This book will probably stay with me for a long time (I usually just read and forget them). The haunting atmosphere, the stark terror and violence of both the modern and past narratives are brutal and raw. I normally favour one of the dual narratives more than the other but I was intrigued by both equally which is speaks volumes of how much this reeled me in. CJ Cooke is truly talented.

A solo explorer sets out to document the final days of a shipwreck in the Arctic which has a rather chequered history, beginning life as a whaling vessel in the 1900s and then as a research vessel for a doomed expedition in the 1970s. To her surprise, she is joined at the ship by three others who have the same intention that she does, and the group decide to work together to uncover the mysteries of the ship. However the bleak and dangerous landscape is the least of their worries when the party begin to have strange experiences, haunting dreams and sightings of a woman on the shore who isn't caught on their camera recordings. Just who is she and what is the grim history of the ship they are exploring?

The Arctic setting of the book adds to the sense of eerieness and strangeness. The folklore elements of the book, largely constructed by the author from existing folk stories, work well partly because of the isolated setting and also the historical period in which most of the action takes place - sailors historically being notoriously superstitious. While the ghostly elements of the book are spooky, it is the more human side that are truly chilling and provide the real horror. Nicky's story is traumatic and this book revolves around themes of trauma and violence, which while they are not gratuitous are quite graphic in places. I thought that this was a brilliant book, the mystery was compelling, the characters drew me into the story, and ultimately I found it very moving. As so often is the case, it's not the ghosts you really need to be afraid of, but the bad things that people do to each other.

I was in two minds about reading this book - on the one hand, I'm obsessed with anything set in the Arctic. What a fascinating, inhospitable, fabulous place with plenty of scope for peril, adventure, tragedy, isolation, creepiness...it has it all! On the other hand, I'm often less convinced by ghost stories as I often find them just too silly. Regardless, the Arctic won me over and so I picked up this book.

The story is essentially in three parts, with the focus skipping between the three timelines quite regularly. One of the strands is set in 1901 and features Nicky Duthie, daughter of a shipping company owner, being kidnapped and taken on board the whaling ship, the Ormen. Then there's a 1973 strand (not featuring heavily) where the Ormen (now in use as a scientific research ship) is found drifting with a missing crew and just one mutilated body on board. Finally, there's a modern strand in which Dominique, an urban explorer, travels to the ship just before the wreck is due to be sunk forever off the coast of Iceland. Here, in the almost perpetual darkness and freezing cold, she is determined to uncover the secrets of the ship.

I did worry initially that I'd fail to engage with a narrative that moved so frequently between time periods. However, I found that Dominique and Nicky's stories were so different that it was easy to follow. I thought I'd probably like the historical story the best (as I love historical fiction), but I did find Nicky's story really very grim. I'm not one for trigger warnings, but there's a lot of casual rape and abuse which I found quite hard to process. Instead, I found myself much more interested in Dominique's story, although baffled as to why anyone - no matter how intrepid - might want to explore/live in/broadcast on social media such a dangerous location!

The Arctic was - as I expected - magnificent. I loved the description of the people surviving in the inhospitable terrain, the darkness, the bitter cold, the maritime details of life in the North Sea (less keen on the actual whaling!) I thought the setting was great and gave the sense of claustrophobia even within the massive open spaces of Iceland.

And as for the ghost story - I did find it engaging and relatively credible. There were definite twists that I didn't see coming and Cooke skilfully manipulates the reader's sense of dread in seeing the mysterious female figure in the barren Arctic landscape. I did appreciate that the ghostly elements weren't there for all-out horror, but something more subtle to do with shadows of the past. Indeed, the plotting was clever and the revelations kept me reading.

I should also mention that I listened to the audiobook which is narrated excellently by Lucy Goldie. I loved the fact that she has quite a strong Scottish accent which was perfect for the Scottish origins of the story and the associated mythology around selkies that feature in the novel.

This is an intriguing novel and one that kept me interested throughout. Some of it I found uncomfortable, but I loved the sense of setting and the fact that it kept me guessing to the end.

A Haunting in the Arctic is a split time novel full of intrigue and twists. In 1901, Nicky Duthrie is abducted and finds herself on her father’s ship, The Ormen sailing to the Arctic. In modern times, Dominique sets off alone to explore the Ormen’s wreck before it is removed.
This is an atmospheric page turner that keeps you guessing until the end.

C.J. Cooke has a wonderful talent of making her books incredibly atmospheric and eerie, and bringing the setting into the story in a way where it comes alive and is almost a character in itself. This was no different in A Haunting in the Arctic where not only could I visualise the story taking place on the ship, but on the harsh, snowy shores of Iceland too. She also, as always, weaved the two timelines and points of view together very well, I was kept hooked and intrigued throughout, found the pacing really good, and especially loved the ending.

This was a little outside of my normal reading sphere and I struggled with it. It felt quite a challenging read and quite different to her (?) previous two (that I've read, at least) in style. Generally, struggled with this but felt that it would appeal to a different crowd and will happily recommend this!

Thank you SO much to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved this!! Such great characters and a great storyline.

My full review is to follow in a few days.....

I think this book should come with a huge trigger warning for rape. When I started this novel I was in the mood for some Arctic creepiness, but instead I got a present storyline that was mostly boring as nothing really happened (and what happened at the end felt very obvious to me) and a past storyline that I was intrigued by but quickly turned into a storyline filled with rape and torture. No real creepiness and the end felt very rushed and not very believable. I feel grateful for the eARC, but unfortunately this novel wasn't for me at all.

Woah! I am blown away! It’s going to take me some time to even form the right sentences to describe just how enormously BRILLIANT this book is!

A brief synopsis without spoilers: The Ormen is a whaling ship built in Dundee in the 1890s. Part of the narrative is from Nicky (the ship owner’s daughter) who is kidnapped and taken onboard to be horrifically abused as a ‘Selkie Wife’ in 1901.
Later, the Ormen is used as a research ship in the Arctic in the 1970s, where more sinister events lead to the eventual wreckage and abandonment of the ship in Iceland in a remote and abandoned old settlement called Skurmaskot.

Another narrative is from the modern day viewpoint of Dom, an urban explorer who sets out to record and share on social media the Ormen’s last days before it is sunk off the coast for good. She is joined by three more explorers (Jens, Leo and Samara) who mysteriously turn up and join her in the project. Even though they seem to be somewhat shady and events turn darker and more confusing as the project runs on.

Combine these different narratives with some absolutely amazing atmospheric writing about the Icelandic arctic mid-winter; a huge splash of Nordic and Sea Folklore AND a gradual creepy and unnerving unravelling of the stories of those affected by the events on the Ormen, and you have a dizzyingly and deeply mind-blowing book!

This is the third book I’ve read by CJ Cooke and she is now firmly on my ‘must-read’ authors list.

At the end of the book is an author’s note where CJ Cooke explains how memory and trauma pervade all of her work. And then explains the degree of research she undertook to write this novel.
And that level was dedicated research certainly shows - this is one of those very rare books where you feel completely immersed in time and place (and in this example, several times and places).

I absolutely love CJ Cooke's books. This is another chillingly brilliant treat. Richly imagined with brilliant characters who will stay with me for a long time.

I loved this dark tale. It’s a tough read at times, and comes with a host of trigger warnings (rape, eating disorders, violence). Its really creepy though, a great companion for a dark evening!

Nicky is on a ship in 1901 with a crew of men who all expect her “services”, even though she isn’t prepared to give them what they want of her own free will.

In the modern day, Dominique, an explorer and instagrammer, decides to travel to Iceland and document the destruction of the beached ship, the Ormen.

The atmosphere was perfect for a ghost story, full of menace and threat, and just when I thought I knew what was going on, something would happen that would make me have to reassess completely! The present day storyline was perfect for this.

This is a story where your heart will be in your mouth from start to finish, and it fed my fascination for the frozen places of the world perfectly (and I have to admit that my fascination is based on what I consider to be a healthy fear!).

Creepy from page one, I highly enjoyed A Haunting in the Arctic from C.J Cooke! Set on a whaling ship and told over two timeframes, this was actually far more in the horror genre than I was expecting but that's not a bad thing at all! I devoured this highly atmospheric tale that gave us twists at just the right moments. Perfect for a winter evening read!

A distinctive chiller of note, this concentrates on a ship. In 1901 she was a pioneering whaler, out of Dundee, but the owner is struggling financially, he's lost other boats and their crews, and this is a potential last chance. So it's a surprise to all of us to see the man's adult daughter forcibly put on board for the months of hunting in the high Arctic. Since then – the 1970s, to be precise – she was a research vessel, looking into sea ice levels and whatnot, but that ended bizarrely too, when she crashed onto a remote Icelandic beach, with nobody except one wreck of a man on board. Cut to 2023, and Dom is on her own, on the boat – trying to document her, perhaps find out about her missing months and so on, before she gets towed out to sea and scuttled. When three further explorers join her, you just know things are going to get weirder – and boy they most certainly do.

To the book's merit is the mood everything can convey – the awkward claustrophobia of the early voyage, about which I can say little, and the spookiness of the Polar Night Dom faces. You also get two narratives (interspersed with other narrative focuses, acting as brief cameos) that are equally of worth, even if one of them is a bit annoying at where it goes – again, no spoilers, but while it's not a trigger as such it's something I just wish were in fewer books these days. The read is pretty deft at taking us from one side of the story to the other, allowing us to cope with the switches from first to third person and back and in the timeline with ease.

Ultimately, however, it doesn't quite pull off the tricks it wants to. <spoiler>What first raised too many eyebrows was the interaction between Dom and the three guys that turned up – the falsity of them all only actually made me worry about the veracity of Dom's chapters where she was concerned, as well as the other characters. You could say it's a clue – the fact the online presence doesn't get a single intrepid idiot to follow them to the wreck – but reading it that whole aspect of their plot together felt off. And I could easily be corrected but it never once felt real that someone was called Nicky back then.)</spoiler>

But even if a magician can't quite pull the whole tablecloth from under the dinner service and wow everyone, it's in an impressive setting and we're glad we got to see it in play. And don't get me wrong, I'm not pretending to have worked out everything here – just seen too many leaks in the old boat for her to float, as it were. And as I say, it's still of note and distinction through the chills it can deliver en route to the reveals that don't match the beginning in effect and surprise, but aren't at all objectionably bad. I'd happily recommend this to the countless people finding Sarah Pinborough risibly bad these days, and for those who find CJ Tudor a bit too gruesome.

Oh, but if trigger warnings are things that do help you – I'd not bother turning up for this if you are at all squeamish about feet.

In the year 1901, on the whaling ship Ormen battling the relentless North Sea, Nicky Duthie wakes up to a harrowing reality. Abducted and taken against her will, she finds herself on board with a crew owed something that only she can provide.

Fast forward to 1973, and the Ormen is discovered still adrift in the ocean, now completely deserted. The only remaining presence is a lone body, disfigured in the face and feet, with his cabin mysteriously locked from the inside. The rest of the crew has vanished without a trace.

Decades later, urban explorer Dominique embarks on a journey into the perpetual darkness of the northernmost tip of Iceland to unravel the secrets of the Ormen's wreck. As she delves into the mysteries of the ship, Dominique soon realizes she is not alone. Something else is with her, a presence seeking revenge, and the chilling secrets of the ship's past come to light as she ventures into the haunting depths of the unknown.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5

4.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Shocking, brutal, violent and chilling

Two things I will say before I even begin this review – firstly, this book is shocking, sad and gave me the chills, it’s possibly my favourite by the author so far, that being said, and to get to my second point, this book will not be for everyone. There are some definite triggers contained in this story so take note, rape, kidnapping and violence, immediately spring to mind, I would say that these aren’t gratuitous, in fact, these elements are almost rushed through as though to possibly lessen the shock value, but be aware that they are contained within.

The story is told in two timeframes that we jump back and forth between.

Nicky, a young woman, married, but currently residing with her family whilst her husband is away at war. Nicky is abducted and when she wakes is aboard a whaling ship (the Ormen) that is out at sea on possibly it’s last voyage. Why has Nicky been taken, surely this must be a terrible mistake, however, as the day progresses with the boat steaming out further to sea it swiftly becomes obvious that this kidnapping was planned and Nicky is now stranded on board with all the crew.

Jump forward approximately a hundred years and the Ormen has washed up off the coast of Iceland. It’s due to be destroyed which is why young adventurer, Dominique, is making her way along the Icelandic coastline during an epic storm to find the ship and document whatever she finds on board before it’s all lost. Unfortunately, Dominique (Dom) is not alone, I mean, apart from things going bump in the night, she’s joined by three other adventurers who seem to have the same idea and who also seem to be harbouring something secret.

Now, I don’t want to give anything away here. This is definitely a ghost story, in more ways than one, and it’s highly atmospheric.

Set predominantly onboard the Ormen (for both timelines) Cooke manages to create an intensity that you could cut with a knife. The setting also includes an abandoned village and some local caves that are home to strange drawings and bones. The Ormen is host to many strange noises and a woman is frequently spotted on the beach. You can feel the cold and the fear of our main povs. In fact, I read this story with ever mounting horror, a good dose of sadness precipitated by the shock of how people behave and an ever mounting compulsion to read quickly to discover what was going on and how everything was connected. Not to mention chills. This book delivers chills aplenty, in fact, yes, it’s downright scary (for me anyway).

The characters. I’m still trying to process how I feel about them. Nicky is thrown into one of the most nightmarish situations that you could imagine. Truly horrific. I just can’t even begin to process the whole situation to be honest or how she handled it. On top of this she carries a bone deep weariness as a result of a terrible loss she’s suffered. Her’s is a sad story indeed and to now find herself in this situation is simply mind boggling. Dom on the other hand is a loner. She doesn’t always connect well with others and craves solitude. Frankly I would have been like a raging scaredy thing at the very notion of spending time on board a creaking, dark and abandoned ship – and then to be woken in the darkness by the sound of three other people approaching – well, I can’t even begin. Both of them have an inner toughness that I definitely lack. We then have our three newcomers. They have secrets, they’re always sharing meaningful looks and stopping talking when Dom enters the scene.

I don’t really think I can share too much more so I’m going to end here. I’d like to say that I loved this and, I did, but to say you ‘loved’ something that is clearly so sad, so shocking and to be frank so cold and brutal just feels like the wrong expression. Basically, I couldn’t put the book down. I was hooked from start to finish. It’s a book that will, without doubt, make you emotional. It also stopped me in my tracks at one point. I mean, physically stopped me. I had to put the book down and have a moment, then I had to go back and reread what I’d just read. And I was still gobsmacked. So, yes, for me, in spite of the shock and the horror contained within these pages I have to confess that this is my favourite read by Cooke so far. A hefty dose of intense atmosphere blended with trauma and the need for revenge. Again, perhaps not for everyone given some of the content.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I enjoyed A Haunting in the Arctic!
I think this is either my second or third book written by C.J. Cooke and I've enjoyed them all, though this one may be my favourite!

The writing was great as always and very atmospheric.
I also enjoyed reading both timelines which I don't always enjoy in books but they were done really well in this one.
Also I did not see that plot twist coming. It was awesome!

I highly recommend you check out this book!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

Wow, wow, wow! Where is this book on #bookstagram ? This came out back in October, and I have n't seen any reviews of it. There are two timelines, one in modern times, where a group of explorers is at a shipwreck of an old whaling ship. The other timeline follows Nicky in 1901 whose father runs a struggling ship company.
This book is definitely scary!! It's historical horror, feels like historical fiction, and reads so easily away.

A dark and unsettling novel set deep in the Arctic Circle, just perfect for these chilly winter nights. CJ Cooke has a knack for weaving stories that focus on the the lack of power women have had over their own bodies and their lives throughout history - but this is without doubt her most spine-chilling and disturbing novel so far. The icy bleakness of the region is brilliantly captured, as is the gruesome nature of the whaling industry, which perfectly matches the horrifying situation which Nicky Duthie, the central character finds herself within. Impeccably researched and with a plot twist I absolutely did not see coming, this is great winter read though perhaps not one for the faint-hearted.

I have read all of this authors previous books and loved every one. This one is no exception. This is a ghost story set on a wrecked whaling ship on the coast of Iceland. It was very atmospheric and at times a very dark read and I read it in two days. If you are looking for something spooky for a dark winters night then look no further!

**4.5**

I love CJ Cooke writing style, and this did not disappoint. I love a dual timeline, and this was such a beautifully written but dark and chilling story. CJ Cooke always manages to pull off the haunted and creepy feeling so well, especially with the past timeline.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK, and CJ Cooke for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.