Beckett clearly feels at home in this landscapes the author uses safety briefings to remind the reader that “Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, most remote, most desolate, most inhospitable place on the entire planet.” Coming in winter means it’s also dark, you’re trapped with no rescue possible, and it’s cold: “cold that will attack you like a viscous wild animal at any and every opportunity.” Funnily enough though it’s the two people Beckett was running away from that give her the tenacity to fight for her life when things go awfully wrong.

This is an easy to consume read that paints a good picture of what is an alien landscape to most people. The twist is well set up, with all the tools you need to find it believable when it happens. I enjoyed Whiteout as a diversion from the beach landscape I was looking at. It felt a bit short to me, but maybe I just read it too quickly.

An incredible book with wonderful characters and a beautiful setting. It will keep you guessing until the end.

This is a great closed-in novel. It moves at an interesting pace, and you can feel the arctic cold and desolation. Rachel is faced with many challenges, and I am amazed at how she faces each one! I am amazed at the level of knowledge the author displayed in this book. I only wish it had a bit more at the end to seal the resolution we can imagine in our heads! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Expedition Day: 152
Temperature: -69C
Location: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Deep field.

Rachael left her husband and 15-month old daughter for a five month expedition to Antarctica during their winter season in order to do critical research that could possibly save the world from catastrophic climate damage. When their team leader falls critically ill and needs to leave on the last flight out until spring, the rest of the group has to decide to leave or stay. Despite the others’ objections, Rachael decides that they need to stay, and when she ventures out to the deep field on her own, things start to go very wrong. Soon she finds herself lost and without shelter, has limited supplies, and the only communication she is receiving is an emergency broadcast reporting that a nuclear war has broken out. Can she fight through grief and despair and find her way back to base camp, and even if she does, is there anyone left to come for her?

I really really enjoyed this! This book caught my eye because I love reading anything about Antarctica expeditions and survival stories. This book was terrifying and full of suspense, I literally had anxiety the entire way through and had to read it in one sitting. I loved this unique plot and highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy of Whiteout in return for my honest review.

My honest review is that, I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I have no idea why I decided in July 2024 that I HAD to read a book that isn’t being published until Feb 2025 instead of something off my TBR but it is what it is. This book reminded me of the book/movie ‘The Martian’..

The whole time I was rooting for Racheal, I felt her pain, her panic and when I say panic, this book had me on the edge of my seat panicking for her!

A fantastic thriller with the best twists that I honestly did not see coming which is crazy for me. I wanted more out of the end, not because it wasn’t done well, there was a sense of closure but I’m greedy and I wanted more.

I recommend 100%

Rachael is on an Antarctic expedition when she becomes isolated and receives a BBC broadcast reporting a nuclear attack.
She will try to survive while facing loneliness, her memories and the elements. We learn how she got there through her recollections and her diary which is an explanation of her reasons for being there and not with her husband Adam and her daughter Izzy. During the novel we can see how although sometimes she seems to faint, but Rachael is a fighter and never gives up.
The narrative rhythm goes from more reflective at the beginning to accelerate with the events creating the same sense of urgency that our protagonist feels.
A fantastic and different thriller with an interesting twist and where the main enemy is nature.