Description

‘A troubling, hammering and glorious novel’ DAVID MITCHELL

On the edge of the Antarctic Circle, in the years after World War One, a steamship approaches a desolate island. On board is a young man on his way to assume the post of weather observer, to live in solitude for a year at the end of the earth. But on shore he finds no trace of the man whom he has been sent to replace, just a deranged castaway who has witnessed a horror he refuses to name. The rest is woods, a deserted cabin, rocks, silence and the surrounding sea. Then night begins to fall . . .

Publisher Review

A troubling, hammering and glorious novel -- DAVID MITCHELL Thrillingly vivid . . . Sanchez Pinol creates a struggle for survival that is, at the same time, a meditation on humanity * * The Times * * Beguiling . . . Pinol's dark tale lingers long after the shivers running down the spine have ceased * * The Scotsman * * A creepily compelling debut from this Barcelona-based author that reads like a sinister version of a Boy's Own survival adventure * * Financial Times * * Remarkable . . . An addictive and unsettling read -- ALAN WARNER A great, creepy, tender read -- YANN MARTEL Superbly controlled and creepy . . . Akin to Lord of the Flies or Heart of Darkness rewritten as pulp-horror schlock * * The Independent on Sunday * * Astonishing . . . There is something of Edgar Allan Poe . . . In general, however, Cold Skin would appear to be an example of that rare thing: an original story which emerged, immaculately and unexpectedly, from its author's subconscious * * Times Literary Supplemant * * Brilliantly suspenseful * * Spectator * *