ID this novel: Group of people wake up at remote snowbound house?

October 29, 2013 4:43 AM

I read this book in the late 80's but it might have been published earlier than that. More scattered details inside.

The title might have included the word "zero" but all my efforts to search along those lines have been dead ends.

I seem to remember:

1. the characters are a group of strangers
2. the house has been stripped of all identifying information
3. through some trick, they estimate their geographic location and suspect the Sweden/Norway/Finland area
4. the ending involved them burning down the house and taking refuge in the adjacent steam/sauna building

I generally remember reading the novel as a used paperback that was about 300 pages in length. If I had to guess, it was published somewhere between 1978 and 1985.

Any help in identifying this novel would be appreciated. I might be off on some of these details, so suggestions that don't quite fit are fine as well.

posted by 99percentfake to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Sounds like "The Refuge" (The Outer Limits episode). No idea if your novel provided the source, though.
posted by disconnect at 6:19 AM on October 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Perhaps The Zero Trap by Paula Gosling?
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:00 PM on October 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Wow! I think that has to be it. Thank you. I am marking this resolved.
posted by 99percentfake at 5:31 PM on October 29, 2013