Insidious, relentless, creepy, mind-bending, and chilling.

I’d say these words best describe “Briardark.” The first in a new series by S.A. Harian. I’m not sure how to classify this novel. At some points it’s a horror story, at others, it seems as though it is Science Fiction, then it turns to a survival story, it’s best to say, this novel is quite unlike what I’ve read in the past. The story is gripping, intelligent, and I can’t wait for the second book as we visit Briardark…

A group of women disappear on a backing-packing trip seven years ago in Deadswitch Wilderness. One of those women was a gaming influencer. Now, a group of scientists’ led by Siena enter the wilderness to study a glacier deep in the same wilderness called Alpenglow. One of the expedition members is Cam, who was in the first search for the missing women.

As they are traversing and traveling the wilderness to their destination, they happen upon a body, which looks like one of the missing women? How can that be? The body has not aged? And it’s been seven years? Soon after discovering the body, it disappears?

The expedition team reaches the base camp near the glacier they are studying and find that it’s melted? That’s impossible, right? The team notices that nature, trees, earth, and vegetation seem and feel sentient. It’s as though time and space are altered, and reality undulates.

At the same time, Holden, , who is an IT person listening to some audio files that he came across that involve the study and the wilderness.

As you probably realized, this story jumps between the expedition, mostly Siena, and Holden telling the story. Holden is looking for the group, and Siena is trying to figure it all out and survive.

This story is so much more than a mystery and horror story, the depth of the characters, the atmospheric wilderness, the feel of an insidious element. The story is dark, very dark. However, it is so very well written. I believe this book will appeal to horror, mystery, fantasy, and sci-if fans alike. I’m not a fan of the latter two, but in this book it worked so very well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

The Perfect Book for fans of the TV series 'Lost,' 'Dark,' and 'Yellowjackets,' but also of VanderMeer's Annihilation books. Frankly, however, I think this book is far, far better! Full of strong women, interesting male characters, and intriguing developments, 'Briardark' is a real page-turner, written intelligently and with a gripping story that makes no concessions to the reader. It dawned on me this is the first volume in a series, when the plot kept getting more and more complex, more and more interesting, and I was (sadly) reaching the end of the book! How am I going to wait for volume two?! Anyway, this isn't a simple survival story, since folk horror creeps in almost immediately; it's not a simple horror story, either, since, at a major point in the book, the plot goes heavily into science fiction territory; still, it's not purely sci-fi, since there are some wonderfully creepy moments that any horror fan will appreciate and yearn for. What I really liked was how expectations-defying the whole book is: there's no way to guess what'll happen, no way to make sense of the story on your own beforehand; you, as a reader, have to make do with the tidbits of information coming your way as the people in the story get to know them, bit by bit. This makes for an utterly immersive story, full of mysteries and atmosphere, with the supernatural elements right in your face! Highly, very higly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC!

Briardark by S.A. Harian is the start of an amazing new series.

An atmospheric, engrossing, riveting, page turner!

I loved the way Harian weaved together and created a complex multi-layered story.
The reader is left guessing all the way through.
The writing flows well and is a quick and easy read.
There is great tension, compelling atmosphere and unease.

A gripping, unputdownable, with plenty of creepy, spine-chilling moments.
Overall it was engaging and gripped me from the very start.
I can't wait for book two because Harian can write an amazing story.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Compass and Fern,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

This was so good. I--I don't even quite know how to articulate how much I loved this. I love creepy forests, I love like....cosmic horror type spooks, I love expeditions (or anything with like a camera crew, or a film crew--any sort of team). Disappearing bodies?? I read this book in less than two days, and I would take the exhaustion 5 times over if I got to read this like it was the first time again. I don't want to give away too much, because I think what's in the synopsis is sufficient, but this was so good. I will be making sure that my library purchases a few copies for circulation, and I'm also most definitely buying a copy for myself!