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Recipient of a Michael L. Printz Honor 2011

Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2010

Longlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2010

Sig Andersson has a choice to make – use the gun or die. An unforgettable, razor-sharp psychological thriller set in the snowy wilderness of the Arctic Circle. 

1910. A cabin north of the Arctic Circle. Fifteen-year-old Sig Andersson is alone. Alone, except for the corpse of his father, who died earlier that day after falling through a weak spot on the ice-covered lake. His sister, Anna, and step-mother, Nadya, have gone to the local town for help.

Then comes a knock at the door. It’s a man, the flash of a revolver’s butt at his hip, and a mean glare in his eyes. Sig has never seen him before but Wolff claims to have unfinished business with his father.

As Sig gradually learns the awful truth about Wolff’s connection to his father, his thoughts are drawn to a certain box hidden on a shelf in the storeroom, in which lies his father’s prized possession – a revolver.

As the stakes rise and Wolff begins to close in, Sig’s choice is pulled into sharp focus. Should he use the gun?