Briardark

iam

May 13

Intriguing stark but disappointing ending.

Survival and cosmic horror collide in this new series, perfect for fans of LOST and House of Leaves.
For Dr. Siena Dupont and her ambitious team, the Alpenglow glacier expedition is a career-defining opportunity. But thirty miles into the desolate Deadswitch Wilderness, they discover a missing hiker dangling from a tree, and their satellite phone fails to call out.
Then the body vanishes without a trace.
The disappearance isn't the only chilling anomaly. Siena's map no longer aligns with the trail. The glacier they were supposed to study has inexplicably melted. Strange foliage overruns the mountainside, and a tunnel within a tree hollow lures Siena to a hidden cabin, and a stranger with a sinister message…
Holden Sharpe's IT job offers little distraction from his wasted potential until he stumbles upon a decommissioned hard drive and an old audio file. Trapped on a mountain, Dr. Siena Dupont recounts an expedition in chaos and the bloody death of a colleague.
Entranced by the mystery, Holden searches for answers to Siena's fate. But he is unprepared for the truth that will draw him to the outskirts of Deadswitch Wilderness—a place teeming with unfathomable nightmares and impossibilities.

This was interesting, but the abrupt ending made it feel like it lead nowhere. I was genuinely stunned when the book ended because I thought it for sure was going to continue for a while longer. And I remember being a bit confused about how things were even going to wrap up about an hour before it ended. I guess I got my answer - they didn't wrapp things up at all.
Nothing really was explained. The whys and hows and whos.
Maybe it was supposed to be a cliffhanger that contintues in another book, or a cliffhanger to keep you guessing for what happens to the protagonists. But it didnt feel that way because it ended it the middle of things??? I was escpecially disappointed that the two big POVs didn't end up connecting for real. I had so many theories about how things were going to convene, and I got no answers. That just felt disappointing.

The rest of the time was pretty solid though. Decent mystery, though not super scary. I didn't find the characters super compelling to be honest, but I was still interested in figuring out how things works. But... well.

Check out the book here.

~iam