London, 1937. War once more looms over Europe and Jack Miller, frustrated with his lot in life and trapped in a dead-end job, takes the opportunity to escape his nondescrit existence by assuming a post as a wireless operator on an Arctic expedition to Gruhuken on Svalbard.
One by one his companions, through various misadventures, are forced to abandon the expedition leaving Jack alone at the camp, erected on the site of an abandoned coal mining stake, to maintain the mission until they are able to return. But Jack is not alone…
Largely taking the form of a journal written by Jack this is, basically, a good old-fashioned ghost story that certainly harks back to authors such as MR James and Lovecraft. There is no real gore element and the author ratchets up the drama nicely, drawing on the bleakness of the environment, the perpetual Arctic night and solitude of the narrator to lend weight to the tension of the story before bringing it to its conclusion.
Orion, £7.99
