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May 16, 2013zipread rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dark Winter --- by William Dietrich. Dietrich is an accomplished author of fiction who started his literary métier writing, not fiction, but by honing his skills writing about, broadly speaking, ecological, geographical and environmental issues. And perhaps it was here that he found some inspiration for some of his fictional works. Peculiarly, judging from his literary output there is more than one Dietrich. There’s Dietrich the non-fiction writer, of course. Then there’s the Dietrich who writes historical fiction that comes in at least two flavours: The novels featuring the rascally Ethan Gage. Here Dietrich takes a downright playful tone when he tells the tales of Gage the rake, more interested in gambling and tupping than doing any real work. And now there’s this novel. Its set in current time. It involves current technology. It is set at the South Pole. It moves along quick. There’s no tupping. There are no armies but there is the very real threat of real murder. There’s a whole lot of suspense here. In truth, it’s a murder mystery. And Dietrich writes it well. ‘Who did it?’ The question is well framed. And as the bodies fall, we are no closer to knowing the answer until… until. Well, you’ll have to figure this out for yourself.