Great setting, and amazingly unique characters full of personality. The book is full of twists and turns, though im left with questions unanswered. Overall fun read. ( )

It takes a special kind of crazy to live in a remote polar station, and this is an underlying theme of this book. Oddly though, conditions that can drive a sane person crazy would seem that a psych eval is in order for anyone choosing to endure polar winters with six months of no aid from the rest of the world. When a scientist is found dead in the library, the librarian becomes the immediate suspect only because she owned a gun (never mind it wasn't the gun used in the killing) and the personnel recruiter who allowed her to have it (Dylan, the main character in the story). The murder becomes an international incident, the scientist was Israeli, the librarian, Muslim, and the United States wants to unilaterally take possession of the international station because of an interest by one of the richest, post powerful people.

The story and plot worked well enough, but the character development seemed off. Dylan was prone to crazy nightmares and often questioned his own sanity. He took accusations of culpability much too nonchalantly. He was caught and escaped several times...despite there being literally no place to run. The supporting cast of characters are largely 2-dimensional, and the villains resemble something out of a James Bond story. Still, Hoss got the atmospherics right (at least as well as I can judge them to be after reading a blog by a friend's father who was recruited for a particular task in Antarctica). If you want a nice chill on hot summer day, this could do it for you. ( )

Thanks LibraryThing & Black Rose Writing.
I was looking forward to reading this book, when i received it as oart of the Early Reviewer's giveaway, expecting a thriller, may be something like an Ice Station Zebra. But, alas! that is not what I found at all......
Unfortunately I did not enjoy the book - Yes it was a murder mystery, but the murder mystery got lost in all the conspiracy theories, voices in the head and general chaos. I finished reading it just because i dont like to abandon books.
I dont think the writing was bad, and even the proof reading/editing was good when compared to some of the other early review books i've read - just that I was not able to enjoy it..... ( )

This was an interesting book, had a really unique locale and a cast of bizarre characters (that seemed to be a point of pride: how many strange and diverse characters can be crammed in here). It went a bit off the rails towards the end but tied things up nicely so I can forgive the veering off. There was a mystery and a few red herrings; overall it kept things movely along nicely and I would consider other books by this author. ( )

It's difficult to categorize this book - on the one hand it's a crime story set in an imagined research centre at the South Pole, on the other hand it's an adventure story, and while it slides into Indiana Jones territory at times, it has some anchors into contemporary reality.

Tightly written, despite the sometimes rambling and seemingly divergent plotline, it's an absorbing read - if you are stuck on a long flight or train ride you could do a lot worse than while away your time with this book. ( )