This is a gorgeously written and creepy book that I absolutely ate up. Set right after the fall of the Soviet Union, we follow a team of archaeologists as they attempt the first Western dig of Soviet territory since the czar was executed in 1918. And then things get weird...

This book is spoooky. There's a creeping sense of dread and doom pretty much from the beginning, and it keeps amplifying at a steadily faster pace. The scenery is very evocative throughout - the Trans-Siberian sleeper train feels claustrophobic and electric, and the dig site is desolate and mysterious - and our characters are true weirdos who rile each other up constantly. The book does take a little bit to get going, but once I was about 25% in I was hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

You definitely have to suspend your disbelief a bit with the revelation of the creatures - it seems impossible that they would never have been discovered over thousands of years and would have managed to survive in such a barren area and so isolated - but I really liked the twist. It felt appropriate for a group of archaeologists, and Siberia is so remote; it especially was during the Soviet Union.