Dark Matter

By: Michelle Paver

Narrated by: Jeremy Northam

Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

January 1937. Jack Miller has just about run out of options. His shoes have worn through, he can't afford to heat his rented room in Tooting, and he longs to use his training as a specialist wireless operator instead of working in his dead-end job. When he is given the chance to join an arctic expedition, as communications expert, by a group of elite Oxbridge graduates, he brushes off his apprehensions and convinces himself to join them.

As the young men set sail from a gloomy Britain on the verge of war, Jack feels the overwhelming excitement of not knowing what lies ahead. Little can he imagine the horrors that await him in their destination, Gruhuken, a place that cannot escape the savage echo of its past.

©2010 Michelle Paver (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Jack London meets a more literary Stephen King

Paver has become a new favorite of mine. I haven’t before come across this unique combination of psychological thriller/historical fiction/adventure. Nothing is gratuitous, or predictable, and the characters she develops are as complex as they need to be for their purposes to the story — something that will make sense once you’ve read/heard it. Jeremy Northampton’s narration couldn’t be more perfect.

Perfection

An as good as perfect ghost story that isn't really a ghost story. A modern classic.

I'll think twice next time I want to be alone.

Would you listen to Dark Matter again? Why?

Yes I would listen again. After listening to this book, I can imagine what total darkness, cold, and lack of human contact can do to the human mind...especially with something haunting your every move.

What did you like best about this story?

The time frame was one of my favorites. The fact that this was an expedition is also one of my favorite settings for horror.

Have you listened to any of Jeremy Northam’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you could take any character from Dark Matter out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Jack. Probably because he was there for all of the expedition, where all other characters were there only part of the time. Jack endured all the little island could throw at him until the end. He also became a dog lover in the end as well.

Any additional comments?

Inside the mind of a man, alone, literally at the end of the earth, with only darkness and a dog as constant companions. Or, is there something else out there?

Great scary story!!

Creepy atmosphere, building up tension throughout the story. I really had no idea how it was going to end. I was on the edge of my seat. Great narrator, too, with a natural-sounding accent, good reading pace, added atmosphere to the story.
Characters were complex & believable. I really enjoyed this story all the way through.

Great book

Excellent book From start to finish. Great story with a great narrator, really keeps your interest. Highly recommended. AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Meh

Dog welfare essay masquerading as a horror story. This is about a man who travels to an island in Norway to send radio transmissions periodically from for some industrialist. and he has a college degree but did not achieve the career heights he wanted. We get to hear his disillusionment with different areas of his life. Author really focuses on the dogs to the point where it becomes annoying if you're not a dog lover. I'm all for protecting dogs but including animal cruelty scenes is reaching. it never peaked. It has a certain level of dread it reaches early on and it just stays there. I'm glad I can return audiobooks with books like these.

amazing narration! great story

I really felt submerged in this story. inwas drawn in by the solitary aloneness that Jack felt. I could feel the isolation. I could feel his fear.. the story was not wham bam kind of locomotive. it built slowly and lingered in dark places that were more frightening as you felt the seconds slowly ticking.. dread.

Excellent reading by Northam.

Best reading I have ever heard. His voice brought life and dread to this somewhat predictable story.

Dark Matter

I enjoyed listening to this story about a group of young men going on an expedition together. All of these men were different from each other but had the desire to learn and teach others about a new place. This story was very creepy, but I couldn't stop laughing. I loved it! I think anybody who likes ghost stories will enjoy this book. I greatly enjoyed the narrator's voice.

Atmospheric & heart wrenching

Jeremy Northam is perfect as the narrator. The story is…I lack the words to adequately describe it. There were times when I had to take a break because I cared so much about Jack and the dog(s). This is one of those rare books that made me feel transported out of my own life and into someone else’s entirely. I loved it.