Reviewed by Grandma Bev for TeensReadToo.com

Fort Knox has been robbed. The American government is determined to track down the thieves, and the trail leads straight to Carl Hobbes. He is just an ordinary seventeen-year-old British computer whiz who is only guilty of being a little too curious, but the feds are sure that he is part of a conspiracy that has breached the security at Fort Knox, and they want to know just where the gold is that has been stolen.

Carl is taken into custody and whisked off to the Guantanamo Bay of the Arctic to be caged alongside the world's most notorious terrorists. There they try to wring the truth out of him with physical and mental torture. Carl is not sure who is the most dangerous...his captors, or his fellow inmates. What he does know is that he must make them believe him...he knows nothing about the stolen gold or the break-in. How could he? He's just a kid, right?

Clearing his name, escape, and survival are the top things on his mind, but the only thing less compatible with survival than his treatment is the landscape outside. They tell him that when the shivering stops, that's when you should start to worry. It's your body's way of signaling that it's lost the battle to keep your blood warm. But by then you'll be too weak to retrace your steps. Chances are you'll be so confused and disoriented that you won't even recall what it was you were fleeing in the first place. All you'll want to do is lie down in the snow and close your eyes.

ICECORE is filled with hair-raising action and the fear is real. You won't be able to forget the compelling characters in this story where the suspense builds relentlessly to a crashing, unexpected climax. I'll be looking for more from this exceptional author. Wow! I still have goosebumps. ( )

Carl Hobbes isn't quite sure how he ended up at Icecore. Yes, he infiltrated the computer security at Fort Knox, but he didn't take anything, didn't profit from the job–just got the satisfaction of knowing he could do it. He agrees to tell the authorities how he hacked into the system in return for his freedom. He didn't count on ending up in a prison camp in the Arctic, surrounded by the world's worst terrorists and with no hope for escape. Hobbes can't hack his way out of here, or can he? This fast paced adventure will keep you wondering what will happen next, and if Hobbes will escape with his life or freeze to death in the subzero temperatures. ( )