Highly Recommended for Lovers of Workplace Satire, Surrealism, and Literary Fiction 

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Thank you, Partner Bibliolifestyle and William Morrow Books for this gifted copy of THE THING IN THE SNOW. 

Hart supervises a small team at the Northern Institute, a defunded research facility located on a frozen, barren landscape. Each week they are provided tasks designed to maintain the building’s integrity until research can begin again. The mundanity of life at the Northern Institute suddenly becomes very interesting when one member of the team notices a thing in the snow. The appearance of this unknown object leads the inhabitants at the institute to search for answers: What were the scientists studying in this desolate place? How much coldness - in its various forms - can a human endure? And, is the thing in the snow dangerous?
 
Adams combines humorous, satirical moments with an eerie, isolated, and very cold setting. I was concerned for these characters while simultaneously laughing at their oddities and absurd conversational styles. The narrator reminds me of Michael Scott from The Office and, more so, Lemuel Gulliver - history's most hilariously incompetent explorer. This narrative gave me a lot to think about when it comes to the traditional ingredients of a thriller, and how often parody and satire arise from a particular genre becoming oversaturated. A classic example of this is the Western film. I enjoyed the commentary on the modern workplace, the humorous and touching insecurities of Hart as he reads his Leadership fiction series and struggles to maintain control over his subordinates.
 
While this novel is advertised as equal parts satire and psychological thriller, I would personally categorize it under the genre of literary fiction. It was a narrative that I wanted to read with a critical eye, and one that I think I would have enjoyed even more if I read it in either an academic setting or a book club. To put simply, I think this book requires an audience not only to engage with it but also with each other about it. 

I’m giving The Thing in the Snow three stars, but it was on the cusp of a four-star rating, because the monotony of Hart’s weeks made this a slow-paced read for me. I fully understand that this was very much the point of the blurred, muddled weekends and the unsatisfying weekly tasks. However, it nevertheless stunted my own reading experience. With that said, I could definitely see myself picking up a book by this author again.