Polaris, by Marek Kamiński

When grief derails Mark Steiner’s life, an expedition to the Arctic tests the measure of what remains. An extreme guide, shattered by his girlfriend’s disappearance, is drawn back into the wilderness by his partner Rob and by an offer too lucrative to ignore – $300,000 to escort a mysterious patron and his tight-lipped entourage to the North Pole. What begins as a perilous journey slowly unravels into something darker—shifting ice, hidden crevasses, and a creeping paranoia that takes root in the mind. As the cold distorts reality, Mark’s memories turn vivid and violent; Rob’s buried past resurfaces; and the strangers in their care reveal disturbing ties to an ancient, darker order. Beyond the reach of rescue, the Pole becomes a mirror, reflecting each man’s most dangerous self and the world’s quiet conspiracies. Polaris is a relentless psychological thriller and survival tale — part adventure, part myth — about obsession, consequence, and whether a man can ever choose his fate when the ice makes the rules.