Emma Haughton

Zoey wakes up to find herself in an isolated refuge for those with personality disorders and addiction habits. She has no memory of how or why she got there. As she opens up to the other residents, secrets are revealed and strange things start happening. It would appear not all is as it seems at The Sanctuary and just who is Zoey’s mysterious benefactor?

I enjoyed this psychological mystery. It’s a slow burner so if you like fast paced thrillers, this one won’t be for you. It has an insidious feel where the suspense is built up over time, culminating in a dramatic finish. It reminded me a little of a ‘locked room’ type of mystery as there’s no real way of escape. Most of the characters are unlikeable - I can’t imagine spending time with such a group!👀 It is a little far fetched at times and the incredulousness does grow as the story progresses. However, it is a work of fiction where anything goes apparently, so I did find it entertaining and it kept my attention throughout.

Thanks to Pigeonhole and the author for the opportunity to read it.… (más)

This novel has many flaws, but I loved it, and that is why I am rating it four stars!
The premise is classic, but with a twist: There are thirteen people working on a research station in Antarctica. The narrator, Dr Kate North, is the newest member and arrives to replace the former station doctor, who died in an accident. After some time, she starts having doubts about this accident and tries to find out what happened. Of course there is another murder, and in the 24 hour darkness of the Antarctic winter, suddenly nothing is safe at all.
The twist? Even if you escape this locked room, you will die because you cannot survive in the conditions outside!
I loved the setting and premise of this novel. I have watched a few documentaries about research in Antarctica (Bremerhaven, where I live, is the homeport of the Polarstern research vessel). Of course I am no expert, but it seemed to me that the author did her research well and the descriptions are mostly authentic. The story drew me in at once and I couldn't stop reading. The depiction of Antarctica is beautiful and I was simply there while reading.
There were a few aspects that I did not like, though: Kate is addicted to painkillers and other pills and takes them frequently throughout the day. She starts having symptoms fast if she does not take them, and even apart from that, she is very jittery and unstable. So the fact that she was chosen to be the replacement doctor, undergoing many physical and psychological tests in the process, is completely unbelievable. On the other hand, some of the characters are very stereotypical - Of course the German is stiff and serious! Of course all the men are pining after the pretty lesbian, and would you have thought she is a lesbian, with her not even wearing dungarees?
There are some other inconsistencies and actions that are not credible.
But despite of them, I enjoyed this novel very much and it completely captivated me.… (más)

The Dark, by Emma Haughton, is a mystery set in Antarctica. After a personal trauma, Dr. Kate North decides to leave everything behind and take a post wintering over as the station physician. Not many researchers stay over the winter, through the 24-hour darkness and months without fresh supplies, but a few continue their work year-round. Kate’s ready for an extreme reset, where no one knows her past and where she can self-prescribe in peace.

Before arriving, Kate heard that the position is only open because the previous doctor died in an accident, but once she’s living in the research station, she begins to hear other things. Kate can’t seem to leave this alone, asking nosy questions and peeking around, and I felt a real conflict as she started to look into what could have happened. She’s a mess in her personal life, and maybe this project will distract her and pull her out of this? But then again, she’s a mess, so maybe she’s just going to make it all worse.

Full review on my book blog… (más)

A novel of two halves - tediously slow and patently ridiculous - I only persevered with Emma Haughton's debut novel for adults (although I have read better YA fiction) because I was hoping for a sci-fi novel, like The Thing, or a supernatural tale, like Michelle Paver's Dark Matter (which, upon checking my review, I also hated). Nope. Instead we get an attempt at 'Agatha Christie characters transposed to an Antarctic wilderness', with possibly one of the most annoying narrators in the history of contemporary fiction.

Seriously, what is with the penchant for whiny, pathetic female characters who are too busy feeling sorry for themselves to realise when they are in danger? Are they meant to be relatable or sympathetic? I just wanted Dr Kate North to die, quite honestly. For the first half of the book, she is a waste of space, whacked out on pain medication, first her own and then stolen from the clinic, obsessed with the scar on her face and the memory of her late fiancé yet simultaneously confusing her position as the new medic at a remote ice station with a dating app. After mooning over and finally getting off with Drew, the dishy American who makes hydroponic salads, Kate turns her attention to the next man who is kind to her, Scandinavian mechanic Arne. When not hopped up on drugs or swiping right for her male colleagues, Kate spends her time blinded by tears, which are constantly either prickling or welling in her eyes. That and referring to herself in the third person while at another pity party for one. There's a scene - spoilers, I guess? - where Kate is abandoned outside in the eternal dark and loses both her torch and her bearings, and even though she's the narrator, I desperately wanted her to freeze to death and end both our suffering. Sadly, she survives.

The rest of the UNA (United Nations Antarctica Station) are even more cliched, if that is possible. Drew is American and therefore has movie star good looks, Rajiv the chef (who makes curry) is 'easy to remember' with his turban, Arkady and Tom struggle with English and need Kate to finish their sentences and explain colloquialisms to them, Alice is 'ethereally feminine' yet gay! How can that be? Surely Caro, who wears baggy dungarees all the time, is more likely to be the lesbian. This was the insulting level of description throughout.

The plot is a drawn out murder mystery where one of the crew is a killer but everyone is trapped at the station for the winter. After pages of what seems like the same conversation - everyone asking Kate if she's okay, Kate telling them that she's finding the lack of sleep/light/trust hard and people keep making her cry - a few clues are finally thrown in via the video diary of the previous doctor who died in mysterious circumstances. And then Kate suddenly turns amateur detective, despite later quoting Bones from Star Trek: 'I'm a doctor, not a detective!' (She's not much of a doctor, either, to be fair.) Four of the men have names starting with A, the initial of the last doctor's suspect, so Kate decides to trust no-one (except for Arne, he's pretty cute!) and harass everyone.

The most unbelievable twist in the tale comes when Kate is forced to go cold turkey - suddenly she is wonder woman! Delivering a premature baby in a remote ice station with the power out, no prior experience and no incubators? No problem! Someone is shot in the head? It's just a flesh wound!) One character even pulls her up on such a miraculous recovery: ‘And who made you de facto leader?’ Luuk finally finds his voice, throwing me a challenging look. ‘Why all of a sudden are you giving the orders? Seems to me it wasn’t long ago you were confined to your room for breaching pretty much every rule on the base.’

Honestly, apart from some interesting background into life on Antarctica and a pretty description of the aurora autralis, this was a laughable story with a narrator who grated severely on my nerves throughout. Did I guess the killer? Yep. Was the killer's motive even remotely credible? Nope. Did I wish they would do us a favour and kill Kate? More and more with every chapter!… (más)