This has been very popular with others who have a similar taste in books to me so I went in expecting to love it. But a series of small issues built up and left me underwhelmed: I found the main character's love interest to be a bit of a pig and I thought less of her for blaming herself for his reactions; the unreliable narration was SO unreliable that I stopped being invested in the constant life-or-death scenarios - if what is happening could plausibly be all in Rachael's mind, it's hard to feel stressed about it. I agree that the baddie reached mustache-twirling pantomime levels of villainy rendering the final third of the book a little silly.

Overall this had some great moments but it never came together for me. I would read from this author in the future, though. I think they have a lot of potential.

Absolutely brilliant! I read this book within 24hrs, and whenever I put it down, I wanted nothing more than to sit down and continue reading.
Now, I do love action, and there was plenty of it! One could be forgiven for thinking 'just how could so many bad things happen to one woman in such a short time' but one reason is: 'It's a novel!' and the other is: 'It's Antarctica, for goodness sake!'.
And of course, it is a thriller, not a romance.
I felt that the author understood the psyche of a woman who wanted to go back to work, despite loving her family, also the attraction of certain places and careers for people. I thought the characters were quite well written, and one could empathise with them.
If it was a film it would probably have all kinds of warnings about things that upset people dreadfully nowadays, but I thought it was great. Yes, there is some violence against a woman, but that is what happens, and it wouldn't be much of a thriller if there wasn't.
But there is a huge amount of gripping, captivating, riveting, transfixing action. And obviously well researched, thank goodness.
I'm a bit shocked that this is the first book by this author, although he does have an interesting bio. This is definitely an author to watch!

This book started really strong, very interesting premise and the dual timeline was a very good choice for it. The pacing is really good and loved the writing style. I would've given it a higher rating if not for some twists towards the end that made me like... really?!
I fell like the author wasn't quite sure how to end it, and the charicature of the villain was poorly chosen, however I still really enjoyed by time with this book. Read it in two days to be fair.

‘Whiteout’ by R. S. Burnett is a pulse-racing, shiver-inducing thriller set on the desolate frozen continent. Scientist Rachel finds herself stranded alone in the Antarctic winter after a make-or-break research trip goes disastrously wrong. A repeating radio broadcast tells her that nuclear war has dawned and that despite her perilous isolation, she may in fact be the “lucky” survivor of the end of the world…

What I expected: tension, immersion in a hostile environment and apocalyptic dread.

What this book was: all of that and SO much more! A heart-stopping political cautionary tale blending action with emotion and existential questions, with a wonderfully well-developed and strong female lead character.

I was amazed by the depth and unexpectedness of this novel, and it feels more terrifying than perhaps even the author intended given the current knife-edge state of the world. While the macro issues in focus - the climate emergency, diplomatic relations, power plays and nuclear warfare - were affecting, the micro problems facing Rachel resonated even more. Her daily quest for survival was juxtaposed with her ponderings on the state of her marriage - now disintegrated along with all relationships with the outside world - and her consuming guilt about not being with husband Adam and toddler Izzy at the end of it all.

Honestly, this is a must-read book and gets the full five stars from me - a tale of resilience in the most hopeless of circumstances and a prescient warning… you won’t regret picking this one up (unless it gives you nightmares, in which case, same, but no regrets).

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher HarperCollins UK via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I'm a big fan of polar exploration literature and so was excited to read some fiction set in Antarctica. It started quite promisingly with some claustrophobic moments and an interesting premise.
There were quite a few typos in this ARC and one instance of someone 'going off half cock', so some extra proofreading is needed.
I got more dubious as the main character fed her baby cold mashed parsnips (bleh) and then proceeded to get into more and more unlikely situations. I know this is what most people like from thrillers, but for me I like things to be more believable. This got worse and worse until I felt sure Rachael should have died at least 8 times by the end. The end also got rather brutal, and I'm just not that into reading about so much violence towards women.
I think also for me I could tell this was written by a man and I don't think he did a great job of making us care about Rachael and her experiences.

4,5 Stars

I am drawn to stories with a setting in cold and remote areas. So this book was right up my alley. I will never understand why people travel to places we were not made for. High mountains, outer space, deep sea, Antarctica. But they make often for a good story.

Rachael is a glaciologist and has been several times to Antarctica. But now she is married and has a one year old daughter. But she misses work and when an old colleague and mentor visits her and wants her to return for a world changing mission she can’t say no. So she leaves again for Antarctica but as soon as she arrives things are not going to plan.

When we meet Rachael for the first time she is alone in a small hut in the middle of the antarctic winter and collects data for her research. But something has obviously happened. She receives a message via her radio that tells her that there was a nuclear attack to England. She can’t reach her base station and the only thing she gets over the radio is the repeated message about the attack. She begins to fear that she might be one of the only people alive and that nobody knows where she is.

At first I thought this would be a survivial thriller. Maybe a bit of a dystrophy. It is both but it is also a story about a woman struggling with being a stay-at-home mum and facing the changes in her life. And towards the end it also becomes a real thriller. So you get a few different things here and they are very well mixed together. Very soon this became a real page-turner for me and I was glued to the pages. Yes, some things are a bit unbelievable but holy moly was this entertaining and fun. I was so excited to see what this was all about and what really happened.

After some rather disappointing books recently and enjoyed this one very much.

Rachael is alone in the Antarctic, after losing contact with her team, and with radio messages telling her that a nuclear war has broken out, she realises that she may be the last person alive and may never see her husband and baby daughter again,

There were parts of this story that had me gripped, some full on icy action, but they were diluted by some rather dull flashbacks to Rachael’s life as a new mum, wondering whether she actually loves her husband or not.

As the danger mounted and Rachael was battling for survival, there were a couple of big twists - one that blew my mind and one that I had guessed.

An enjoyable read, if I was to read it again, I would just skip the flashbacks as they don’t bring anything to the Antarctic based part of the plot.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

In Antarctica it is mid winter and there is a massive spilt in the ice in the Ross Sea. How big it is and how dangerous it is to the world is unknown. Rachael has agreed to leave her family in England and travel there with a team of 4 to discover the actual size of the crack. They need to report back within a specific time frame as the US Government are planning on restarting fracking and the danger is that restarting it will cause the ice shelf to crack and break off resulting in a massive rise in sea levels.

Briefly, this is Antarctica so there is complete darkness and after a huge storm Rachael finds herself stranded on her own. Then her radio starts transmitting news of a nuclear attack and all communication with base camp is lost. Rachael can survive for approximately 14 days. Told in the first person we follow her journey as she tries to find safety and ultimately discover if there is anything or anyone left alive.

Having been to Antarctica I can only imagine how scary this must be - nothing but snow in every direction. Added to this the worry about her family at home and her stress levels must be through the roof. Rachael isn’t the most likeable of characters and she does seem rather unlucky with all the horrors she encounters but it is edge of the seat stuff. A good fast paced adventure/ thriller with plenty of twists along the way. Entertaining.

Rachael Beckett is a researcher stranded alone in a remote station in Antarctica She is gathering data as the world is ending, she is also running out of supplies. She has lost contact with base camp and there only communication she has a radio message that’s saying that a nuclear war has broken out. She left her husband and young daughter four months ago and wonders if they are already dead. She feels guilty that she didn’t say good baye properly.
But she is determined to stay alive and somehow get the information she has gathered to the world. But it may be already too late. After all what has happened it started failing from the start.
When I first received Whiteout by R. S. Burnett, I didn’t know what to expect. Not because it is the author debut novel but because I thought it would be about her just going around in the snow and nothing much else happened. But I wouldn’t have been more wrong. This is a tense suspenseful thriller. Of one women’s determination and resilience to stay alive. I really enjoyed this and I can’t wait to hear more from this author. 5 stars from me.

Lured back to Antartica for a crucial mission to collect data on the imminent collapse of the Ross Ice Shelf, Rachael finds herself alone 90 miles from base after reports of a nuclear fallout.

Struggling to survive in the dangerous temperatures and crippled by grief by the loss of her husband and baby daughter- the stifling domestic life she left behind- Rachael is barely hanging on.

However, after her shelter is compromised, Rachael must decide whether the mission is worth surviving for.

The numerous situations Rachael finds herself in defy belief (or she has incredibly bad luck) but the finale is very clever and disturbing and her deteriorating mental state is sensitively captured.

A novel which is both poignant and action-packed with a strong ending.

This is a psychologically brutal survival thriller about a woman alone on an Antarctic mission who finds out that there has been a nuclear attack in Britain, and is unable to contact anyone for help or to find out what has actually happened.

Herself in peril, she is struggling against what seem like very tough conditions unsure whether she can make it through. A fast paced and suspenseful thriller, the book effortlessly holds your attention. It gets 3.5 stars.

I read an eARC of this book on Net Galley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

Oh wow was this book tense and scary! I was on edge the whole time I was reading this. This book never lets up. We follow a woman who is trapped in Antarctica. She was there on a research project looking into a really serious issue with ice cracking when she learns nuclear bombs have been launched worldwide. She listens to a BBC broadcast on her radio every couple of hours while she mourns her lost family, desperate for news. However a series of horrifying incidents but her survival even more in peril.

We have a terrifying, desperate attempt to survive set alongside the horror of nuclear war and not knowing how many humans have survived. The tension is so extreme in this book! It’s one terrible shock after another and you never know how the main character will manage to overcome them.

I absolutely could not put this book down, it was so fast-paced, intense and thrilling. Such a clever and interesting premise and this felt very unique compared to other survival thrillers I’ve read before because of the main character’s motivation.

I’ll be looking out for more from this author!

A survival thriller set in the Antarctic with only a handful of characters. Rachael, a deep field researcher is stranded alone and loses all contact with the outside world, except for a radio broadcast reporting a nuclear strike. The other members of her team are missing. Claustrophobic and atmospheric.

I really enjoyed the book . Fast passed and twisty . It gripped me from the first chapter and I devoured the story . Would highly recommend

Atmospheric and surreal. I loved the setting for this one and highly recommend it for those looking for an ethereal experience.

"This is a place that was simply not designed for humans to exist in."

Whiteout by R.S. Burnett is a chilling, gripping, atmospheric thriller. It's well written and very easy to read and follow. I read this in less than twenty-four hours.

The book is narrated mostly through the eyes of Rachael(our FMC). Throughout the book, I found myself unable to relate to her character. I found her extremely unlikeable and a lot of her decisions were downright foolish. Due to that fact, I found it hard to conjure up any form of sympathy for her character.

What really kept my attention was the storyline. I found it immersive and hard to put down. It was unsettling and unnerving. Despite there being an obvious human threat, the author fully captures the more serious threat of human nature. Skillfully through the use of words, the author was able to convey just what these characters were up against.

The twist was a bit unexpected. My mind was going in a completely different direction. So, when it came along, I was pleasantly surprised.
Overall, this was a good read. I love isolated and snowy settings so this was the perfect read for me. I would've enjoyed it more if I liked Rachael's character.

Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK and R.S Burnett, for my y eARC of this book. All opinions are my own. Pub Date: February 13th.

The world is ending and Rachael Beckett ventures to a remote field station deep in the Antarctic to help stop it. She leaves behind her husband, her new baby girl, and the rest of humanity and does not know what, if any, of them will still be there when she, hopefully, returns.

This proved a far more harrowing tale than anticipated. I had thought it to be a tense, fast-paced and action-packed survival thriller when instead it was more introspective and personal. I still devoured this, despite it not being exactly suited to my reading tastes and found it proof that is is worthwhile extending your boundaries on occasion for the wonders that you will find.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book the whole way through! It was a unique story and it was fast paced and really immersed you into what was going on. I am so impressed that this is a debut novel, I will be looking out for their next one!
I am a huge fan of books taking place in sub-zero environments and also ones which have a lot of survival elements and any mention of nuclear fallout so this book had a lot of what I love!
I can honestly say I don't particularly agree with some decisions the main character takes when deciding to go on this trip in the first place, but I do understand her choices and it made her emotional journey just as interesting as the rest of what was happening to her.

Rachael is an experienced Antarctic researcher who is persuaded to join a winter expedition there. Her husband is not in favour and there are certainly dangers with a winter trip; the weather and the constant darkness will be a challenge. In the end she leaves her husband and very young daughter as the purpose of the expedition is environmental. It aims to get information about the instability of the ice sheets because of mining tests. The mining may well be permitted unless her works underpins the undesirability of mining there.

It quickly becomes apparently that the expedition is a somewhat unconventionally one though for the best of reasons. The narrative is solely Rachael's effectively however it does go back in time as well as covering current event in Antarctica. She recalls conversations with her husband prior to leaving. However it's fair to say that current event are all consuming. Some four months into the trip she is isolated in a small pod miles from anywhere and can no longer contact the outside world at all. The only thing she can get is a regular announcement on the BBC world service stating that nuclear war has broken out…

We find out early on that she has activated an emergency beacon with no results and that her sat phone no longer gets any satellites. And then it gets worse…!! This is no complaint but Rachael's "luck" is pretty awful really. The balance of pace, tension and reflection in this story was extremely good for me. It really is an "edge of your seat" read (if you are happy with suspending your belief in any sort of reality). It kept me reading in a way few books really do. I don't feel I can say more without detracting from a reader's experience of a pretty good thriller.

Whiteout by R.S. Burnett

I liked the metaphor of this book , Rachel stuck alone in a snowy world , and a nuclear bomb gone off in the world wiping out a lot of it .
I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it , but I did.