In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the U.S.S. Jeannette

The latest nonfiction thriller from Sides recounts the ill-fated North Pole voyage of the U.S.S. Jeannette during the late 1870s and early 1880s, which captivated newspaper readers of the era. Veteran narrator Morey displays his gift for transforming evocative prose into a vivid performance that captures the atmosphere and emotions of the harrowing journey. Morey’s renderings of the journal entries from Capt. George Washington De Long and Chief Engineer George W. Melville are especially heart-wrenching as the ship’s officers do their best to demonstrate honor in the face of peril and starvation. As delivered by Morey, the detailed descriptions of trapping and hunting polar bears and other arctic wild game become especially haunting, as do the explorers’ bonds with their sled dogs. Morey’s depiction of grit and bravery on the ice contrasts effectively with his presentation of the cavalier Gilded Age indulgence of the Jeannette’s wealthy patron, newspaper magnate James Gordon Bennett Jr. A Doubleday hardcover. (Aug.)