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    The Winter Over
    The Winter Over
    The Winter Over
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Winter Over

    Written by Matthew Iden

    Narrated by Karen Peakes

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Each winter the crew at the Shackleton South Pole Research Facility faces nine months of isolation, round-the-clock darkness, and one of the most extreme climates on the planet. For thirty-something mechanical engineer Cass Jennings, Antarctica offers an opportunity to finally escape the guilt of her troubled past and to rebuild her life.

    But the death of a colleague triggers a series of mysterious incidents that push Cass and the rest of the forty-four-person crew to the limits of their sanity and endurance. Confined and cut off from the outside world, will they work together or turn against one another? As the tension escalates, Cass must find the strength to survive not only a punishing landscape but also an unrelenting menace determined to destroy the station—and everyone in it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2017
    ISBN9781536617221
    The Winter Over
    Author

    Matthew Iden

    Matthew Iden is the author of the suspense novel The Winter Over, a half dozen books in the Marty Singer detective series, and several acclaimed stand-alone novels. He has visited seven continents—and written on several of them—but lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Visit him at www.matthew-iden.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/matthew.iden, or on Twitter @CrimeRighter.

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    Reviews for The Winter Over

    3.5/5

    51 ratings5 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Book ? The Winter Over
      Author ? Matthew Iden
      Star rating - ?????
      No. of Pages ? 352
      Cover ? Great!
      POV ? 3rd person, multi-POV
      Would I read it again ? No
      Genre ? Thriller, Mystery, Fiction


      ** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



      WARNING: deals with suicide, mental illness, murder and psychological torture.



      This was a strange one for me. It's billed as a Thriller/Mystery novel, but I was neither thrilled or mystified. In fact, I found it all either a little boring, predictable or incredulous, which was a disappointment.

      To start off with, I have to say that my 3 stars are for the ingenuity of the author to construct this idea and make it seem not only possible but to write it well and for the immense detail used to provide authenticity both to the location, the situation and the psychological logic behind everything that happens. Now, things got really crazy in the end, about the last 30% which is where I found it all a little hard to swallow, but everything that preceded that actually made a whole lot of sense within the situations and environment the author constructed.

      However, despite beginning with the discovery of a body, the story didn't do much for over 50%. It was all everyday activity, the friendships and work-relationships, the T3 setting in and not much of anything else going on. None of those in charge even attempted to pretend that they were disturbed by the discovery of a dead body. I was left baffled as to why this issue was only addressed by one person ? Cass ? and no one else seemed to care. It made it difficult to understand what was happening or why. And when things did begin at the 55% mark, they became quickly too wild and incredulous for me to trust in or believe anymore. Some were never really explained to my satisfaction, either.

      There was a huge amount of attention to detail ? from the jobs, the aims, the location, to the life and experiences of what went on at the Research Facility ? but the story really stagnated from the end of Chapter 1 to the 55% mark. It lacked excitement and anticipation. I also found that vital moments were completely glossed over and made me wonder why there was this multi-person POV when we didn't get to see half of what I, as the reader, wanted to read about. Some 'missing' scenes made sense later, once I knew what was happening, but there were others that were just missing for no reason or scenes that were included for no reason.

      The POV's were far too many. Cass, Dave, Taylor, Anne, Hanratty, Leroy, Keene, Dr Ayres, Carla and Elise all had POV's when really, only about three of them were actually of any importance. Cass, Leroy and Keene, perhaps even Ayres were all important, but the rest of them could have been told in other ways or through observation or conversation, rather than spending pages exploring scenes and events that had no importance or real bearing on the story or the reader's understanding of it. The constant switch of POV also made it hard to keep track of who was who and what they did.

      Quite honestly, the big revelation that came at 62% was actually obvious to me at 24%. I knew exactly what was happening well before Cass even suspected it or discussed it with Sasha at 51%.

      By 31% only one person had died and no one had really cared, bothered to investigate or done anything about it. In fact, there had been one action, interesting scene that only happened because there was a strange person running from Cass that shouldn't have been there. Other than that, nothing really happened until 55% when the whole psychological aspect really took off.

      My problem is all the unanswered questions. Did Sikes know what was happening? What happened to Leroy? Was he taking placebo tablets or was he taking something to drive him insane? Did he murder his sister or runaway before he could? What did the authorities think about it all when Cass finally told them what happened? Did they believe her, was she considered insane or did they put it down to the condition they found her in and her psychological background? Did she ever get together with Sasha? Was Cass so traumatized that she distanced herself from the Research Facility? Did she finally settle into a life and career, knowing that she wasn't entirely to blame? What ever happened to Sheryl?

      ~

      Unfortunately, overall it did nothing for me. I found it predictable and a little sensational in places, but it was really nothing more than an adult version of the concepts of The Maze Runner, in a different environment and with less action. It wasn't scary enough to be a horror and it wasn't psychologically challenging or had enough anticipation to be a thriller, for me, either.

      I found the solution to the why of what was happening obvious, as well as the perpetrator ? the elusive Observer ? so there was no mystery element either. The fact that it ended abruptly and with no resolution (no fallout for the company, no explanation of what happened next or what happened to Cass etc) didn't help. It left me feeling like there was a huge chunk missing that could have taken up the place of the first 50% which didn't do anything for the story at all.

      Sadly, not my cup of tea.

      ~

      Favourite Quote

      ??If we coddle them now, how will they act in a true crisis? 'That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.'?
      Keene's laughter came out as a high-pitched bark. ?The man who said that wound up in an insane asylum.??
    • 4/5
      Not the story of human against the elements; there actually *is* a human murderer amongst them!
      I liked this story, and was dismayed at who the killer was. Dismayed because I was engaged with the characters, not because I thought it was stupid, just to be clear.
    • 2/5
      Cass is a mechanical engineer at an Antarctic research station. The day before the long nine month winter over begins, a crew mate is found dead outside. As winter proceeds, a number of system failures, and incidents occur. Before long, Cass believes that she and her fellow crew mates are the subjects in a psychological experiment. This book was a bust. It felt unrealistic and absurd. I thought the psychological experiment might be an interesting plot point, but it really just fell flat. The characters were just not believable.
    • 3/5
      An thriller set in the dark isolation of the the south pole base as it empties out for the long winter season.
    • 5/5
      Chilling, in every sense, thriller about a group of researchers at a US Antarctic research station during the long winter when strange events happen and start to spook the staff. Get a real sense of what it must be like to be cooped up in a small community for long periods in the dark with a hostile outside environment which offers no means of escape.