Stranded

September 5, 2016
Water, water everywhere, in the forms of ice and fog, is the element of terror in this claustrophobic horror tale of a trapped Arctic oil rig supply ship. Unpopular crew member Noah Cabot suggests calling for help after a damaging storm, but his bitter father-in-law, William Brewster, the ship’s master, presses forward into disaster. With the ship locked up in impossibly thick ice, equipment failing, and the crew suddenly beset by illness, Noah must lead a trek across the treacherous frozen seascape toward their only hope, a mysterious structure that’s similarly icebound. MacLeod (Mountain Home) carefully details his maritime settings, effectively placing the reader inside Noah’s growing fear by focusing on his struggle to reconcile past and present, especially the marital tragedy that complicates his attempt to save himself and his crewmates. Unfortunately, that tight focus leaves little room for anyone else to rise above melodramatic portraits of implacable foe and unswerving friend.

August 1, 2016
The crew of the Arctic Promise, a cargo ship taking supplies to an oil rig in the Arctic Ocean, has had a rough time of it. A severe storm has put them off course, their electronic equipment (navigation, communications) is on the fritz, and some sort of flu is attacking the crew. As if all that weren't enough, the water around them freezes solid. Through the thick fog, they dimly see a shape in the distance. Is it the oil rig, or something else? The few members of the crew who are still healthy head off across the ice to find out. There's no denying that the story has similarities to Dan Simmons' The Terror (2007), but there's also no denying it's a well-told tale, full of visceral horror and haunting atmosphere. Fans of that special kind of horror fiction in which a vast and menacing landscape becomes its own kind of locked room should embrace this one with open arms.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)