Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio
Published: November 9, 2021
Source: Print – William Morrow / Audio – ALC via Harper Audio
Summary:
Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is back, fighting for endangered species in the Canadian Arctic and battling for her life in this action-packed follow-up to A Solitude of Wolverines, “a true stunner of a thriller debut” (James Rollins) and “a great read” (Nevada Barr).
Fresh off her wolverine study in Montana, wildlife biologist Alex Carter lands a job studying a threatened population of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. Embedded with a small team of Arctic researchers, she tracks the majestic bears by air, following them over vast, snowy terrain, spending days leaning precariously out of a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun, until she can get down on the ice to examine them up close.
But as her study progresses, and she gathers data on the health of individual bears, things start to go awry. Her helicopter pilot quits unexpectedly, equipment goes missing, and a late-night intruder breaks into her lab and steals the samples she’s collected. She realizes that someone doesn’t want her to complete her study, but Alex is not easily deterred.
Managing to find a replacement pilot, she returns to the icy expanses of Hudson Bay. But the helicopter catches fire in midflight, forcing the team to land on a vast sheet of white far from civilization. Surviving on the frozen landscape is difficult enough, but as armed assailants close in on snowmobiles, Alex must rely on her skills and tenacity to survive this onslaught and carry out her mission.
My thoughts:
This is the second book in the Alex Carter series and it just might be one of my new favorite series. Who would have thought that a conservationist/thriller mix would be my type of read and yet I cannot get enough of this type of book!
I admit that I am relatively new to this series, having just read the first book, A Solitude of Wolverines, and so I was quite eager to jump into this latest one…and while this one does stand on its own, I highly recommend reading the series in order as there is one thread that carries over that is pretty integral to the overall series. Plus…it’s just really good!
This one picks up right after the previous book ends and I love how it focuses on another endangered animal. Once again, I found that the author effortlessly blends her research about the plight of these animals in with her story in such a way that I could not wait to learn more, yet never felt that I was being preached to in any way. I love polar bears and this one made me upset learning just how bad things are for them.
Again, the setting plays an integral role in the story – this time around in the Canadian Arctic. It is very isolated and cold, and the vivid writing will have you feeling that chill as the nonstop action goes into overdrive. While I had my suspicions about some characters that proved to be correct, I still did not see the conclusion coming and was still on the edge of my seat the entire time.
This is a series that I hope continues for quite some time. I do know that a third book will be out next year…and I cannot wait to get my hands on that. In the meantime…I highly recommend picking this one and the previous one up. They are completely binge-worthy thrillers that have that extra bonus of giving you a little education all in one!
Audio thoughts:
Once again, Eva Kaminsky narrates this one, which I was happy to see. I love when there is continuity with narrators for series whenever possible and here it just makes sense, especially since there isn’t much time between the two books. Eva really does a great job bringing this book to life, giving the characters their own unique personalities and her pacing and intonation are spot on. I hope she continues to narrate the rest of the series!
Books in this series:
- A Solitude of Wolverines
- A Blizzard of Polar Bears
