Zodiac Station: A Novel (2014)

Zodiac Station was a really interesting read, definitely not in my usual wheelhouse, but really captivating and suspenseful. It tells the story of a station in the Arctic full of scientists, a story told by a man who somehow skied across the freezing cold to a ship digging through the ice. But all is not as it seems. There was a lot of science, which is what makes it a book I wouldn't necessarily have picked up typically, but even if there were moments I didn't entirely understand, the story was so twisty and suspenseful I was completely drawn in. ( )

A lone skier, half-dead with cold, emerges out of the deadly cold of the Arctic Circle. He's nearly frozen to death, and there's blood on his clothing, and what looks like a bullet hole though his jacket. But he hasn't been shot...

His name is Tom Anderson, and he is the only survivor of a disaster at Zodiac Station, a scientific research base deep in the Arctic Circle. He tells an incredible story of scientists and spies, of lust and greed, of jealousy, mayhem and murder. But his tale simply doesn't add up. Whose blood is smeared across his clothes? Why is that jacket labelled with someone else's name?

It's clear that more was going on at Zodiac Station than Anderson is telling. And someone else may have survived the disaster, as well... someone who has killed before, and who is willing to kill again.

Hmm not my type of book, I thought reading the synopsis and some reviews liking it to The Thing and The Terror (which I loved) it would be a chilly horror/supernatural tale but was an out and out adventure type thriller. Well enough written but not what I was expecting and lost interest about half way through..... so not rating it as I read it by accident :)

This is a good book - it is engaging from a variety of perspectives, well written, nicely developed.

The main character (Anderson) is a lab technician who is summoned to the arctic by a former teacher of his. However, upon arriving he finds that his mentor has died under what seem to be suspicious circumstances, leaving him with no idea what the scientist had been working on, but becoming aware that someone may want him dead, as well.

The story is effectively developed through telling it from a couple of perspectives. The initial setup is effective, the story develops very nicely through the various "tellings," and there are a few quite interesting twists that tease the reader very nicely.

The book is not overly committed to being an "action" adventure - it seems content to be a modest thriller, and succeeds very nicely. ( )