Regular readers may recall that I wasn't too keen on Carver's previous book, Black Tide. But this, her fourth, shows a marked improvement. Alaska - almost a genre in itself, such is its popularity as a crime setting - is the backdrop for this fairly gripping tale of snow, sabotage and skulduggery, big business-style. Beneath the Snow is a tale of two sisters. Lisa McCall is a principled young scientist who has just discovered a feasible alternative to damaging fossil fuels: the Magnetic Energy Generator (MEG). But although her discovery might pay dividends for the planet, the oil companies are less enthusiastic. A lot of very powerful people would be jeopardised by MEG's existence - while many others would pay handsomely for it. When Lisa disappears into the Alaskan wilderness in a violent snowstorm, her estranged sister Abby flies out from England to mount an ambitious rescue bid. Both characters are extremely well drawn and rounded individuals. Lisa's predicament in the hostile wastes of an inhospitable continent is particularly gripping. Yes, MEG is nonsense; yes, the secondary characters are rather ambiguous; yes, it's all deeply predictable; but as a fast moving thriller with strong female protagonists it's pretty much perfect.
Posted at 12:00AM Monday 01 Jan 2007
