Let me start by saying I wanted Night Shift to be something other than what it turned out to be. Let's face it, a mining base in the Antarctic at the start of a six-month-long night shift doesn't your mind immediately turn to The Thing? So, I'm expecting a monster. I got one, it just happened to be of the human variety.
Anton Nordvelt is a last-minute replacement for head of security at Australis...
"I don’t know what they told you back in Tierra, but you’re only here because we have to have someone, you know that? You’ll walk out of here, your wallet three times as thick and your pick of jobs to walk into. And what’ll you have to do for that? Nothing.
There’s no crime here, none at all. No crime, no drugs, no alcohol, only thirteen people, including you. But because it says in some Company rulebook that we must have a commander, a doctor and a chief of security, here you are...Welcome to Australis, Mr. Nordvelt. Good to have you aboard.”
Just a few days later there's death with more mayhem to follow.
Although Night Shift was not what I expected, that's not to say this debut novel from author Robin Triggs wasn't a story well told, because it certainly was. It's a joy to read the words of a writer you've not read before and immediately feel you're in good hands.
There is sufficient action start-to-finish in Night Shift with an avalanche taking out the base's Comm Center and later, an explosion at the refinery. Is one of the thirteen members of the crew responsible or is there an outside entity responsible for all of the death and destruction.
Not my favorite read of the last year, but not the worse by a long stretch.
Published byFlame Tree Press, Night Shift is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audible formats.
From the author's bio - Rob was raised in Bradford before heading, at eighteen, to the bright libraries of Norfolk. Music was his main interest at this time. He played drums and sang whilst writing copious amounts of lyrics, some of which tipped over into the vaguely-defined realm of poetry. He studied archaeology at Queen's University, Belfast before returning to Norfolk and starting to write seriously. When not writing he studies the past: archaeology and the historic landscape remain passions. He's also an exceptionally poor cricketer, turning out for The Bodleian Library's collection of misfits. At the Bodleian, he tells tourists that yes, Harry Potter was filmed here, but no, they can't go inside. He also works as a proofreader. A freshly-minted father, he spends his time changing nappies, Tweeting and, when the opportunity presents itself, doing the odd bit of creating.
