“ONE DEAD BODY. TWELVE SUSPECTS. TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR DARKNESS.

In the most inhospitable environment – cut off from the rest of the world – there’s a killer on the loose.

A&E doctor Kate North has been knocked out of her orbit by a personal tragedy. So when she’s offered the opportunity to be an emergency replacement at the UN research station in Antarctica, she jumps at the chance. The previous doctor, Jean-Luc, died in a tragic accident while out on the ice.

The move seems an ideal solution for Kate: no one knows about her past; no one is checking up on her. But as total darkness descends for the winter, she begins to suspect that Jean-Luc’s death wasn’t accidental at all.

And the more questions she asks, the more dangerous it becomes . . .”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to be joining the blog tour for The Dark by Emma Haughton. The Dark is published today (that’s Thursday 19th August 2021) by Hodder & Stoughton and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow in 2022. I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Dark but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Jenny at Hodder & Stoughton for sending me a finished copy.

Regular visitors to damppebbles may be aware that I have a bit of a thing for novels set in a cold climate. Throw in the fact that The Dark is set in Antarctica, which spends some of the year in complete, all encompassing darkness and is considered one of the most inhospitable environments on earth, and there was no way I was going to let this book pass me by! I had to read The Dark. And I’m so very glad I did.

Kate North can’t escape the memories of her past. Everywhere she goes are constant reminders of what she had, and what she lost. The past controls her every waking moment. So she decides to take drastic action and applies to be the doctor at a UN research station in Antarctica. Conditions at the station will be bleak with total darkness 24 hours a day and temperatures that will kill, so it’s of the utmost importance that the team at the station are physically and emotionally prepared. Kate questions her own suitability repeatedly due to her overuse of prescription medication and a long held fear of the dark. But the need to escape is greater. On arrival it becomes clear to Kate that there are several unanswered questions about her predecessor’s sudden death. As Kate digs deeper into what happened to Jean-Luc, she begins to doubt her colleagues. Who can she trust? Who is keeping secrets? And what really happened to Jean-Luc….?

I really enjoyed The Dark. I’m sure we’ve all read novels set in a snowy landscape where help isn’t necessarily immediately available, but it is there. The Dark had a very different feel to it as there is no rescue team flying in to transport everyone to safety. Conditions are harsh. Flying to Antarctica isn’t something you do on a whim, help is anything from 6 to 12 months away! No matter what happens. No matter what the threat. No matter how many bodies are piled up. You wait it out, which really added to the tension of this novel. I loved how the author conveyed the feeling of utter helplessness and total isolation to the reader. Kate was well and truly stuck at the station with nowhere to run.

There are quite a few characters to become acquainted with but the author does a brilliant job of making sure the reader is never confused. Doctor Kate is our lead. I liked that Kate, no matter how many people told her to leave Jean-Luc’s death alone – that it was just an unfortunate accident – kept pushing for answers. She was definitely like a dog with a bone and I admired that in her. Particularly as she was the new girl in a remote and hostile environment with everything to prove. Sandrine, the station leader, was the perfect nemesis to Kate. The friction between the two characters was very well written. Sandrine made my blood boil at times and I loved it!

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Dark is a fantastic debut thriller novel which handles its setting superbly. I thoroughly enjoyed this compulsive mystery which sent chills down my spine. I was very intrigued about life on a UN research station – the more the author told me, the more I wanted to know, the faster I turned the pages. That, coupled with the fascinating mystery at the heart of The Dark, made for a very compelling, very claustrophobic read. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Dark. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Dark by Emma Haughton was published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton on 19th August 2021 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow next year (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | Book Depository | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop |

The Dark, Emma Haughton’s chilling new thriller for adults, will be published by Hodder in August 2021.

Emma grew up in Sussex; after a stint au pairing in Paris and a couple of half-hearted attempts to backpack across Europe, she studied English at Oxford University then trained in journalism. During her career as a journalist, she wrote many articles for national newspapers, including regular pieces for the Times Travel section.

Following publication of her picture book, Rainy Day, Emma wrote three YA novels. Her first, Now You See Me, was an Amazon bestseller and nominated for the Carnegie and Amazing Book Awards. Better Left Buried, her second, was one of the best YA reads for 2015 in the Sunday Express. Her third YA novel, Cruel Heart Broken, was picked by The Bookseller as a top YA read for July 2016.