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Where the Dead Wait
The Terror meets Yellowjackets as a disgraced Arctic explorer sets out on a voyage to track down his former crewmate, only to be confronted by the ghosts of his cannibalistic past; from the Bram Stoker Award nominated author of All the White Spaces. Perfect for fans of Michelle Paver and Stephen Graham Jones.
William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition to find the fabled Open Polar Sea, in which his men only survived by eating their comrades, he returned in disgrace. A cannibal. A murderer.
Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing Stevens – the man who’s haunted his whole life – back home. But when the rescue mission into the frozen wastes becomes an uncanny journey into his own past, Day must face up to the things he’s done.
Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, and Stevens’s wife, a spiritualist whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving, as it becomes clear that – for Day – the restless dead are never far behind.
William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition to find the fabled Open Polar Sea, in which his men only survived by eating their comrades, he returned in disgrace. A cannibal. A murderer.
Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing Stevens – the man who’s haunted his whole life – back home. But when the rescue mission into the frozen wastes becomes an uncanny journey into his own past, Day must face up to the things he’s done.
Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, and Stevens’s wife, a spiritualist whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving, as it becomes clear that – for Day – the restless dead are never far behind.
464 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2023
309 people are currently reading
15244 people want to read
About the author
Ally Wilkes
13 books274 followersI write supernatural, cosmic, and weird horror, and I'm particularly fascinated by Polar stories and the exploration Gothic, despite suffering from seasickness and loathing the cold!
My debut novel All the White Spaces, set in the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, will be out in January 2022 (UK) / March 2022 (US).
My short fiction has been published in Nightmare Magazine, Three Crows Magazine, and I'm also the Book Reviews Editor for Horrified Magazine, the British horror website. I live in Greenwich, London, with an anatomical human skeleton and far too many books about Polar exploration...
My debut novel All the White Spaces, set in the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, will be out in January 2022 (UK) / March 2022 (US).
My short fiction has been published in Nightmare Magazine, Three Crows Magazine, and I'm also the Book Reviews Editor for Horrified Magazine, the British horror website. I live in Greenwich, London, with an anatomical human skeleton and far too many books about Polar exploration...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 475 reviews
January 17, 2024
My thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler books, Ally Wilkes and Netgalley. Well, one thing I've learned about Ally Wilkes is that a person needs patience. Thankfully I'm old! Ha! Patience is often rewarded. Or so I've discovered. My first book from Ally was also a bit of a slow burn, but damn I just really loved it! This one? Yeah. Well, it was also a slow burn. But holy freaking crap, it managed to slightly freak me out at times. Listen. The whole damn story is just freaking strange, and I ended up enjoying the crap out of it! Sure, it could have had a faster pace. But really, why? It's in the Arctic. That's pure dread right there, for me.
August 27, 2025
As you can tell from the 2-star rating, Where the Dead Wait was a disappointment for me. It's my first time reading Ally Wilkes and honestly, I just don't think their style is for me.
I'm thankful for the audiobook actually, because I may not have made it through otherwise. The narrator was great, as he somehow made his voice delivery just pompous enough to match the writing.
I won't discuss the plot, as I had to reference the Publisher's synopsis numerous times in order to figure out what was happening. I'll let you read that for yourself.
I came here for Winter Horror, and yeah, I mean that was here, but it was so far buried under details and blah, blah, blah, that it wasn't enjoyable for me. IMO, it's overwritten.
I can't stress enough how much I wanted it to be over...
With this being said, I recognize that I am being fairly snarky right now, and it's most likely not 100% warranted, but I need to be honest about my experience. Otherwise, what are we all doing here?
Our experiences with books are completely subjective though, so just because this didn't work for me, DOES NOT mean it won't work for you!
If you read the synopsis and it sounds intriguing, pick it up. You could end up finding a new favorite Arctic Horror novel here, and if you do, I encourage you to come back and tell me how wrong I am.
Thank you to the publisher, Atria, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
Even though this didn't work for me, I never write off an author after only one book ((pun intended)). This one just didn't suit my tastes. Nevertheless, I would be interested in checking out more work by Ally Wilkes.
January 25, 2024
The Terror meets Heart of Darkness; a blood-soaked, frostbitten treat. Years after an infamous failed expedition, a captain with a sullied reputation must return to the Arctic in search of a lost party that includes his former lieutenant. Wilkes has a masterful command of description and detail, so while this is not a quick read, it is thoroughly immersive and enthralling at every level: setting, atmosphere, character. I wanted to follow William Day forever, and the mental image of ‘Fort Stevens’ will stay with me for a long while. Gory and gorgeous.
I received an advance review copy of Where the Dead Wait from the publisher through NetGalley.
I received an advance review copy of Where the Dead Wait from the publisher through NetGalley.
June 25, 2023
Abandonment. Betrayal. Cannibalism.
William Day hoped to be a celebrated arctic explorer, but his expedition ended in failure and the survivors only survived by eating the dead. Now he is disgraced and the subject of rumors and disgusted looks. It has been thirteen years and his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing and William is given the chance to redeem himself by facing up to his past decisions and actions. Not only will his expedition have experienced seaman, but he will also be accompanied by a reporter and Stevens’ wife, a spirit-medium who performs séances. The search for Stevens will not be easy, not when the dead wait....
I previously read Ally Wilkes book All the White Spaces which also takes place on a ship in a freezing unforgiving environment. I'm going to quote myself from that review: "I don't know why I am intrigued by books set in the cold, there is a certain thrill and danger to it, I suppose that I enjoy. Being without help, left to your devices, with the sheer painful cold that chills down to your bones. The atmosphere of a cold environment - ice and snow for as far as the eye can see. I'm in every single time."
Ally Wilkes excels at setting the stage. Her books are atmospheric, descriptive, and tense. They have a gothic feel to them. Her characters are up against the unimaginable - trapped, dealing with lack of food, scurvy, and the bitter, bitter, cold.
In this book, Day is not only dealing with his current circumstances but also his past. He is plagued by his failed voyage, his sexuality, and the ghosts that haunt him. The séances on board paired with conditions both onboard and off, create an eerie and tense vibe.
Not only did this book feel very much like her other book, All the White Spaces, this book also reminded me of The Terror by Dan Simmons. As both of her books have taken place on a ship trapped in the unforgiving cold, I hope that her next book goes in a different direction.
I enjoy Wilkes writing and thought she excelled at creating atmosphere and with Day's inner turmoil. The downside was that this book felt longer than 400 pages as there are some slower parts.
I do think that two books of hers that I have read would make great movies.
This was a solid 3 stars for me. It was enjoyable, atmospheric, eerie, and creepy.
Thank you to Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
William Day hoped to be a celebrated arctic explorer, but his expedition ended in failure and the survivors only survived by eating the dead. Now he is disgraced and the subject of rumors and disgusted looks. It has been thirteen years and his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing and William is given the chance to redeem himself by facing up to his past decisions and actions. Not only will his expedition have experienced seaman, but he will also be accompanied by a reporter and Stevens’ wife, a spirit-medium who performs séances. The search for Stevens will not be easy, not when the dead wait....
I previously read Ally Wilkes book All the White Spaces which also takes place on a ship in a freezing unforgiving environment. I'm going to quote myself from that review: "I don't know why I am intrigued by books set in the cold, there is a certain thrill and danger to it, I suppose that I enjoy. Being without help, left to your devices, with the sheer painful cold that chills down to your bones. The atmosphere of a cold environment - ice and snow for as far as the eye can see. I'm in every single time."
Ally Wilkes excels at setting the stage. Her books are atmospheric, descriptive, and tense. They have a gothic feel to them. Her characters are up against the unimaginable - trapped, dealing with lack of food, scurvy, and the bitter, bitter, cold.
In this book, Day is not only dealing with his current circumstances but also his past. He is plagued by his failed voyage, his sexuality, and the ghosts that haunt him. The séances on board paired with conditions both onboard and off, create an eerie and tense vibe.
Not only did this book feel very much like her other book, All the White Spaces, this book also reminded me of The Terror by Dan Simmons. As both of her books have taken place on a ship trapped in the unforgiving cold, I hope that her next book goes in a different direction.
I enjoy Wilkes writing and thought she excelled at creating atmosphere and with Day's inner turmoil. The downside was that this book felt longer than 400 pages as there are some slower parts.
I do think that two books of hers that I have read would make great movies.
This was a solid 3 stars for me. It was enjoyable, atmospheric, eerie, and creepy.
Thank you to Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
June 15, 2025
Ambition should make us all afraid.
I heard this described as Polar Gothic and that was all it took for me to hit the want-to-read button. This was a brand new genre to me and I couldn't wait to polar plunge my way into it.
So did it deliver all sorts of icy horrors? Yes! But among the loads of gore, frozen landscapes, and sea-faring misadventure, there was an unfortunate level of confusion that I was never able to completely evade.
It's well written and chock full of detail. Seeing that Ally Wilkes also wrote All the White Spaces, it seems that she has a knack for writing historical trauma in the Arctic. This frozen fiction stars William Day, a man broken in seriously 50 different ways. Dude needs a therapist, badly. He's taken a crew back to the icy polar waters on something of a redemptive voyage. His last Arctic expedition ended disastrously, to put it mildly. The kind of disastrous that leaves corpses in its wake. Corpses with pieces missing.
This trip 13 years later is his chance to salvage his reputation, to silence the vicious whispers that seem to follow him. It's also a rescue mission, in search of a man who means more to Day than he will ever say. Jesse Stevens, his former second in command, a man as cold and unknowable as the Arctic itself.
Needs must when the devil drives.
The story that follows is equally parts bloody and bloody confusing. Despite the fact that there are only two timelines (the first and the second expeditions,) I kept finding myself lost. Which ship are we on? Is this supposed to be a physical threat or more mindfuckery? Which minor character is this again? What is their allegiance to Day? Is this character the one who fell through the ice or the one who was mauled by a bear?
And maybe I just have a hard time telling a bunch of sailors apart. But I tried, dammit!
I am already inclined to enjoy horror in general, including 1800's eerie arctic cannibal fiction. So this may have helped me maximize my enjoyment while struggling through some of the confusion.
Still worth reading for a winter horror adventure.
Thanks to Edelweiss and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the arc
I heard this described as Polar Gothic and that was all it took for me to hit the want-to-read button. This was a brand new genre to me and I couldn't wait to polar plunge my way into it.
So did it deliver all sorts of icy horrors? Yes! But among the loads of gore, frozen landscapes, and sea-faring misadventure, there was an unfortunate level of confusion that I was never able to completely evade.
It's well written and chock full of detail. Seeing that Ally Wilkes also wrote All the White Spaces, it seems that she has a knack for writing historical trauma in the Arctic. This frozen fiction stars William Day, a man broken in seriously 50 different ways. Dude needs a therapist, badly. He's taken a crew back to the icy polar waters on something of a redemptive voyage. His last Arctic expedition ended disastrously, to put it mildly. The kind of disastrous that leaves corpses in its wake. Corpses with pieces missing.
This trip 13 years later is his chance to salvage his reputation, to silence the vicious whispers that seem to follow him. It's also a rescue mission, in search of a man who means more to Day than he will ever say. Jesse Stevens, his former second in command, a man as cold and unknowable as the Arctic itself.
Needs must when the devil drives.
The story that follows is equally parts bloody and bloody confusing. Despite the fact that there are only two timelines (the first and the second expeditions,) I kept finding myself lost. Which ship are we on? Is this supposed to be a physical threat or more mindfuckery? Which minor character is this again? What is their allegiance to Day? Is this character the one who fell through the ice or the one who was mauled by a bear?
And maybe I just have a hard time telling a bunch of sailors apart. But I tried, dammit!
I am already inclined to enjoy horror in general, including 1800's eerie arctic cannibal fiction. So this may have helped me maximize my enjoyment while struggling through some of the confusion.
Still worth reading for a winter horror adventure.
Thanks to Edelweiss and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the arc
December 11, 2023
2.5--i was primed to love this book but i could not follow about 30% of what was happening and another 10% just read as the most awkward conversations with incredibly long pauses. the author has a great and distinctive writing style but i think she gets too tangled up in her own words. horror is created and then lost because i'm baffled and have no idea what anyone is talking about or doing. i'm not normally a reviewer but i was SO excited and this book seemed tailor made for me and i'm disappointed it wasn't better.
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December 23, 2023DNF
Great beginning, then it kind of rummages around from this to that and then over to there. In other words, hard for me to follow - and I've read some weighty, complicated books in my time. The information about scurvy seems wrong, too, but please correct me, anyone, if I am.
The story of a disgraced British navy officer, held responsible for the tragedy involving the ship, Reckoning, and its crew, but then - years later - given a new assignment, to find the captain of yet another ship. Time period, late 1800's; location, the Arctic.
I am a great lover of Arctic stories - both fiction and non. I love them! Own several. But this one jumps around and there are scenes where I've no idea what's happening - as in there's dialogue, but no place - yet. Or a building described - but you have to wait and read until it's clear why the MC is there. And is this about a rescue mission - or a medium? (The kind who does seances and I had one of these in my own family.) Or maybe it's the attraction one man has for another? I do NOT get it! (I had to re-read several pages/passages to figure out what was going on. Plus I kept getting two major characters confused, and the time shifts were startling, had to read them over, too.)
And since I only got about 70 pages in, a DNF.
But for those who enjoy this book - and can figure it out better than me - read on!
DNF
Great beginning, then it kind of rummages around from this to that and then over to there. In other words, hard for me to follow - and I've read some weighty, complicated books in my time. The information about scurvy seems wrong, too, but please correct me, anyone, if I am.
The story of a disgraced British navy officer, held responsible for the tragedy involving the ship, Reckoning, and its crew, but then - years later - given a new assignment, to find the captain of yet another ship. Time period, late 1800's; location, the Arctic.
I am a great lover of Arctic stories - both fiction and non. I love them! Own several. But this one jumps around and there are scenes where I've no idea what's happening - as in there's dialogue, but no place - yet. Or a building described - but you have to wait and read until it's clear why the MC is there. And is this about a rescue mission - or a medium? (The kind who does seances and I had one of these in my own family.) Or maybe it's the attraction one man has for another? I do NOT get it! (I had to re-read several pages/passages to figure out what was going on. Plus I kept getting two major characters confused, and the time shifts were startling, had to read them over, too.)
And since I only got about 70 pages in, a DNF.
But for those who enjoy this book - and can figure it out better than me - read on!
DNF
May 4, 2024
400 pages of sad gay cannibal hallucinating. there you
go, that’s the whole book.
I’m actually so bummed because I love Arctic horror but I would never place this book in that category despite being pitched that way. The first of my three biggest issues were how confusing the time jumps are, like some of the worst I’ve encountered. We jump between “then” and “now” but we jump to all sorts of different “then” time points and it’s not linear. Second, the main character was insufferable to me. Third, it dragged badly, and perhaps should have been half as long as it was. A couple notable scenes were quite well done but can’t recommend this one.
go, that’s the whole book.
I’m actually so bummed because I love Arctic horror but I would never place this book in that category despite being pitched that way. The first of my three biggest issues were how confusing the time jumps are, like some of the worst I’ve encountered. We jump between “then” and “now” but we jump to all sorts of different “then” time points and it’s not linear. Second, the main character was insufferable to me. Third, it dragged badly, and perhaps should have been half as long as it was. A couple notable scenes were quite well done but can’t recommend this one.
February 6, 2024
Rating represents four and a half stars rounded up! An unpopular opinion perhaps, but I actually enjoyed this a lot more than All the White Spaces!
If you'd enjoy a story about a disgraced sea captain, dogged by the legacy [and body count] of a failed expedition over a decade before, his own mental struggles, and potentially some angry ghosts, you'll enjoy this. I'm well-versed in actual polar voyage stories and books, and also enjoy slow-burn horror and the more gradual, creeping dread of classic horror stories. I think this book very much channeled both of these vibes; it's not a fast-paced, swashbuckling story, so adjust your expectations, but very much a spiritual and moral journey for William Day, alongside the physical voyage. It's quite fitting that the ship he abandoned thirteen years before was named The Reckoning.
This story is chilling in more ways than one, the horror intrinsic to the arctic - the eerie, haunting blankness of a landscape of nothingness - channeled perfectly in descriptive passages and atmospheric phrasing. Wilkes' writing is much better this time in my opinion, many of the dubious details I found in the earlier book nonexistent here. Rather than getting bogged down in the day to day life aboard ship, Where the Dead Wait is a brilliant examination of the responsibilities, morality spectrum, and guilt inherent in holding a leadership position under the most extreme of circumstances.
William Day is actually perhaps one of my favorite protagonists in recent memory, tortured by his own decisions during the first doomed voyage, his own shortcomings, his forbidden affection for another man. I found Day's anguished longing for Jesse Stevens, the captain he is coming to rescue, and whom his memory very much sugar-coated, as our brains tend to do, a great parallel to the story. Much like quests for the Northwest Passage, or Stevens' hunt for glory in the north, the realities of the harsh arctic are disappointing and dangerous, as is the man Jesse Stevens.
The horror here is more psychological, more cerebral, and more subtle, as this genre tends to do well. Day's own unreliable narration was a lens for some really terrifying imagery. As a reader I was scared, I was introspective, I adored side characters like Qila and the attention paid to combating ideas of manifest destiny and colonial domination. I will say narrator Joshua Riley's performance was a little uneven when it came to the American accents, but his overall portrayal as William Day was excellent.
I'm delighted to have given Wilkes another chance in arctic horror and highly recommend this book if these vibes sound like your thing.
If you'd enjoy a story about a disgraced sea captain, dogged by the legacy [and body count] of a failed expedition over a decade before, his own mental struggles, and potentially some angry ghosts, you'll enjoy this. I'm well-versed in actual polar voyage stories and books, and also enjoy slow-burn horror and the more gradual, creeping dread of classic horror stories. I think this book very much channeled both of these vibes; it's not a fast-paced, swashbuckling story, so adjust your expectations, but very much a spiritual and moral journey for William Day, alongside the physical voyage. It's quite fitting that the ship he abandoned thirteen years before was named The Reckoning.
This story is chilling in more ways than one, the horror intrinsic to the arctic - the eerie, haunting blankness of a landscape of nothingness - channeled perfectly in descriptive passages and atmospheric phrasing. Wilkes' writing is much better this time in my opinion, many of the dubious details I found in the earlier book nonexistent here. Rather than getting bogged down in the day to day life aboard ship, Where the Dead Wait is a brilliant examination of the responsibilities, morality spectrum, and guilt inherent in holding a leadership position under the most extreme of circumstances.
William Day is actually perhaps one of my favorite protagonists in recent memory, tortured by his own decisions during the first doomed voyage, his own shortcomings, his forbidden affection for another man. I found Day's anguished longing for Jesse Stevens, the captain he is coming to rescue, and whom his memory very much sugar-coated, as our brains tend to do, a great parallel to the story. Much like quests for the Northwest Passage, or Stevens' hunt for glory in the north, the realities of the harsh arctic are disappointing and dangerous, as is the man Jesse Stevens.
The horror here is more psychological, more cerebral, and more subtle, as this genre tends to do well. Day's own unreliable narration was a lens for some really terrifying imagery. As a reader I was scared, I was introspective, I adored side characters like Qila and the attention paid to combating ideas of manifest destiny and colonial domination. I will say narrator Joshua Riley's performance was a little uneven when it came to the American accents, but his overall portrayal as William Day was excellent.
I'm delighted to have given Wilkes another chance in arctic horror and highly recommend this book if these vibes sound like your thing.
Read
July 2, 2024Арктика - це, звичайно, дуже готичний простір: вічна темрява, клаустрофобія маленького гурту зрозпачених людей проти нескінченної стихії, злочинів минулого буквально неможливо позбутися, бо тіла не розкладаються, а від цинги відкриваються старі, нібито давно загоєні рани. Загалом, атмосфера загрози генерує себе сама, але тут різнопланових загроз якось забагато навернули, мені здається.
"Where the Dead Wait" дуже сильно натхненне "Терором" (і то радше не романом, а серіалом + історичними матеріалами навколо: типу чому медик тягає відра з морськими безхребетними? бо доктор Гудсер так робив; загалом, багато пасхалочок для тих, хто теж провалювався у цю кролячу нору). Сюжет у двох словах: велика експедиція в пошуках проходу з Атлантичного в Тихий океан понад північним узбережжям Канади зазнає поразки, команда полишає судно і бреде до цивілізації, потроху під'їдаючи один одного, і коли їх таки знаходить китобійне судно, ті, кого не з'їли, ще позаздрять тим, кого з'їли - бо тепер цілий світ буде їх таврувати як убивць і канібалів. Чи принаймні позаздрить свіжоспечений капітан Дей, який взагалі-то починав ту невдалу експедицію молодшим лейтенантом, але стрімко злетів у ієрархії після загибелі всіх старших офіцерів. Саме на капітана Дея покладуть основну вину, а його праву руку, персонажа, якого явно треба візуалізувати як Гікі у виконанні Адама Нагайтіса, преса якраз вибілює.
Фаст форвард на 12 років уперед, Дей отримує шанс спокутувати провину: тепер в Арктиці зник якраз той Гікі-у-виконанні-Нагайтіса, і його дружина, яка захоплюється спіритизмом, хоче спорядити експедицію на пошуки (тут багато оммажів до леді Джейн Франклін). Шукати його - експедиція з дуже спірною перспективою на успіх, тож на пошуки посилають Дея, бо йому й так втрачати нічого, в товаристві тієї самої дружини-спіритички, тупої, як пробка (я дуже не люблю цей тренд на зухвалих героїнь, які всі такі "Я не буду робити, як мені велить патріархат!!!", коли йдеться про поради рівня, умовно кажучи, "не пхай пальці в розетку"), і ще скількохсь персонажів, списаних з "Терора". Далі починає відбуватися якесь неймовірне нашарування горорних елементів, і що я можу сказати, читайте книжку очима, не слухайте аудіо, вона максимально не аудіобук-френдлі, я не певна, чи кожна окрема сцена була видінням, появою привидів, флешбеком чи чим узагалі, але мені цього нагромадження було забагато. Ведмідь-людожер + реальні загрози полярних досліджень - цього цілком досить! Якщо туди ще накурмішкати привидів і ще неясно чого, то це для мене вже переходило в пародію рівня "Щооооось страааашнеее у дрооовііітні" з "Колд комфорт фарм". Але атмосферненько, що є, то є - і в спеку +30 про вічну мерзлоту слухається цілком мрійливо.
"Where the Dead Wait" дуже сильно натхненне "Терором" (і то радше не романом, а серіалом + історичними матеріалами навколо: типу чому медик тягає відра з морськими безхребетними? бо доктор Гудсер так робив; загалом, багато пасхалочок для тих, хто теж провалювався у цю кролячу нору). Сюжет у двох словах: велика експедиція в пошуках проходу з Атлантичного в Тихий океан понад північним узбережжям Канади зазнає поразки, команда полишає судно і бреде до цивілізації, потроху під'їдаючи один одного, і коли їх таки знаходить китобійне судно, ті, кого не з'їли, ще позаздрять тим, кого з'їли - бо тепер цілий світ буде їх таврувати як убивць і канібалів. Чи принаймні позаздрить свіжоспечений капітан Дей, який взагалі-то починав ту невдалу експедицію молодшим лейтенантом, але стрімко злетів у ієрархії після загибелі всіх старших офіцерів. Саме на капітана Дея покладуть основну вину, а його праву руку, персонажа, якого явно треба візуалізувати як Гікі у виконанні Адама Нагайтіса, преса якраз вибілює.
Фаст форвард на 12 років уперед, Дей отримує шанс спокутувати провину: тепер в Арктиці зник якраз той Гікі-у-виконанні-Нагайтіса, і його дружина, яка захоплюється спіритизмом, хоче спорядити експедицію на пошуки (тут багато оммажів до леді Джейн Франклін). Шукати його - експедиція з дуже спірною перспективою на успіх, тож на пошуки посилають Дея, бо йому й так втрачати нічого, в товаристві тієї самої дружини-спіритички, тупої, як пробка (я дуже не люблю цей тренд на зухвалих героїнь, які всі такі "Я не буду робити, як мені велить патріархат!!!", коли йдеться про поради рівня, умовно кажучи, "не пхай пальці в розетку"), і ще скількохсь персонажів, списаних з "Терора". Далі починає відбуватися якесь неймовірне нашарування горорних елементів, і що я можу сказати, читайте книжку очима, не слухайте аудіо, вона максимально не аудіобук-френдлі, я не певна, чи кожна окрема сцена була видінням, появою привидів, флешбеком чи чим узагалі, але мені цього нагромадження було забагато. Ведмідь-людожер + реальні загрози полярних досліджень - цього цілком досить! Якщо туди ще накурмішкати привидів і ще неясно чого, то це для мене вже переходило в пародію рівня "Щооооось страааашнеее у дрооовііітні" з "Колд комфорт фарм". Але атмосферненько, що є, то є - і в спеку +30 про вічну мерзлоту слухається цілком мрійливо.
January 14, 2024
Me and a friend on booksta decided to buddy read this but we both ended up dnfing it, lol
November 17, 2025
If I had a nickel for every time a polar exploration adjacent book was blurbed as "brilliant" but turned out to be a total flop, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird unfortunate that it happened twice (the other offender being The Ministry of Time).
Here's the thing, comparing your work of Arctic horror fiction to The Terror (especially the TV adaptation) is a slippery slope. Because The Terror is, in my opinion, one of the very rare pieces of media that is utterly perfect. This book was a distant cousin of The Terror at best.
Now, the book actually starts off as quite intriguing: a disgraced officer returns to the Arctic to search for his former crewmate from an expedition that ended in disaster and potentially supernatural stuff starts happening. But the problem is that the story never manages to take off. It meanders at a glacial pace and the writing is convoluted to a point where it verges on unintelligible. You never quite know whether the things that are happening are real or just delusions of the main guy. With a lot of sentences I genuinely had no idea what they meant or what they were referencing.
Another problem was that none of these characters acted or talked like real people. Some major event or spooky shit would happen and they for some reason never talked to each other? Many scenes were just cut off and then jumped to the next scene and it was never addressed what these people thought about anything. [spoiler] Like, hello, can we please get some elaboration? What do the characters think about this? Why are they not fucking talking to each other? May we please have some dialogue? I think in her attempt to make the setting ominous and the narrator unreliable, the author forgot to explain literally anything that was going on.
Or this scene:
And then the scene just ends and we jump to the next morning and no one ever mentions the gunshots again. Can we please get some kind of explanation as to what's going on, Ms Wilkes? Having read the entire book, I can also not tell you whether there was actually a supernatural element to this story of if it was just the main guy hallucinating.
And ultimately, I think that horror is at its most effective when it's subtle and has some kind of intelligent message (like in The Terror). The main theme of horror in this novel is cannibalism, which can be inserted into a story about desperate survival in the Arctic in devastating ways and as a meaningful metaphor (like in The Terror). But here it's just too much, too in-your-face. There's so much on-page cannibalism, even early on in the book, that by the end of the book it's not even that shocking anymore, just gross. And for a horror novel, this just never felt scary or spooky or anything to me. It was just gruelling and overwritten, with a frustrating main character I found very hard to root for and a cast of supporting characters whose potential was sadly wasted (there's a spirit medium, a young Native woman and a reporter, which could've made for an interesting group dynamic, but they were all severely under-utilized). And the villain was just straight-up over-the-top. And if there's one thing I hate it's moustache-twirling villains.
Here's the thing, comparing your work of Arctic horror fiction to The Terror (especially the TV adaptation) is a slippery slope. Because The Terror is, in my opinion, one of the very rare pieces of media that is utterly perfect. This book was a distant cousin of The Terror at best.
Now, the book actually starts off as quite intriguing: a disgraced officer returns to the Arctic to search for his former crewmate from an expedition that ended in disaster and potentially supernatural stuff starts happening. But the problem is that the story never manages to take off. It meanders at a glacial pace and the writing is convoluted to a point where it verges on unintelligible. You never quite know whether the things that are happening are real or just delusions of the main guy. With a lot of sentences I genuinely had no idea what they meant or what they were referencing.
Another problem was that none of these characters acted or talked like real people. Some major event or spooky shit would happen and they for some reason never talked to each other? Many scenes were just cut off and then jumped to the next scene and it was never addressed what these people thought about anything. [spoiler] Like, hello, can we please get some elaboration? What do the characters think about this? Why are they not fucking talking to each other? May we please have some dialogue? I think in her attempt to make the setting ominous and the narrator unreliable, the author forgot to explain literally anything that was going on.
Or this scene:
"Did you hear that?" Qila called.
"What?"
"Gunshots." The wind shrieked in reply. Again, Day watched his footprints be erased; thought of a paw print, deep and ominous.
And then the scene just ends and we jump to the next morning and no one ever mentions the gunshots again. Can we please get some kind of explanation as to what's going on, Ms Wilkes? Having read the entire book, I can also not tell you whether there was actually a supernatural element to this story of if it was just the main guy hallucinating.
And ultimately, I think that horror is at its most effective when it's subtle and has some kind of intelligent message (like in The Terror). The main theme of horror in this novel is cannibalism, which can be inserted into a story about desperate survival in the Arctic in devastating ways and as a meaningful metaphor (like in The Terror). But here it's just too much, too in-your-face. There's so much on-page cannibalism, even early on in the book, that by the end of the book it's not even that shocking anymore, just gross. And for a horror novel, this just never felt scary or spooky or anything to me. It was just gruelling and overwritten, with a frustrating main character I found very hard to root for and a cast of supporting characters whose potential was sadly wasted (there's a spirit medium, a young Native woman and a reporter, which could've made for an interesting group dynamic, but they were all severely under-utilized). And the villain was just straight-up over-the-top. And if there's one thing I hate it's moustache-twirling villains.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2024
I’m sorry, but I felt like I was trapped in the Arctic for 3 years trying to read this damn story.
It is SLOW, way too many characters, non linear time jumps all over the place, scenes just randomly cut off. Even the two ships are similarly named so I’d have to double check which one was which. The horror was kind of lacking- there were eerie moments, shocking cannibalism, but the supernatural aspects were vague (ghosts or just unreliable hallucinatory main character?).
This could’ve been awesome, but it’s so dry and boring (like eating boot leather) that I was just getting frustrated. Cut out like half the rambling prose and it’d be way easier for readers to immerse themselves in the plot.
It is SLOW, way too many characters, non linear time jumps all over the place, scenes just randomly cut off. Even the two ships are similarly named so I’d have to double check which one was which. The horror was kind of lacking- there were eerie moments, shocking cannibalism, but the supernatural aspects were vague (ghosts or just unreliable hallucinatory main character?).
This could’ve been awesome, but it’s so dry and boring (like eating boot leather) that I was just getting frustrated. Cut out like half the rambling prose and it’d be way easier for readers to immerse themselves in the plot.
January 9, 2024
On being accepted to read this novel by Ally Wilkes I was full of excitement, sadly it did not quite fulfil my expectations
This was an exceptionally well-written story and felt entirely authentic to its time period but for me was too slow paced and I had issues with keeping track of the events due maybe to it being a period piece. On the other hand there were some extremely tense moments during the story and it was by no means a terrible read.
No doubt an author to watch out for but this book simply wasn't to my taste.
This was an exceptionally well-written story and felt entirely authentic to its time period but for me was too slow paced and I had issues with keeping track of the events due maybe to it being a period piece. On the other hand there were some extremely tense moments during the story and it was by no means a terrible read.
No doubt an author to watch out for but this book simply wasn't to my taste.
May 14, 2023
WHERE THE DEAD WAIT is a full-body plunge into nineteenth-century seafaring, Arctic survival, and the frigid darkness of the human psyche, in a setting as frostbitten and dread-inducing as the ghosts that haunt it. I was moved by Captain Day's inner war of longing and regret, and rewarded by the beautiful, immersive prose. With her second polar outing, Wilkes stakes her claim as the new ice-master of horror fiction.
December 11, 2023
Wilkes delivers what has all the markers to be a thrilling arctic horror about ghosts, cannibals and a disgraced explorer forced to confront his past on the chilling slopes of ice and snow.
Unfortunately, it doesn't quite deliver.
A strong premise is bogged down by a sluggish narrative style that slows down the story and reduces any chills or scares to mere whimpers, making this a tough one to get through.
It's a shame because this one had all the hallmarks to be something fantastic.
Unfortunately, it doesn't quite deliver.
A strong premise is bogged down by a sluggish narrative style that slows down the story and reduces any chills or scares to mere whimpers, making this a tough one to get through.
It's a shame because this one had all the hallmarks to be something fantastic.
September 29, 2023
Review in the October 2023 issue of Library Journal
Three Words That Describe This Book: Historical Horror, oppressive dread, strong sense of place
Draft Review: After finding success with Antarctic Horror, Wilkes returns with the story of Willam Day, failed Arctic explorer whose 1869 crew resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. Disgraced, Day has spent the last 13 years dealing with his guilt, until he is called back into service to help rescue a shipmate from that mission, Jesse Stevens, now lost, once again, in the Arctic. Despite serious misgivings, Day heads back into the danger, madness, and desperation of the unforgiving landscape, this time with Stevens’ wife, a noted American spiritualist on board. Told from Day’s perspective in alternating 1896 and 1882 time frames, readers watch both journeys go from bad to worse, guided by a haunted man who is actively unraveling. Wilkes also leans in on the slow burn pacing, filling the novel with detailed descriptions of the boat, the topography, and the characters, a narrative choice that unsettlingly mimics both the plight of the crew and the obsession which anchors the terror.
Verdict: Fans of Alma Katsu’s Historical Horror and Polar exploration Nonfiction like In The Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides will rejoice but the intense psychological Horror and isolation here will also appeal to those who enjoy Space Horror like Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes.
Notes:
Atmospheric, creepy, eerie, and full of dread from the start. 2 time frames. Lots of guilt from Day our main character. He is the only narrator across the "then" and "now" time frames. He is obviously unreliable and unstable, everyone knows it, even him. It add two the oppressive dread that presses on the story and the characters as they are stranded in the ice.
Yes it could be described as a slow burn, but that is the point. It is full of decription and detail about the boats, the place, Arctic sailing and there is much time spent stuck and struggling to survive. That pacing, is important because matches the reality of the character.
The psychological aspects of tithe story are important. Intensely focused on Day and his guilt, mental unraveling, questions, etc....
Spirit Medium side frame cool addition. Very Gothic in the traditional sense.
Combine The Hunger by Alma Katsu with In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Side (NF) and the psychological horror of Dead Silence by S A Barnes.
I will not comp the famous Arctic Horror title others are because I do not support or boost horrible humans.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Historical Horror, oppressive dread, strong sense of place
Draft Review: After finding success with Antarctic Horror, Wilkes returns with the story of Willam Day, failed Arctic explorer whose 1869 crew resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. Disgraced, Day has spent the last 13 years dealing with his guilt, until he is called back into service to help rescue a shipmate from that mission, Jesse Stevens, now lost, once again, in the Arctic. Despite serious misgivings, Day heads back into the danger, madness, and desperation of the unforgiving landscape, this time with Stevens’ wife, a noted American spiritualist on board. Told from Day’s perspective in alternating 1896 and 1882 time frames, readers watch both journeys go from bad to worse, guided by a haunted man who is actively unraveling. Wilkes also leans in on the slow burn pacing, filling the novel with detailed descriptions of the boat, the topography, and the characters, a narrative choice that unsettlingly mimics both the plight of the crew and the obsession which anchors the terror.
Verdict: Fans of Alma Katsu’s Historical Horror and Polar exploration Nonfiction like In The Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides will rejoice but the intense psychological Horror and isolation here will also appeal to those who enjoy Space Horror like Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes.
Notes:
Atmospheric, creepy, eerie, and full of dread from the start. 2 time frames. Lots of guilt from Day our main character. He is the only narrator across the "then" and "now" time frames. He is obviously unreliable and unstable, everyone knows it, even him. It add two the oppressive dread that presses on the story and the characters as they are stranded in the ice.
Yes it could be described as a slow burn, but that is the point. It is full of decription and detail about the boats, the place, Arctic sailing and there is much time spent stuck and struggling to survive. That pacing, is important because matches the reality of the character.
The psychological aspects of tithe story are important. Intensely focused on Day and his guilt, mental unraveling, questions, etc....
Spirit Medium side frame cool addition. Very Gothic in the traditional sense.
Combine The Hunger by Alma Katsu with In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Side (NF) and the psychological horror of Dead Silence by S A Barnes.
I will not comp the famous Arctic Horror title others are because I do not support or boost horrible humans.
January 11, 2024
TW: Language, drinking, racism, murder, sexism, animal deaths, gory scenes, blood, sexual assault, depression, anxiety, homophobia
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition, in which his remaining men only survived by eating their dead comrades, he returned in disgrace.
Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same frozen waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing
Stevens—the man who’s haunted his whole life—back home. But when the rescue mission becomes an uncanny journey into his past, Day must face up to the things he’s done.
Abandonment. Betrayal. Cannibalism.
Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, as well as Stevens’s wife, a spirit-medium whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving, as it becomes clear that the restless dead are never far behind. Something is coming through.
Release Date: December 5th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 380
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Loved the plot
2. The writing is so enthralling
3. The gory scenes were so gross
4. Very atmospheric
5. Queer rep
What I Didn't Like:
1. The 1,000 times people suck their teeth in
2. Some parts would ramble on
3. Book too long
Overall Thoughts:
I was super excited to get the arc copy of this book because who wouldn't love a book with horror set in the Arctic. It sounded amazing.
As others have said the different timelines/ different ships / different crew members made this book a very confusing adventure. Oftentimes I would have to remember whose crew was this guy on and what timeline was he a part of and who's eating who. It all made for such a confusing book. I didn't hate the characters and I found most of them pretty likeable. The Stevens character was insane and very ruthless.
There we're moments in this book where my mouth dropped at how horrific things went down. From people sawing off legs of characters before the person was even completely dead.
I had a good time reading the book and loved the writing style the author gave us.
I enjoyed the romantic style of Day and Stevens, when usually I don't like romances in my horror/thrillers/mysteries, so that was an exciting development. I think the author described the desperation and need of a person wanting that kind of connection with another person in a place of isolation. It felt fitting.
Final Thoughts:
Omgosh I really enjoyed this book. The story was so atmospheric. I loved the way the writing described scenes and made me feel like I was actually in the Arctic with the characters.
I absolutely 100% think this book was about 150 pages too long. I got about 300 pages into this book before I was like okay let's wrap it up it just felt like it was rambling at that point. There just was so much unnecessary things put into it about the characters I didn't care about.
I gave this book four stars but if I believed in half stars or quarter stars I would definitely put it down as more like 3.75 stars just because of the rambling part and there were parts that were pretty boring.
I would check out the other book from this author.
Also added note if you liked this book or like similar things then you have to check out the movie Ravenous- "In a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal." It's a fantastic weird fun movie.
IG | Blog
Thanks to Netgalley (ebook) and Atria (physical copy) for this advanced/gifted copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition, in which his remaining men only survived by eating their dead comrades, he returned in disgrace.
Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same frozen waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing
Stevens—the man who’s haunted his whole life—back home. But when the rescue mission becomes an uncanny journey into his past, Day must face up to the things he’s done.
Abandonment. Betrayal. Cannibalism.
Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, as well as Stevens’s wife, a spirit-medium whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving, as it becomes clear that the restless dead are never far behind. Something is coming through.
Release Date: December 5th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 380
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Loved the plot
2. The writing is so enthralling
3. The gory scenes were so gross
4. Very atmospheric
5. Queer rep
What I Didn't Like:
1. The 1,000 times people suck their teeth in
2. Some parts would ramble on
3. Book too long
Overall Thoughts:
I was super excited to get the arc copy of this book because who wouldn't love a book with horror set in the Arctic. It sounded amazing.
As others have said the different timelines/ different ships / different crew members made this book a very confusing adventure. Oftentimes I would have to remember whose crew was this guy on and what timeline was he a part of and who's eating who. It all made for such a confusing book. I didn't hate the characters and I found most of them pretty likeable. The Stevens character was insane and very ruthless.
There we're moments in this book where my mouth dropped at how horrific things went down. From people sawing off legs of characters before the person was even completely dead.
"Eat the world"
I had a good time reading the book and loved the writing style the author gave us.
I enjoyed the romantic style of Day and Stevens, when usually I don't like romances in my horror/thrillers/mysteries, so that was an exciting development. I think the author described the desperation and need of a person wanting that kind of connection with another person in a place of isolation. It felt fitting.
Final Thoughts:
Omgosh I really enjoyed this book. The story was so atmospheric. I loved the way the writing described scenes and made me feel like I was actually in the Arctic with the characters.
I absolutely 100% think this book was about 150 pages too long. I got about 300 pages into this book before I was like okay let's wrap it up it just felt like it was rambling at that point. There just was so much unnecessary things put into it about the characters I didn't care about.
I gave this book four stars but if I believed in half stars or quarter stars I would definitely put it down as more like 3.75 stars just because of the rambling part and there were parts that were pretty boring.
I would check out the other book from this author.
Also added note if you liked this book or like similar things then you have to check out the movie Ravenous- "In a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal." It's a fantastic weird fun movie.
IG | Blog
Thanks to Netgalley (ebook) and Atria (physical copy) for this advanced/gifted copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 2, 2023
Where the Dead Wait is a creepy Victorian Gothic horror story.
Join William Day, a failed Arctic explorer as he attempts to revive his career and save his previous second Stevens in command who is missing in the freezing tundra. As they travel, he is forced to reckon with past choices and failure via a dogged reporter and Steven's wife who runs seances on board at night. I love a cold weather story, you can imagine the silence and peace as well as the deathly potential of the tempeture!
This eerie story will haunt you! #Atria #Wherethedeadwait #Allywilkes
Join William Day, a failed Arctic explorer as he attempts to revive his career and save his previous second Stevens in command who is missing in the freezing tundra. As they travel, he is forced to reckon with past choices and failure via a dogged reporter and Steven's wife who runs seances on board at night. I love a cold weather story, you can imagine the silence and peace as well as the deathly potential of the tempeture!
This eerie story will haunt you! #Atria #Wherethedeadwait #Allywilkes
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June 7, 2023Another great artic thriller from Wilkes. She knows how to write a story to make you feel like you are right there in the cold, icy lands with them. Great characters, great plot. Creepy and engaging. I hope she keeps writing!!
January 16, 2024
There's a good story here, I swear. Unfortunately, it's bogged down by both stagnancy and repetition. This could have been a five-star read, if only like 100+ pages had been cut out of it.
I will read more from this author for sure.
I will read more from this author for sure.
March 22, 2024
Haunting ambiance that set the scene for a story where I asked "what is happening?, which character is that?, what timeline am I in?" the whole way through.
April 29, 2024
Where The Dead Wait is described as a “Polar Gothic” novel and is told from the perspective of William Day, former reluctant captain of a failed Artic expedition that led to several deaths and eventual cannibalism by the remaining men. Thirteen years later and with the possibility of restoring his reputation, Day accepts a mission to retrieve his second-in-command Jessie Stevens, who has vanished within the same location.
William Day is a complicated protagonist, a man of contradictions and an initial unwillingness to fully examine his own behavior and motivations. He is sympathetic as a man with affections for another man that can never truly be acted upon based upon the time period and the location. Yet he is also incredibly blind to Stevens’ machinations and his own culpability in what they led to due to his fear of death and refusal to truly grasp the situation.
Part of the horror of Where The Dead Wait is due to Day’s nature as an unreliable narrator and when the situation with Stevens’ search becomes more dire, the lines between his haunted imaginings, the nightmarish past and the stressful present begin the blur. Ally Wilkes creates such a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the ship and an oppressive and bleak one when the characters take to the barren land.
The seemingly-supernatural aspects that occur during the second expedition are also not wholly explained or disproven: are they manifestations of guilt clinging to a haunted man, the work of a so-called medium who is also Jesse Stevens’ wife or the shared imaginings of a group of traumatized people trapped within close quarters for an extended period of time?
The uncertainty is intriguing.
Where The Dead Wait starts out strong, but does drag in certain places and would still make an impact if it was slightly shorter. As the novel shifts between the first and second expedition, it is easy to mix up some of the many sailers that are mentioned. While some do make an impression: such as Val the Doctor, Lars and Peters, others fade more into the background until needed.
The utterly grisly violence and loathsome aspects of cannibalism are not shied away from in Where The Dead Wait and it was interesting to read a novel where the characters do whatever they need to to survive and then have to contend with members of society who refuse to comprehend that deep down, they might have made similar choices.
Although there was some slight oddness with the accent of the American character, the audiobook narration by Joshua Riley is still engrossing nonetheless.
William Day is a complicated protagonist, a man of contradictions and an initial unwillingness to fully examine his own behavior and motivations. He is sympathetic as a man with affections for another man that can never truly be acted upon based upon the time period and the location. Yet he is also incredibly blind to Stevens’ machinations and his own culpability in what they led to due to his fear of death and refusal to truly grasp the situation.
Part of the horror of Where The Dead Wait is due to Day’s nature as an unreliable narrator and when the situation with Stevens’ search becomes more dire, the lines between his haunted imaginings, the nightmarish past and the stressful present begin the blur. Ally Wilkes creates such a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the ship and an oppressive and bleak one when the characters take to the barren land.
The seemingly-supernatural aspects that occur during the second expedition are also not wholly explained or disproven: are they manifestations of guilt clinging to a haunted man, the work of a so-called medium who is also Jesse Stevens’ wife or the shared imaginings of a group of traumatized people trapped within close quarters for an extended period of time?
The uncertainty is intriguing.
Where The Dead Wait starts out strong, but does drag in certain places and would still make an impact if it was slightly shorter. As the novel shifts between the first and second expedition, it is easy to mix up some of the many sailers that are mentioned. While some do make an impression: such as Val the Doctor, Lars and Peters, others fade more into the background until needed.
The utterly grisly violence and loathsome aspects of cannibalism are not shied away from in Where The Dead Wait and it was interesting to read a novel where the characters do whatever they need to to survive and then have to contend with members of society who refuse to comprehend that deep down, they might have made similar choices.
Although there was some slight oddness with the accent of the American character, the audiobook narration by Joshua Riley is still engrossing nonetheless.
December 31, 2023
"How do you escape a haunted house, when both the ghost--and the house--are you?"
Thirteen years ago, Captain William Day led an Arctic expedition that ended in cannibalism and betrayal. Society has never forgiven him. Now, someone he once loved is lost up there, and he jumps at the chance to rescue them - and fix his own reputation.
Here's the catch: Captain Day knows that the lost Captain Stevens is not worth saving. Day also believed he is haunted by everyone who died on that first expedition. And somehow by Stevens himself?
This book was disgusting and terrifying and full of tension and dread, and I adored learning about Victorian ships, but I can't give it 5 stars because Day is just so annoying. Too weak to ever make a decision, too ashamed to ever tell the truth even to himself. Sure, we stan an unreliable narrator, but when the reader has everything figured out by chapter three, it's a bit of a chore to spend the next 300 pages waiting for Day to suss it out.
Thirteen years ago, Captain William Day led an Arctic expedition that ended in cannibalism and betrayal. Society has never forgiven him. Now, someone he once loved is lost up there, and he jumps at the chance to rescue them - and fix his own reputation.
Here's the catch: Captain Day knows that the lost Captain Stevens is not worth saving. Day also believed he is haunted by everyone who died on that first expedition. And somehow by Stevens himself?
This book was disgusting and terrifying and full of tension and dread, and I adored learning about Victorian ships, but I can't give it 5 stars because Day is just so annoying. Too weak to ever make a decision, too ashamed to ever tell the truth even to himself. Sure, we stan an unreliable narrator, but when the reader has everything figured out by chapter three, it's a bit of a chore to spend the next 300 pages waiting for Day to suss it out.
October 19, 2024
"Better than Dan Simmons's The Terror," reads a review by author Alma Katsu, printed on the front cover of the US edition of this book. I can't say I agree. Dan Simmons's highly problematic views aside, The Terror set the standard for polar exploration novels, and many books about polar exploration since have been compared to it; nevertheless, I think this comparison (and a few others... hefty side-eye at Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time) is a bit unfair, and very unearned.
Where the Dead Wait has multiple compelling concepts and fascinating characters with lots of potential throughout, but Ally Wilkes fails to deliver much of a punch at any point in this book, and ultimately it left me feeling disappointed. There were also quite a few points that were incredibly confusing. Wilkes seemed to be trying to reflect the confusion Cpt. Day was feeling, but even so, I don't think the reader should be left feeling just as confused as (if not more confused than) the character. That's just bad writing.
Overall, this was not a very good book, and I probably would have DNF'd it less than 20 pages in if it wasn't something I was reading for a book club, and I probably would have been happier for it.
[As a side note, however, if you happen to be a Terror fan who enjoyed the Mutineer Camp dynamic and don't mind paying roughly $25 for what reads like Mutineer fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off, this might be the book for you.]
Where the Dead Wait has multiple compelling concepts and fascinating characters with lots of potential throughout, but Ally Wilkes fails to deliver much of a punch at any point in this book, and ultimately it left me feeling disappointed. There were also quite a few points that were incredibly confusing. Wilkes seemed to be trying to reflect the confusion Cpt. Day was feeling, but even so, I don't think the reader should be left feeling just as confused as (if not more confused than) the character. That's just bad writing.
Overall, this was not a very good book, and I probably would have DNF'd it less than 20 pages in if it wasn't something I was reading for a book club, and I probably would have been happier for it.
[As a side note, however, if you happen to be a Terror fan who enjoyed the Mutineer Camp dynamic and don't mind paying roughly $25 for what reads like Mutineer fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off, this might be the book for you.]
January 2, 2024
Snowy isolated survival 1800s story with cannibalism—exactly what I want to read! But aside from a handful of moments and some nice atmosphere, this sadly didn’t hit the mark for me. It’s very long and doesn’t cover enough ground to justify its length, the survival/ethics parts could have been more searing, and most of all, I wanted more depth and complexity in the characters. It teeters on the precipice of exploring some deep and compelling themes, but it doesn’t really commit to taking the plunge.
I wanted to be devastated. But it just didn’t happen.
I wanted to be devastated. But it just didn’t happen.
January 21, 2024
This came in my Nightworms January package and I was excited to get to it and this book is nuts. It was nuts but it was fine.
Okay the more I think about it the more I feel like I didn't like this like it was fine. I was under the impression that there were supernatural elements do it but then once I got done reading... I actually have no idea.
Okay the more I think about it the more I feel like I didn't like this like it was fine. I was under the impression that there were supernatural elements do it but then once I got done reading... I actually have no idea.
November 27, 2023
This book was like poetry. So beautifully written, so visceral. Really gross and horrifying. Wilkes took pieces of men and of horror and of polar exploration and cracked them up, then reassembled them into a very pretty, very scary work of art.
December 24, 2023
I’m not sure why this book didn’t totally work for me. I think the narrator was so unreliable that you were more confused than scared.
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