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A review by vikingwolf
Zodiac Station by Tom Harper
3.0
Tom arrives at the arctic research station to be assistant to a man he hasn't had contact with in years. Martin has specifically requested Tom for the job but before he can find out why or what exactly he is to do, what appears to be a tragic accident causes Martin's death as he is found dead at the bottom of a crevasse. Or was it an accident? Evidence from the scene suggests that foul play could have occured and with Martin not being very popular amongst his peers, did someone decide to kill him? Tom wonders if the motive could be something that Martin was working on or someone outside the camp that he was in contact with, but the more he looks into it, the more questions and suspects seem to come up.
The story begins with the arrival of Tom at the camp and Martin's death. Greta is concerned when Martin is late back from a camp excursion and takes Tom out to look for him. They find his body but see no sign of bear tracks to explain why he fell which is what base commander Quam thinks is the reason for the tragedy. It seems that Quam and his friends are more concerned about avoiding blame than finding the truth of what really happened. Tom's services are no longer required but before he can get to the plane he is attacked. Is there a connection to what happened to Martin? Tom is concerned that he might be killed before he gets the chance to find out.
The first part of the book focuses on what Tom is doing and we see and hear all the events through his eyes. We see the interactions between characters and try to work out who is working to their own agenda and what it might be. It was like a puzzle that I was trying to decode but just not quite getting there! This was when the story changed, to my surprise and we got events from the view of a different person at the camp. I liked this development as we got to see more things happening, different interactions, new events and more about each of the characters. It certainly gave me more to think about than just Tom's story. We then get events from a third person's viewpoint which was also really interesting. I was really loving the book and trying to answer the questions I had in my own mind. It is at this point that the book changes again and not every reader liked this final change of direction.
This is a book that has divided a lot of reviewers and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. A good number of reviewers really didn't like the final section of the book. Having read it now I can understand exactly what everyone was talking about and why the end section had readers screaming at times. Personally, I wasn't that happy with the way the story turned out as I felt it was something that the reader could not have guessed at. It totally changed the whole plot surrounding Martin's death and I sort of felt cheated in a way. It wasn't what I expected at all and it really threw me. My other bugbear is that things for me were not fully resolved and I do find that a bit annoying.
I did love the setting for the book. These remote outposts are a great location for books with a thriller or horror plot as there as so many options. I love reading about how remote the area is and the struggles that the people have in dealing with the boredom and isolation. I liked the threat of the weather that hovers over everything they do and the fear of being trapped if their transport is damaged. It is just a great setting to read about. I did enjoy most of the book, just not convinced by the ending.
Here is the spoiler as to who the killer was and why it made me mad!
The story begins with the arrival of Tom at the camp and Martin's death. Greta is concerned when Martin is late back from a camp excursion and takes Tom out to look for him. They find his body but see no sign of bear tracks to explain why he fell which is what base commander Quam thinks is the reason for the tragedy. It seems that Quam and his friends are more concerned about avoiding blame than finding the truth of what really happened. Tom's services are no longer required but before he can get to the plane he is attacked. Is there a connection to what happened to Martin? Tom is concerned that he might be killed before he gets the chance to find out.
The first part of the book focuses on what Tom is doing and we see and hear all the events through his eyes. We see the interactions between characters and try to work out who is working to their own agenda and what it might be. It was like a puzzle that I was trying to decode but just not quite getting there! This was when the story changed, to my surprise and we got events from the view of a different person at the camp. I liked this development as we got to see more things happening, different interactions, new events and more about each of the characters. It certainly gave me more to think about than just Tom's story. We then get events from a third person's viewpoint which was also really interesting. I was really loving the book and trying to answer the questions I had in my own mind. It is at this point that the book changes again and not every reader liked this final change of direction.
This is a book that has divided a lot of reviewers and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. A good number of reviewers really didn't like the final section of the book. Having read it now I can understand exactly what everyone was talking about and why the end section had readers screaming at times. Personally, I wasn't that happy with the way the story turned out as I felt it was something that the reader could not have guessed at. It totally changed the whole plot surrounding Martin's death and I sort of felt cheated in a way. It wasn't what I expected at all and it really threw me. My other bugbear is that things for me were not fully resolved and I do find that a bit annoying.
I did love the setting for the book. These remote outposts are a great location for books with a thriller or horror plot as there as so many options. I love reading about how remote the area is and the struggles that the people have in dealing with the boredom and isolation. I liked the threat of the weather that hovers over everything they do and the fear of being trapped if their transport is damaged. It is just a great setting to read about. I did enjoy most of the book, just not convinced by the ending.
Here is the spoiler as to who the killer was and why it made me mad!