and he's a loyal dog too, which is sorta like saying a cat has claws because all good dogs are loyal dogs, but still it has to be said. So Isaak may not be a particularly brave dog, but he is definitely a good dog. of course the author's greatest accomplishment in this book is AN AWESOME HUSKY NAMED ISAAK. Dark Matter is essentially a haunted house story that takes place in a fairly original setting, full of wide, dark spaces although centered around a small, lonely cabin. Paver is particularly skilled at painting a locale that is highly atmospheric, dislocating, and eerie. Jack is an interestingly almost-unreliable narrator. she creates her characters quickly yet they retain nuance and realism. Paver does an excellent job at conveying the time and the place.

there are some other human characters as well but eh whatever, the most compelling part of the story is that Jack meets AN AWESOME HUSKY NAMED ISAAK! who will teach him that only morons hate dogs. there he will find meaning to his life, camaraderie and fellowship and an intense crush on one of his fellow adventurers, and an atrocious and deadly ghost. So Jack - a poor, depressed, dog-hating, lower class and very class conscious 28-year-old - finds the perfect solution to his angst and alienation: he will join a small expedition to the abandoned mining outpost of Gruhuken in the Arctic circle. Perfectly executed little ghost story set in the Arctic wastes in the late 1930s, featuring the adventures of AN AWESOME HUSKY NAMED ISAAK and I suppose some humans as well.

Dark matter book paver