In 1859, Patrick Sumner, a disgraced former army surgeon from the Indian Mutiny, signs on as medic aboard the whaling ship Volunteer, bound for the Arctic. The crew includes Henry Drax, a harpooner and violent brute, and when a cabin boy is found dead the surgeon suspects murder. As the ship's owners plot an insurance fraud, the vessel is trapped in the ice and the men face starvation and each other.
A hard, brutal adventure for readers who like survival tales and historical fiction with a dark edge, rich in smell and cold. It is not for the squeamish, but it grips with its pace and menace.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2016
- Language
- EN
