Zodiac Station is a suspenseful read set at an isolated Arctic research station. A Coast Guard icebreaker is plowing its way through the sea ice when they come upon a man who claims to be the only survivor of a terrible accident at the station.The man is Tom Anderson, a research assistant who recently arrived at the base. He tells a harrowing tale to the the commander about happenings at the base, including a murder and strange genetic experiments. Anderson is not even sure why he was brought to Zodiac- it was at the request of his former mentor who has been finding strange things on the island, and apparently wanted Anderson's help figuring them out. Anderson arrived at the island only to find his mentor already dead under suspicious circumstances, and things at the base quickly went from bad to worse.
The problem arises when two other survivors are found- and their stories differ from Anderson's. The overall narrative involves the Coast Guard commander trying to determine what happened at Zodiac and who he is dealing with, and we also get the POV's of Anderson and the other two survivors- sometimes telling of the same events in different ways. I thought this added a unique touch to the story- talk about unreliable narrators. Everyone in this story may be unreliable- or they may not. You never really know until the end, and I liked that.
There's a twist at the end I didn't see coming, and while it's a little chilling it's also kind of a disappointment. The ending feels rushed and it is hard at times to know where this story is going. Is it a contemporary thriller or is it sci fi? Well it turns out to be both, really. I was okay with the SF turn it just wasn't what I was expecting, and seemed a bit implausible. But in spite of that, this book was so gripping that I can forgive that. For the lions share of the book I was having a great time wondering who did what, who was going to get offed next, and who could be trusted (hint- probably no one).
The setting is half the fun here. The base, the glacier, the feeling of paranoia as everyone distrusts everyone else, being cut off from the outside world, the absolutely brutal subzero temps- it all works to create an environment where anything can happen next.
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ReplyDeleteI reiewed The Grudeau Vector, a thriller set in the arctic tht you might enjoy - has the same setting.
Deletehttp://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/2010/01/review-trudeau-vector-novel-by-juris.html
Thanks! I will check that out...
DeleteGreat review! I feel paranoid and scared just thinking about the setting! It sounds really scary. Maybe I should give this a go while it's still dark and creepy in the evenings ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you! The setting was awesome, there was a sense of claustrophobia almost and paranoia at the base, and you never really know who is telling the truth until the very end. :)
DeleteThis sounds really intriguing to me, especially for the setting, the mystery and the unreliable narrator(s)! I'm sorry it didn't deliver a wholly satisfying ending but I think I'd be like you: enjoy the guessing throughout more so than the big reveal at the end :) Great review Greg!
ReplyDeleteThe guessing was most of the fun! I changed my mind several times as to who was honest, and to be honest I had no idea. This one sucked me in, and while the ending seemed a bit farfetched it was creepy too! :)
DeleteOoooh! I love books with this setting ever since Deception Point! This actually sounds a tiny bit similar to that, although I haven't read it in years so I could be way off. Either way, I definitely think I'll be checking this one out! I'm okay with a little sci-fi in my contemporary thrillers! Great review :D
ReplyDeleteTracy @ Cornerfolds
Sounds like one of those books you can't put down. Unreliable narrators can be a lot of fun; I think my first true introduction to the concept came in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Christie.) I'm sorry the ending didn't quite live up to the rest of the book, though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is really my type of book, but it actually does sound intriguing. You've got me curious about the different versions of the stories and wanting to know what even happened lol. But that's always how it is in real life, right? People always have different versions of the same events, though people often do genuinely remember things wrong, but I think I'm getting way off topic here. It is frustrating if you're not expecting a book to be fantasy or sci-fi and then it twists that way right at the end because it feels like a cop-out, but at least you enjoyed most of the book!
ReplyDeleteThis one was definitely twisty! And yes. It's exactly like that- sometimes the POV's had different versions of the same events, with crucial differences. I had no idea who was telling the truth. Which I thought was great... :P
DeleteI actually liked the scifi angle it just wasn't the one I was expecting lol. So that threw me... but I loved the isolated nature of the setting.
I've been intrigued by the desolate setting since I first heard about this one.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely one of the high points of the book. Very remote- and the characters were suspiciously fun. :)
DeleteExcellent review! I had to link this review on my blog, to show that we both read the same book but came away with different opinions :)
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the story and kept reading quickly to find out what the heck would happen, since everyone is an unreliable narrator, it seems! But I didn't like the ending so much, and you are right about the confusion of which genre he wanted this to fall into. What excited me most about it was the setting: I love man vs. environment stories, and since I've spent most of my adult life in warm climates, I prefer a wintry, frozen land scenario for fun!
Thanks for sharing your view-- I can agree with you on much of it, but it just didn't work as well for me with that possible sci-fi angle I wasn't expecting.
This sounds really great! I'm a sucker for isolated research station stories. It's why Iced is one of my favorite X-Files episodes. I'll have to check this out soon.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of this, the whole isolated snowy thing gets my vote. Thanks for sharing!
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