Dark Winter is a book about the psychological toll on the mind that occurs when living and working at the South Pole. A geologist, Jed Lewis, is invited down to the pole because of his advanced knowledge of meteorites. Mickey Moss, (Mickey Mouse, as the crewmembers call him) an astrophysicist, asks Jed about a meteorite that he has recently discovered that he thinks could be quite valuable. Jed estimates the rock?s value at a few million dollars and then it mysteriously disappears. Jed is the prime suspect, because he is new to the pole and no one really knows him yet. Suddenly his newfound ?friends? turn on him. Next, the astrophysicist, Mickey Moss, is murdered. Once again, Jed is the prime suspect.
The setting of Dark Winter is the South Pole and specifically the Amundsen- Scott Base Station. At the base, it can get as cold as one hundred degrees below zero. To the west is the Russian base station, Vostok. Vostok is where the coldest temperature in the world was recorded at one hundred and twenty-seven degrees below zero. To the north is the abandoned American base from the nineteen-fifties.
The author of this book is William Dietrich, who had experience of life at the poles. His hands-on experience enabled him to colorfully describe everyday life and survival at the South Pole.
The main conflict is between Jed Lewis and the rest of the crew, because of several murders and a stolen multi-million-dollar meteorite. Everyone suspects Lewis because he has the knowledge about the rock and he knew where Mickey Moss was hiding it from the rest of the tightly knit crewmembers. There is really only one main character: Jed Lewis, and he is the Geologist for the Amundsen-Scott base. The supporting characters are: Mickey Moss, who is a sixty-five year old Astrophysicist with seniority and respect from congress; there is Gabriella Reid, a beaker with a sexual interest in Jed, who tries to ruin his chances with Abby; Jimmy Tyson, a...