SNOWBOUND by Blake Crouch

3.5 out of 5 stars

on Amazon UK HERE
on Amazon.com HERE
on Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book:  I'd read Abandon and loved it so much I had to read another one by the same author straight away.

Snowbound starts off with such promise.  Will's wife, Rachael, fails to return home, and we see this from his point of view as he wakes up at 4 am to find her missing, and from hers as she is abducted.  The next day, he finds out that local police fancy him for her murder.  Escape is the only answer.  Fast forward five years, and Will is living with his daughter, Devlin, in another state, under assumed names.  Enter Kalyn, a former FBI agent who has her own agenda when it comes to helping Will find out what happened to Rachael. 

Warning: contains spoilers

The book follows an exciting trail up to Alaska as they mess with the mob and get closer to finding out the truth.  Until about 50%, the book's great.  Then it starts to get too outlandish.  Like, sixteen year old with cystic fibrosis manages to survive being chased by wolves and a hike in waist deep snow to a lodge peopled by some seriously dangerous people, one of whom she kills, even though she has never held a gun before.  Will is semi-mangled by wolves but manages a similar hike to rescue his wife and daughter, the former of whom seems to be psychologically intact despite a five year career as a sex slave and worse.  I stopped reading at 75%.  I can suspend my disbelief to a certain extent, but....

 

HELL HOLES by Donald Firesmith @DonFiresmith

4 out of 5 stars

Arctic supernatural thriller

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Review Team

Mostly, I enjoyed this.  It's very much escapist genre fiction, which could have done with a better edit to rectify repetitions and a few lazily constructed sentences, but I did like it.  It's about geological scientist Jack Oswald who goes out to Alaska with his wife and two of his grad students, to investigate the appearance of mysterious holes in the tundra.  Also along for the ride is enigmatic journalist Aileen O'Connor. 

Once at camp, all hell is let loose as demonic beings appear from the depths of the mysterious craters.  Very quickly, the situation grows from horrendous to super-horrendous.

The author has obviously done his geological research, to the extent of the dialogue being a bit on the information-heavy side in the first half of the book, but if the information is interesting I don't mind, and this was.  It cracks on at a great pace thereafter.  At first I was a little put off by the sudden change from feasible arctic geological mystery thriller to Harry Potter-like spells and gargoyles the size of lions, but once I got used to it (pretty quickly), it kind of worked.  The action was fast, convincing and scary.  Do bear in mind that I'm not a great lover of supernatural; I don't imagine that this will be any sort of problem for those who are used to reading this genre, in fact you'll probably love it.

The book turned out to be only long novella length, or certainly very short novel, as it suddenly ends at about 80%, with a humdinger of a cliffhanger.  The rest of the book is taken up with information about the series, notes about the inspiration for the book, and part of Book Two.  Now, I didn't understand the 'part of Book Two' thing AT ALL.  Some people don't like parts of series ending in a cliffhanger.  I do, I love it.  This cliffhanger was so good that all I wanted to do was find out what happened next, to the extent that I would have gone straight to Amazon and bought the next one if it was available, which is, surely, the purpose of such endings.  So why, Mr Firesmith, have you given me a reason not to, by sticking 'what happened next' at the back of Book One?  Think on! 

My other complaint is about the diagrams at the beginning of the book.  Placed there, they meant little.  If the diagram for Pump Station 2 was placed right at the start of, or in the middle of, the chapter when the group arrive there, it would have given me all the information I needed, instead of me having to imagine it/keep flicking back to the start.  The Alaska map could have been better placed, too.

I give this book a thumbs up, despite the criticisms.  If you like arctic landscapes and demonic thrills, I suggest you nip over to Amazon and download it immediately.

THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London

5 GOLD Stars

Classic adventure/Gold Rush

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads
It's FREE on Amazon!!

HOW have I managed to get to the age of ** without reading this???  I described it thus to my sister last night: 'I can't believe how brilliant it is, it's one of THOSE books.'

For anyone who hasn't read it and doesn't know about it (yes, I know it's a classic and this is probably like saying 'for anyone who doesn't know what Wuthering Heights is about!), it's set in during the Klondike gold rush of the late 19th century, in Yukon Territory and Alaska.  The story is told from the point of view of Buck, a St Bernard/Scottish shepherd dog crossbreed who lived a luxurious existence in a wealthy house in California, and is stolen and sold by the gardner to work for prospectors, a hard life indeed. 

Much of the book is about how he adapts to his changing environment, but more than that, how 'not only did he learn by experience but instincts long dead within him.  The domesticated generations fell from him in vague ways he remembered back to the youth of the breed....they came to him without effort or discovery as though they had been his always.'

I am sure that those who've studied this book will tell you that what happens to Buck along the way is a parallel of what might happen to man under such circumstances, too; well, that was how it seemed to me, anyway.  I am not a 'dog person', but I loved Buck and the dogs with whom he travelled.  He had masters who cared for him properly, and one horrible group who deserved all that happened to them, until he finally found his one true master.  The passages about the relationship between him and John Thornton were so, so touching, but what I loved most was the discovery of his 'race memory', how he dreamt of and somehow knew about times so long ago, etched into his DNA.

Of course, the call of the wild becomes stronger and stronger....  this is a wonderful book, not very long (I would have been happy if it had been three times the length), and I'd recommend it to anyone.  So now I've found another author whose books I will be working through...next: 'White Fang'!

INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer

5 GOLD stars

Biography

On Amazon UK HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Now that I've discovered the books of Jon Krakauer I imagine I'll be giving them all 5 gold stars if they're as good as this one (and Into Thin Air).

Into The Wild is the story of Chris McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, a brilliant, idealistic young man who chose to turn his back on the conventional world into which he'd been brought up, and the life his parents hoped he would follow, and live as a wanderer, rejecting society and 20th century civilisation.  In August 1992 his decomposed body was found by a group of moose hunters in the Alaskan wilderness.

In this book Jon Krakauer unfolds Chris's story gradually, starting at the end of his short life and taking the reader back through his travels of the previous couple of years via recollections from the people Chris met, all of whom found him charming, charismatic; many became very fond of him.  Krakauer compares his ideals and experiences to other ill-fated adventurers (such as Gene Rosellini, John Mallon Waterman and Everett Ruess; their tales are described, and fascinating reading they make, too), and explores the psychology of those who are drawn to such lifestyles ~ including himself.  There's a large section about the author's own youthful attempt to climb the Devil's Thumb in Alaska, detailing what drew him to cross the boundaries of safety and 'normality', by way of giving insight into the personality type.

Chris's family background is explored, along with the effect of his decisions upon them and those who grew close to him. Finally, Krakauer convincingly outlines his theories about what actually led to Chris's death.  He was criticised for his original article in Outside magazine, and I think this book must surely have silenced all those who responded negatively to both writer and subject.  He talks of the mixed feelings he had about how he'd dismissed his own father's desired path for him, and compares this to Chris's difficult relationship with Walt McCandless.

"He'd built a bridge of privelege for me, a hand-paved trestle to the good life, and I repaid him by chopping it down and crapping on the wreckage."

This is a terrific book, perfectly put together (I kept applauding the structure all the way through), and it's sympathetic towards Chris without making him out to be some kind of hero.  It's so sad, fascinating, and made me think about so many things ~ I just loved it.  Can't recommend it too highly.  Now, which one next?

INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer reviewed HERE

UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN by Jon Krakauer reviewed HERE

MISSOULA by Jon Krakauer reviewed HERE