I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book and for the netgalley copy
Unfortunately I cannot take photos of physical books as the lighting is so bad in my flat at the moment

This book has been on my tbr pile for a while, and for some reason I kept putting this off. I have absolutely no idea why and now after having read it, I regret that decision so much

I am so glad I chose to read this when the days have got a bit colder. It felt so right for the atmosphere and this could easily be read in one sitting.

In this book; we are introduced to 12 characters and at times, I did find it slightly hard to remember who was who, particularly as some had similar names

My one downside with this book was that I felt like I didn’t know the characters, apart from Kate, that well.

I absolutely loved the locked mystery thriller of this book and the authors writing is so atmospheric and tense

I had so many theories of this book. None which turned out to be true. But I had fun along the way

I can’t way to read more by this author

This is your classic isolated location, limited pool of suspects mystery. This time, however, the location is a research station in Antarctica, which is a fresh twist on the concept.

Our heroine is Kate, a doctor with a tragic backstop and a prescription drug dependency issue. She signs up to be the base doctor, which involves facing the long Antarctic winter in total darkness along with a skeleton crew, and no hope of evacuation for months. Pretty soon she starts to realise something is not right on the base and with that comes a creeping sense of terror, paranoia and isolation. Soon Kate starts to wonder whether she might be trapped with a killer.

This is definitely a compulsive read. I lost sleep trying to get to the end. I did work out what was going on pretty early but it was still a lot of fun finding out how everything was going to be brought together in the end.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

A classic thriller, bit of a deviation from my usual type of read.
Took me a while to get into the original storyline, but it’s definitely tense and thrilling,

I did enjoy this book but sadly I did not warm to the main character Kate that much. Popping pills and wandering aimlessly she is chaotic and cold.

But...this does set the dark tone for when things go wrong so in a way it works.

I just feel I might have missed out by not feeling a connection to her as a main character.

I am glad I finished it. It would the perfect wintery, stormy outside, snuggle up kind of read

I love the ideas in this novel. The claustrophobic setting of an Antarctic base in winter, with no daylight. Not knowing which of the people you're stuck with you can trust. The slow breakdown of some of the characters. Dealing with emergencies in unconventional ways. It was creative and intriguing.

I wish things had moved a little faster at the beginning, though. I found the first half of the book too slow, with not much happening and a large cast of characters, few of whom I actually felt like I was getting to know.

After the midway point, the action picks up, and I was desperate to get to the end, to figure out what was going on.

I love a good locked room mystery and this did not disappoint. Plenty of drama and intrigue and my attention was held from start to finish

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book and for the netgalley copy
Unfortunately I cannot take photos of physical books as the lighting is so bad in my flat at the moment

This book has been on my tbr pile for a while, and for some reason I kept putting this off. I have absolutely no idea why and now after having read it, I regret that decision so much

I am so glad I chose to read this when the days have got a bit colder. It felt so right for the atmosphere and this could easily be read in one sitting.

In this book; we are introduced to 12 characters and at times, I did find it slightly hard to remember who was who, particularly as some had similar names

My one downside with this book was that I felt like I didn’t know the characters, apart from Kate, that well.

I absolutely loved the locked mystery thriller of this book and the authors writing is so atmospheric and tense

I had so many theories of this book. None which turned out to be true. But I had fun along the way

I can’t way to read more by this author

The Dark is an excellent twist on the classic whodunnit. Set in a remote location which only ups the tension. The world-building is phenomenal. The plot is completely unpredictable. The suspense never lets up. If you enjoy books with well-developed characters, a good amount of twists, and an outstanding ending, this is the one for you. Highly recommended!

Doctor Kate North is a last minute addition to the crew of the United Nations Antarctica station following the untimely death of their original medic. It’s a last-ditch attempt to get her life back on track following a horrible car accident and the discovery that her fiancé has been seeing someone else. This stint in Antarctica will keep her isolated from the rest of the world – along with a dozen other researchers – over the course of a long, dark Antarctic winter; it’s a chance to break her addiction to painkillers and get her head straight. But when one of her colleagues is found dead on the ice, without any of the protective gear that has become like a second skin for Kate and her colleagues, Kate finds herself rubbing everyone else up the wrong way, as she tries to get to the bottom of what happened to her predecessor, and this new victim, and whether their deaths are in any way connected.


As The Dark opens, the author tries to give us some measure of Kate North, as she flies across the icy wastes of Antarctica, towards the remote research station that will be her home for the next year. She’s afraid, unsure that she has made the right decision. She’s obviously dealing with some weighty personal issues, and is still trying to get to grips with a very visible reminder: an ugly scar on her cheek. She carries with her a vitamin bottle filled with super-strength painkillers and a voice that constantly reminds her that this is the perfect opportunity to wean herself off them, though, as the station doctor, she has unprecedented access to all the drugs she could ever want. It doesn’t exactly take a genius to know that this is going to be an extremely tough battle.


There are twelve other people on the station, some of whom take to the newcomer right away, while a small minority seem to be actively hostile from the outset. When Kate finds messages that her predecessor has hidden in her office, she starts to question the circumstances of his death: was it really an accident, or could it have been an act of sabotage? If the latter, who might be responsible and, more importantly, what motive might they have had to kill such a well-liked member of the team? As the novel progresses, and the never ending darkness of Antarctic winter closes in, the inhabitants of UNA start to form natural cliques and life develops a natural rhythm that will ultimately see them through until daylight returns. When one of the crew is found dead on the ice in clothes better-suited to the beach, everyone becomes suspicious of everyone else, and Kate realises that her less-than-subtle enquiries into the death of Dr Jean-Luc Bernas might have been the catalyst for this new wave of violence.


Emma Haughton’s crime debut cuts right to the chase, throwing Kate – and the reader – straight into one of the least hospitable places on the planet. We get a sense of the immense cold and of the cramped quarters that these crewmates share. Through Kate’s fear of the dark, we find ourselves in an inhospitable environment where nothing – and no-one – can be trusted. There are mysteries within mysteries here and, while some have slightly more obvious solutions than others, Haughton’s writing, and the characters who populate this cold, dark world, keep us interested in what’s going on throughout.


The Dark is an intense thriller driven by the characters who inhabit it. Haughton invests it with an excellent sense of place, and uses the location as an ever-present adversary which serves to increase tension in the ongoing mysteries. It’s an excellent read for the coming autumn and the rapidly-closing nights, and is a must-read for anyone who enjoys their thrillers dark and gritty.

Rounded up from 2.5

The Dark is a slow burn psychological thriller set in Antarctica which I thought as we're in the middle of a heatwave I thought probably would be the best time to read it!

A doctor dies in an accident leaving the post open, Kate Noble jumps at the chance for a fresh start. What she finds in a tense atmosphere hanging over the station and the suspicion that the doctor's accident may not have really been an accident. Things escalate when she pokes her nose into things, putting herself and everyone in the base in danger.

I love a locked-in mystery and the setting of Antartica was a great backdrop for the story, with its inhospitable terrain that really gave you a sense of being in the middle of nowhere, completely cut off from civilisation.

I didn't particularly find any of the characters all that likeable, which I kind of expect from a psychological thriller, but usually I can get behind a main character but I couldn't with Kate. I'm all for flawed characters, but her entire personality seemed to revolve around her addiction issues stemming from a car accident. How she got past a supposedly rigorous interview process, I don't know.

I felt that it also took a bit too long for the story to really get going, then the ending felt a bit lacklustre, as I realised who the culprit was pretty much from the start.

It may not have been entirely my cup of tea, but I'd still recommend The Dark if you love a slow burn thriller with unlikeable characters.

So so. The main character is so weak that it was a bit bland. And it didn’t start properly till half way through. But it was well researched and I enjoyed the descriptions of the arctic.

Such a captivating wintery read. The Dark sees A&E doctor Kate arriving at an Antarctic research base living in the dark. I found this to be a gripping yet intellectual thriller.

I liked many things in the book where Antartica was the setting with months dipped in darkness with a closed room kinda mystery. There were changing dynamics of relationships of people working in the book with increased number of murders. It was a whodunit. But the MC was quite a pill popping junkie and not too clever. She was given repetitive dialogues. The book was quite slow burn with a not so compelling motive. An okay read

Kate Norton, an ED doctor jumps at the chance to get away from Bristol to an Antarctic Ice Research Station for a year. The previous doctor had died in a tragic accident on the ice. But when Kate gets there she soon discovers that it may have been murder and one of the twelve people in the station had to be the killer.
Kate has lots of issues and is popping pills - she stumbles about, saying the wrong things at the wrong time to the wrong people- I personally wanted to kill her myself several times.
The tension is built up well in parts of the book and there several twists and turns.
The ending was good and I did enjoy reading the book.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
3.5 Stars ⭐️

Such a Good Read. The Dark sees A&E doctor Kate North arriving at an Antarctic research base. She'll live there for six winter months, much of the time in the dark. Kate is there to replace the previous doctor who died in a tragic accident. Kate is one of those slightly unreliable lead characters in that she is addicted to painkillers she started taking when a tragic accident derailed her life. By the time the summer crew leave there are just 13 on the base, but then someone dies ... This is an excellent thoroughly researched thriller. Life on the base, including the exterior scenery, temperatures and isolation was very realistic for yours truly as a reader. I raced through it - excellent wintry read.

Looking for a book you won't be able to put down? Then get yourself a copy of The Dark.
Dark, twisty, the perfect whodunnit that keeps you on the edge of your seat, heart beating wildly as you frantically turn the pages to see what happens next.

A dark and wintery locked-room type mystery would perhaps have been best read by a roaring fire in the depths of December rather than on a warm but grey day in August. And I’m wondering whether that’s partially why I didn’t connect with The Dark by Emma Haughton as much as I wanted to. Nonetheless, it was a creepy and entertaining read, which kept me guessing right up to the end.

Kate is one of those characters that you find yourself wanting to shout at – “why are you doing that?!”, “are you some kind of idiot?!” and “noooooooo!!!” *face-palm*. I struggled to warm to her much, but I understand why she was written in that way, and I do love a narrator who doesn’t seem all that reliable.

The Antarctic 24 hours a day darkness made for an atmospheric setting which automatically set me on edge. It felt very thoroughly researched and authentic and it’s safe to say I definitely don’t fancy a career change any time soon.

With thanks to Hodder for gifting me a digital copy to review.

Normally I like my thrillers to be straight crime / domestic and I've never really thought much about picking up something like The Dark (apart from dark matter and recursion by Blake Crouch!) but I I thought I'd give it a go. I'm so glad I did as this was a really great read.

It's set in Antarctica where our protagonist Kate has a new job as the base scientist. We've got a body and the 12 suspects of people who are now effectively trapped there due to bad weather. The whole setting of this book was very creepy and strange and I thought the author did a fantastic job of setting up the base in a very creepy setting and make you understand the weirdness of being on base. I don't want to say too much but this honestly had me hooked and I loved how it ended. The main issue I had with the book (which is why it's not getting 5 stars) is the main character pill problem - I just felt like it was mentioned too much - mentioned again and again and again) but other than this, the story was excellent and I'd recommend picking this up if you're looking for a creepy thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley UK and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an advance copy of this book.