It's an absolute cracker. Intense. Chilling. Hold-your-breath thrilling from start to finish.
Tom Rob Smith’s debut novel, Booker-longlisted Child 44, was one of the runaway successes of the 2000s and his follow up novels The Secret Speech and Agent 6 featuring former MGB officer Leo Demidov were equally gripping. And I'm talking one helluva icy grip.
So much so that I have waited with bated breath for his next outing. And here it is, a decade on. But boy, was it worth the wait. Rob Smith delivers a chilling and thought-provoking sci-fi thriller with Cold People, a novel that blends dystopian survival, ethical dilemmas, and human resilience in a world on the brink of extinction.
The novel kicks off with a bang as we are faced with an apocalyptic scenario: an alien force appears out of nowhere, giving humanity just 30 days to relocate to Antarctica—or face annihilation. Governments collapse, panic ensues, and the remnants of civilization scramble to survive in the harshest environment on Earth. Amidst this chaos, we follow a diverse cast of characters struggling to adapt, find food, build shelter, and ultimately determine what it means to be human when civilization is stripped away.
Smith’s storytelling is cinematic, plunging readers into the desperation of the exodus and the brutality of survival in Antarctica. But Cold People isn’t just a survival thriller—it asks profound questions about genetic engineering, human evolution, and the limits of scientific experimentation. As the survivors begin manipulating DNA to create a new generation better suited for the cold, moral dilemmas emerge: Should humanity change itself to survive, and at what cost?
It's an absolute cracker. Intense. Chilling. Hold-your-breath thrilling from start to finish. Rob Smith, we want more.