* INDEPENDENT * An atmospheric ghost story that would give Susan Hill a run for her money * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY * Paver's descriptions of the topography are marvellously vivid and add to the sense of menace that suffuses the story - Joan Smith * SUNDAY TIMES * This gripping ghost story has moments of horror and beauty * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * Evocative, chilling and superbly unsettling, it is very good indeed. Gus was born in the West Country sometime between 19.

Jack frequently compares his appearance to that of characters in the story paper The Boy's Own Paper, claiming he looks 'handsome blond hero' with a 'square jaw' and 'clear blue eyes'. Unputdownable! * WOMANS WEEKLY * A chilling period piece, Dark Matter cunningly illustrates how fear, rather than death, is the great equaliser. Augustus 'Gus' Balfour is a secondary character in Dark Matter and the leader of the expedition to Gruhuken. * SAVIDGE READS Book Blog * More than just a ghost story, this is an exquisitely told psychological thriller. I cannot recommend this novel enough, especially in these dark nights, you will certainly get more than you bargained for. Richard Madeley A genuinely terrifying tale.

* ADVENTURE TRAVEL * Ghost stories don't frighten me much but this one did. As well as a ghost story, it's a great portrayal of Svalbard and the experience of spending a winter in the Arctic. Something walks there in the dark…Ī genuinely suspenseful and really quite chilling tale * TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT * Dark Matter builds suspense brilliantly. Soon he will reach the point of no return – when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible.Īnd Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. So when he’s offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. A terrifying 1930s ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the far north.