THE EXCITING 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE RICHARD AND JUDY BESTSELLER. NOW WITH AFTERWORD FROM SIMON PEGG.
'The novel virtually defines a new genre: literary creepy ' JEFFEREY DEAVER
'Paver is the mistress of suspense' GUARDIAN
'An atmospheric ghost story' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old 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: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken.
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. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return - when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible.
And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark...
Read MorePaver has created a tale of terror and beauty and wonder... at last, a story that makes you check you've locked all the doors, and leaves you very thankful indeed for the electric light - FINANCIAL TIMESA spellbinding read - the kind of subtly unsettling, understated ghost story M.R. James might have written had he visited the Arctic - GUARDIANThis is a blood-curdling ghost story, evocative not just of icy northern wastes but of a mind as, trapped, it turns in on itself - DAILY MAILPaver is the mistress of suspense, and the strangeness that humans can suffer from when exposed to the Arctic wilderness is brilliantly exploited in this period piece - THE TIMESAn atmospheric ghost story that would give Susan Hill a run for her money - INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYDARK MATTER is brilliant. Imagine Jack London meets Stephen King. The novel virtually defines a new genre: literary creepy. I loved it - Jeffery Deaver