Dark matter - Michelle Paver

Out of nowhere, for no reason, I was afraid. My skin pickled. My heart thudded in my throat. My body knew before I did that I was not alone…

London, 1937. Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life, so when he’s offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway and at last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year.

But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. Soon Jack will see the last of the sun, the sea will freeze and escape will be impossible.

And Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark… 

My thoughts:

I will not do this book justice. The feeling you get from this book, the claustrophobic feeling, the feeling that someone is watching you, the chills up your spine. I will try, but you would have to read it to understand.

Spitsbergen. Months of darkness above the Arctic circle. Snow, cold, the vastness, the darkness. Ghost stories do not really hit home with me, but this was different. I can never comprehend the true darkness, we do get 4 hours of daylight when it is bad. But still, it is dark. I get those is someone watching me. Wanting to cover windows, wanting to go out and not go out. It was worse where I grew up, no lights on that mud road. No lights around the house either. It was really dark...always. Closest neighbor 100 m away (grandparents ;) Growing up reading stories about what could be out there...

Back to the story. Expedition. A captain telling them not to go there. And suddenly he was Alone. All Alone. Is he seeing things? Is he hearing things? Is the solitude driving him insane? Or is there truly something out there to get him? As I got closer to the end I read faster and faster, the chills going up my spine and then that realization he had. OMG. *shudders* Damn, I still got chills thinking of it. This would make one good horror movie. I would not watch it, I would get nightmares.

Conclusion:

Just read it. I hope it will scare you too. At first there is nothing, but read on, and suddenly you are there too at the end.

Paperback, Orion Paperback Edition, 288 pages
Published September 1st 2011 by Orion Books Ltd
Horror
Library