Thank you Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and Goodreads/Flatiron, #partner for the advanced copy of Wild Dark Shore in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: March 4, 2025
Summary:
A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.
Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.
My thoughts:
I have now read two of McConaghy’s books – I still need to Migrations – but I can say with certainty that if she continues to write these eco-thrillers, I will continue to read them. I loved this one just as much as I loved her last one, Once There Were Wolves. She is absolutely a must-read author!!!
This book, Wild Dark Shore, is so atmospheric and chilling, set on an isolated island near Antarctica. While it is character-driven, there is a slow-burn mystery woven into the story that keeps you guessing all the way through. I fell for the characters so hard, and it unsettled me. Climate fiction is one of my favorite sub-genres and this one will really make you think about sea levels and how they affect so much.
I will be recommending this to everyone and just know I’ll be reading it again at some point…it’s just that good!
Audio thoughts:
This was narrated by a full cast and it couldn’t have been a better listening experience. Each and every narrator – Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld and Steve West – brought their A-game to this performance, making it so hard to put down once I started it.
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