‘Necessity might be the mother of invention, but it was also the father of f**k you.’
Three main characters, three points of view, three separate groups trying to survive. First, we meet Hannah. She awakens to carnage. The coach that she and others were travelling in was in an accident during a snowstorm. The survivors are trapped. Next, we meet Meg. Meg awakens in a cable car, stranded above ground. There are five strangers in the cable car with Meg, and no-one has any memory of boarding the cable car. Originally, they were heading to ‘The Retreat’. And finally, we meet Carter. He is looking out the window of an isolated ski chalet which he and a small group call home.
The world each group exists in is a post-apocalyptic world in which a deadly virus continues to wreak havoc. Those who survive viral infection are called Whistlers because of the noise they make when they breathe. The Whistlers are dangerous, but they can also be a source of material for a vaccine against the virus.
Each of the three groups is under threat, both from the external environment and from one of their own members. But who, and why?
Ms Tudor takes us on a frenetic journey, shifting between characters as the story unfolds. I was busy trying to follow the various threads and I think I missed an important clue. It is equally possible that Ms Tudor kept it carefully hidden until three quarters of the way through the story. Either way, there is a clever twist that had me wondering.
A terrific read: a combination of interesting characters many of whom hold secrets, an inhospitable environment and plenty of tension. I read this in two sittings because I just had to know how it would end.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Tasmanian Bibliophile @Large 