White Death

By: Christine Morgan

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

January 12, 1888.

When a day dawns warm and mild in the middle of a long, cold winter, it’s greeted as a blessing, a reprieve. It's a chance for those who’ve been cooped up indoors to get out, do chores, run errands, and send the children to school...little knowing they’re only seeing the calm before the storm.

The blizzard hits out of nowhere, screaming across the Great Plains like a runaway train. It brings slicing winds, blinding snow, and plummeting temperatures. Livestock will be found frozen in the fields, their heads encased in blocks of ice formed from their own steaming breath. Frostbite and hypothermia wait for anyone caught without shelter.

For the hardy settlers of Far Enough, in the Montana Territory, it’s about to get worse. Something else has arrived with the blizzard - something sleek and savage and hungry. Wild animal or vengeful spirit from Native American legend, it blends into the snow and bites with sharper teeth than the wind.

It is called the wanageeska. It is the White Death.

©2018 Christine Morgan (P)2018 Christine Morgan

White Death

I really loved this book. I think I have made it clear that I think Matt Godfrey is one of my favorite narrators (if not already my fave). I could talk all day about the great job he did performing this book. So I won't, sorry Matt. This book was too much fun on its own merits. It wasn't so much a horror or thriller or adventure... it was more like a re-telling of a historical event. Something that everyone knows has happened but is unwilling to talk too much about. During an unseasonably warm spell in the winter, a massive blizzard hits Montana. Many try and fail to survive the icy winter storm. Oh, and they are hunted by creatures of perhaps a supernatural origin.
There are roughly 65,000 characters in the book. Well, that is how it felt anyway. GRRM would have been proud. As the people were introduced, I began by trying to remember all the relationships people had with one another. This proved impossible for me, but I fought on because in a lot of cases, shortly after they were introduced, they were gone until the aftermath. This wasn't one person or a focus on a small group of people that had to fight both mother nature and what may very well have been a supernatural family of ferocious beasts. It could have been, but it would have been terrible. This was the frontier without weathermen or warning systems of any kind trying to establish themselves in the harshest of conditions. And don't get me wrong, just because the cast was so large didn't mean that I didn't care for particular people and want to see them thrive... they didn't by the way. At the end of the book, a laundry list of people and their outcomes is sussed out. One little girl's outcome made me very sad... as if unbeknownst to me, amid the flurry of new characters and snowfall, I was attached to these people and their well being.

This book was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.

Action and Style!

WHITE DEATH is the first book I've read from Christine Morgan and it was a winner!

Set during the Great Blizzard of 1888, it's apparent that Ms. Morgan has done her research. Set in the small town of Far Enough, Montana, this novel depicts what it was like for the inhabitants in a time when there were no weather forecasts, or warnings of any kind, before a storm.

At the same time, the author also weaves in some native American folklore in the form of a Wanageeska. In fact, it's the crossing of this creature that sets everything else off.

I loved the characters in Far Enough, Montana, except for for the founder of the town, who deserved everything that happened. The only problem I had was the large cast of characters, which are easier to follow on paper, than in audio. (I did find that jotting down notes on everyone helped quite a bit.) I thought the writing here was above average and detailed-if you ever want to know exactly what it feels like to have frostbite, or to debride the skin around your eyes trying to remove ice, than this is the book for you!

My only problem was that I didn't feel I got to know as many of the characters as I would have liked. However if I had, the book probably would have been much longer and the pacing slower. Perhaps a slightly smaller cast would have worked better and we could have become more familiar with people like Emma the schoolteacher, and a few others.

I listened to the audio of this story, narrated by the always excellent Matt Godfrey. In regards to excellence in audio, he never fails.

WHITE DEATH was entertaining and informative and caused me to want to learn more about the Great Blizzard of 1888. It was also quite a bit of fun where the Wanageeska was concerned and I would like to know more about that creature as well. Overall, it was a great time listening to WHITE DEATH and I definitely recommend it!

*Thanks to Matt Godfrey for the Audible copy in exchange for my honest review. This is it. Further, I consider Matt to be my friend, even though we've never met, but this did not affect the honesty of my review.*

Absolutely Excellent

This was one of the most enjoyable novels of dark fiction I have read in a very long time. I listened to another book with this narrator a while back called Walk the Sky that I really loved, and I thought this might feel similar in a way because it was set in roughly the same time period. Well, it did, but it was even better.

The cold and snow get into your bones with this book. You can feel yourself in that small, icy cabin hearing the wind howl outside, with the fire burning across the room, and something strange, vicious, and otherworldly waiting at the edge of the trees outside. The tension is excellent. It's gripping.

The narration alone was absolutely a masterpiece. The more I listen to Matt Godfrey, the more impressed I am with the instincts and thoughtfulness with which he reads. He adds a certain intelligence to his work that seems to be pretty rare. He doesn't make mistakes in interpreting the text. He doesn't mispronounce words. He reads every line as though it is playing in his head and he knows exactly how it should sound. I've come to realize that although most listeners go into a book expecting this level of professionalism, it isn't always there. But Matt Godfrey seems to always deliver.

I really loved this book.

I received a promotional copy of this book for free at my request, but this review is totally voluntary.

GRIPPING HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF FEROCIOUS BLIZZARD

Wow, this is a harrowing account of a crazy surprise blizzard that happened in Montana in 1888. It was crippling, cold, wind, snow, the most harsh conditions. Many struggled, to survive in horrific conditions, and a lot of them perished. With all that going on, there's a mysterious and mythical Native American supernatural/spiritual aspect, and it weaves into a fantastic tale of struggle and survival. There's a large cast of characters that can be a little challenging to follow, but all in all it was a great audiobook, the writing and narration were both awesome!! Excellent job, would definitely recommend it :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Tragic

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by this author. Despite involving a creature of native legends, this book has a realism that really brings you into the difficulties the people of this time faced during such harsh weather. I found myself, more than once, imagining myself in the characters position and wondering what I’d do or how I’d feel. The author did her research and I saw hints of real characters in this story. There are a lot of characters since this story involves the entire community, so it’s necessary to pay attention to keep them straight. By the end, we are told the fate of each one.

This is the first book I’ve listened to by this narrator and I would listen to another. He did well with the voices. Much of the story is narrative. His pacing was good and his tone added to the tragic nature of the story.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Freezing cold and action packed!

Review of “White Death by Christine Morgan”

This is a snowy horror with a vengeful spirit monster on the loose. If you’re looking for something that is still fitting for the snowy cold weather but doesn’t rub shoulders with Christmas, you might like this one.

In 1888 in the small rural town called Farenough, the worst blizzard they have ever experienced is coming through. That’s not all that’s coming for them. The winter spirit “wanageeska” is lurking in the snow and it’s wrath holds no bounds.

I loved that not only is there a spirit out in the snow lurking but also nature can be so cruel. I honestly loved the snow the most. Nature is the worst villain sometimes. The scenes where the characters are having to overcome the blizzard are brutal and heart wrenching. The ice and tears frozen to their eyes and the children stuck out in elements trying to find their way home were the worst. There was also another scene but this was with the Wanageeska that had me screaming “NOOO” out loud. The only things I didn’t enjoy about this book were the multiple characters and not enough scary scenes with the wanageeska. I really enjoy the couple in the beginning and I wish there was more of them and less switching between multiple characters. Finally, I loved the narrator. I listened to this book and the narrator was great with multiple voices and I could even hear his voice cracking on one of the scenes. I gave this book 3 ⭐️

Thank you to Christine Morgan for giving me this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Fascinating, But Not Completely Captivating

Few things attract me to a book faster than cover art by the estimable Matthew Revert, the promise of a snowy, frozen terrain, and a wicked creature hellbent on mankind’s destruction. All three of these elements are present and accounted for in Christine Morgan’s White Death, narrated by Matt Godfrey. While there are elements of horror and the supernatural, White Death is primarily a work of historical fiction. What segments of savagery it possesses are primarily due to all-too-human factors, as well as the inhospitable climes of a killer blizzard and a long, cold winter in the Montana Territory, circa 1888.

After Pierre LeCharles’s wife falls sick, the hunter and trapper must seek out the mythical wanageeska in order to cure her. Their violent encounter early on only prompts further revenge as the unnatural wanageeska unleashes a brutal storm upon the men invading its territory, and the settlement of Far Enough soon becomes enshrouded in a blinding blizzard.

The story of LeCharles, his wife Two-Bird, and her father Runninghorse serve as a narrative framing device for the violence inflicted upon the settlers of Far Enough. Morgan gives us plenty of detail on how the men and women settlers fare this Storm of the Century in a story that strikes a powerful chord, and at its heart, this is more than merely a story of man versus the elements. This is a story of American exploration, and even exploitation, as the borders of the US expanded westward and further encroached upon Native land and settlements. The wanageeska may be a monster of myth, but its encounter with LaCharles and the Far Enough settlers serves as a powerful parable of mankind overreaching in its attempts to conquer nature. Nature is violent and toothsome, and more often then not, it can have the last say on who is really at the top of the food-chain. Spoiler alert: it ain’t us!

Morgan’s cast of characters is expansive, and oftentimes unwieldy so. Listening to White Death, I found myself repeatedly questioning who these characters were, if they were being newly introduced or had already been presented, and I simply couldn’t keep track of who was who as Morgan regularly switched up perspectives. I suspect it might be easier to follow such a large group in print, where you can flip back a few pages to refresh your memory. It didn’t help any that the characters are fairly thin in terms of development. They lack any distinguishing features or wow-moments to separate them from the pack, and most of them pretty well blurred together. The main exception was William Thorpe, the founder of Far Enough, who aims to establish the territory as a real town fueled by miners and prospectors rushing for gold and silver in the nearby mountains. Although mighty in his own mind and rich in wealth, Thorpe, too, is no match for the blizzard and the harsh winter alters him ingloriously, frighteningly violent fashion as the weather wears on.

It’s in the details of Far Enough’s settlers braving the grueling arctic snap where White Death is at its strongest. None in Far Enough are free of the wanageeska’s wrath and Morgan skillfully depicts the horrors of being caught in a blizzard, of the human body succumbing to freezing temperatures, frostbite, and fatal cases of hypothermia. While the nature of the wanageeska is mythical, the impact of the arctic horror is utterly real. Several sequences are downright brutal as Morgan describes in unflinching detail the ways in which extreme weather conditions can break down a man, woman, or child, both physically and psychically.

Equally unflinching is Matt Godfrey’s eight-hour narration. Over the course of this past year, Godfrey has become one of my favorite narrators and I trust him to deliver a crisp reading with solid production values. White Death is certainly no exception, and he exhibits a wide range of tones and character voices, hindered only by the large number of characters presented on the page. The overwhelming number of speaking parts eventually blurred together for me, until the majority of characters separated from one another only by gender.

Despite the abundance of characters, the constant rotation through which hindered my attention and made following the various threads of this story difficult in audio form, I did find plenty else to like in White Death. Fueled by Native America myth, Morgan presents a number of sequences of arctic survival horror, giving readers compelling looks at the determination of the human spirit, as well as the fragility of one’s psyche in obscenely pressing trials brought on by extreme weather. White Death may not be a consistently captivating listen, but it is most certainly a fascinating one.

Fabulous story based on legend and history

One of the first audiobooks I ever listened to was 'Ordeal by Hunger', an account of the Donner Party disaster. Another one of my favourite audiobooks is 'The Man Who Ate His Boots', a story of the Franklin Expedition. One of the reasons why I loved those audiobooks is because they transported me back to the harsh reality of pioneering/exploration times and I got to live through their experiences vicariously from the safety and comfort of home. Christine Morgan has been similarly effective with White Death, which is based on the midwest blizzard of 1888. I grew up in Northern Ontario and have an appreciation of how brutal winters (and winter blizzards) can be, even when one is prepared and has access to modern comforts. So these stories are like riding on a roller coaster for me - thrills and suspense but no personal danger (or nausea).

So... I'm a sucker for historical disaster fiction, and White Death is right up my alley. This book was somewhat reminiscent of Dan Simmons' book 'The Terror', in that the author weaves Native myth and legend into the plot. I imagine that some listeners might find this offputting or unbelievable, but I think the author did a good job with it. Many people attribute events to supernatural forces/influences, so I was willing to be patient and see how the story unfolded. I felt that my patience was rewarded.

Some reviewers felt that the author juggled too many characters without giving them depth.I suppose I can understand that, but I was personally okay with that. Referring back to my aforementioned 'Ordeal by Hunger' favourite audiobook, that story involved dozens of actual characters so it was sometimes challenging to keep track of them, too, and we didn't get an overly deep-dive into many of those characters' personalities, either. But I would suggest that this superficiality of character development is reasonable, given the context. We have a group of humans in this story who aren't larger than life. It's mother nature that is larger than life, crushing and sweeping away those humans like flies on a windowsill. Although we didn't get treated to character depth, we instead got something just as good - character breadth. All of those different people, with different backgrounds and temperaments, swept up by the force of the single blizzard that was outside of their control. They were all bowling pins, at the mercy of a big meteorological bowling ball that knocked them all sideways. (Besides, if the author had added the pages to develop these characters more fully, it might have upset the pacing of the story.). Anyway, enough of me feebly trying to be lyrical and imaginative...

Full stars for the narrator, Matt Godfrey. I've listened to two of his other audiobooks in the past - The Bog and Haven - and he continues to impress me. From what I've experienced of his work, there's a great fit between his voice/style and the stories he narrates. There's a synergy here in White Death, between Christine Morgan's story and Matt Godfrey's storytelling. I'll be re-playing this one at least once more in the future.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Amazingly real !!!

Never before in a story I’ve felt like I know the people or at least their personalities and the storm I felt it in my bones.
Christine Morgan have done an unbelievable job writing this story, coupled with narrating by Matt Godfrey a masterpiece was surly born.

Fully recommended !



I believe that my review was honest even so that I got the audiobook for free.

SNOW MONSTERS

WHITE DEATH, proves that hell can freeze over. Most folks relate to hell as a burning inferno but the folks in WHITE DEATH are experiencing hell and it is so very, very cold. Great characters and the narration is perfect.