Friday, December 27, 2019

Toward the Midnight Sun Free Pdf

ISBN: B07RJQQB2Y
Title: Toward the Midnight Sun Pdf

From the bestselling author of White Rose, Black Forest comes a page-turning epic of adventure, suspense, and romance set against the rich and ruthless backdrop of the Klondike gold rush.

Seattle, 1897. Anna Denton is not like the other prospectors traveling to the Yukon on the promise of riches. It’s duty—not profit—that calls her into the wild unknown. With her family nearing financial ruin, Anna has agreed to marry Henry Bradwell, the wealthy King of the Klondike.

She meets Will and Silas, childhood friends, on the steamer north. After the ship docks in a lawless Alaska town, Anna’s chaperones run afoul of local criminals, leaving her stranded. Will and Silas agree to escort her the hundreds of treacherous miles to Dawson City—the gateway to the goldfields—and her betrothed, a man she doesn’t know.

Upon their arrival, Bradwell warmly welcomes them all. But as a brutal winter sets in, relations sour, and Anna is caught between the promise her family made to the power-hungry Bradwell and her feelings for Will. Anna and her companions soon find themselves in a deadly game where few can be trusted and where the greatest danger in the frozen wilderness of the Klondike is man himself.

MORE HYSTERICAL THAN HISTORICAL -– somewhat distorts history I WAS A YUKONER. I began reading this novel with anticipation since I was a teacher near Dawson City (the Klondike) in the 1960s. I grew fond and knowledgeable of its people, history, geography and climate.The more I read this novel, the more irritated and disappointed I became. Much of the first 100 or so pages pieced together some historical episodes and the journey it took to get from Seattle to Dawson City. But he did it in a boring way – mostly exposition through dialogue – chapter after chapter of detached talk that didn’t naturally arise from the characters.ALIVE CHARACTERS? They were flat, lacking well-rounded personalities. About two-thirds through the book, I entirely lost my empathy for Anna, the supposed heroine. She didn’t have much inner strength, relied heavily on the men in her life, more a victim than a heroine.TALK AND MORE TALK. The dialogues were much the same sounding. The characters, whether Americans, French, old-timers or new arrivals, poor, rich, educated or not, spoke much the same stilted dialect. The main characters spoke on and on, very little contribution to make the plot move forward. Also, they brought in much irrelevant information, such as Wounded Knee.ALMOST QUIT. What nearly made me quit reading entirely was Anna’s confession at the Dawson City Catholic church. What a cheap stunt by the author, inventing a priest and demeaning him! Sure, “the King of the Klondike” contributed $30,000 to rebuild the church, in 1898, a year after Anna’s visit. And the priests in that area were self-sacrificing, dedicated and upright. Not at all as characterized in this book.TRUE CHARACTERS? Speaking of “the King of the Klondike,” there was such a person, Alex MacDonald, a smart prospector and generous businessman from Nova Scotia. But the author invented a mean, murderous, whore-mongering, misogynist version. In fact, the author based many of his characters on the many fictitious “facts” and Hollywood-type of stories that grew out of various gold rushes in the west. Dawson City was a law-abiding town, thanks to the Mounties. And they didn’t wear their formal red uniforms on the job, even though the author “dresses” them that way – “bloodred uniforms!”SAFE SEX? The author also ignores the realities of sex and prostitution. Instead, he paints such with romantic, no-danger concepts. That is, there are no pregnancies and venereal disease or fear of them to be found in the Klondike!If you’re looking for an ultra-trite ending, you’ll get it. If you’re looking for historical and character accuracy, this book isn’t for you. Or for me.Adventure and romance fill the pages of this Klondike Gold Rush Thriller. “Toward the Midnight Sun” has something for everyone: plenty of action, historical adventures thru the gold fields of Alaska and Canada and suspenseful romance.Author, Eoin Dempsey, has created a vibrant cast of characters. Heroine Anna, is a strong woman who conquers her fears, the Klondike and the men who try to keep her subservient. The men range from weak and weasely (her father), to quietly stalwart (her love interest). Unfortunately, the baddie is insidious and predictable.If you’re at all like me and totally nuts for all things Alaskan/Yukon, you will be enthralled by the prose in this volume. It’s like every Discovery/History/Travel Channel show all rolled up into glorious paragraphs for your pleasure. I feel like I just got back from a trip to the Great Northwest❤️ The language is expansive, engaging and immersive.There are a few warnings for this book, altho’ they are minimal and gentle. The dialogue contains a few gentle expletives, NO f-bombs or Divine epithets! 2/10 There is one sex scene that involves a bit of physical violence. It’s very brief, not gratuitous, not too descriptive; also one other very brief love scene, prostitution scene and same sex encounter. All of these amounted to a brief paragraph or so. 2/10. These all occur at the end of chapters of sections and can be easily skipped without ruining the story continuity.“Toward the Midnight Sun” is an exciting read that will entertain and invigorate readers; a worthy First Reads choice📚