Frozen Solid: A Novel

Extreme weather and extremophiles

I thought James M. Tabor’s fiction debut, The Deep Zone, was flawed, but promising. I’m happy to report that his sophomore novel, Frozen Solid, has lived up to that promise. While Mr. Tabor still has room to grow, this second novel was just as much fun as the first, and far better executed.

Frozen Solid again features his protagonist, Hallie Leland. The government microbiologist has been routed up to Antarctica of all places, just days before the winter-over begins. She’s there to fill in for a deceased scientist—an old friend of Hallie’s, as it happens. Once more, Hallie’s unusual skill set (climbing, diving, laboratory research) is a match for a project’s needs. Unfortunately, her brief show more visit gets off to a terrible start, as more scientists succumb to an unknown ailment. Tensions are running high in a powder keg environment. Meanwhile, Hallie has suspicions about her predecessor’s death and is having problems with the research project. Is someone sabotaging her work? The entire base? And will she be able to fly out in four days, or will she be stuck in Antarctica for months?

Mr. Tabor gets all of his plot elements into position beautifully. I had a few qualms early on in the novel. There was a brief snatch of clichéd and clunky writing. (“I will find you, she vowed. If it takes the rest of my life, I will find you. Wil Bowman will help me. And you will pay.”) And there were some minor plot contrivances. (Some of those clues were awfully easy to find—even when she wasn’t looking for them.) But once the story got going, those early issue fell by the wayside as the novel’s momentum took over. The pacing of the novel was excellent. It moved quickly and was full of excitement. Sometimes the action in thrillers feels like it’s just inserted to keep things moving, but here it all felt organic to the story being told. Let’s face it, Antarctica is an extreme environment, and when you’re diving beneath the ice or staging a colleague’s rescue, it’s exciting stuff.

Plus, there’s Hallie’s area of scientific inquiry. She studies extremophiles—organisms that survive in extreme environments—like miles below the ice. Or, an organism that “survives in sodium concentrations that would kill anything else.” This isn’t a Crichton novel. It isn’t as chock full of science, but I wish that it was, because what was there was fascinating. Hallie’s a girl after my own heart… “In the end, she found herself asking this question: Who do you trust when you can’t trust anybody? The answer came quickly: Not who. What. And the what was science. You could always trust the science.” I trusted Mr. Tabor’s science here. Sure, it’s speculative as hell, but it has the ring of truth and some research behind it. Plus, it was super cool! That’s good enough for me.

I like Hallie as a character. I really enjoy seeing a strong, confident, competent, and believable woman at the center of an action/adventure series. (“She knew this was how disasters began: with a single failure that led to two others, each of which led to more, a cascade of events feeding upon itself.”) This is a lady that doesn’t wait to be rescued. She rescues herself—and frequently others. There are a couple of other characters from the first novel in supporting roles, but as Hallie is out of her normal environment, most of the cast is new, and they’re a fairly intriguing bunch. I’m quite willing to believe that it’s a quirky crew attracted to work in Antarctica. Obviously, the setting is an important part of the tale, and Tabor’s Antarctica is a bit more oppressive and depressive than most depictions. It is atmospheric, that’s for sure. His settings are evocative and well-drawn—none better than the underwater scenes. (Yes, that was totally my favorite part.)

When all is said and done, I’ve seen variations on the novel’s central plot before, but it was well-handled and getting there was more than half the fun. I feel that my early faith in Mr. Tabor’s growth as a novelist has been well –rewarded, and I shall be looking forward to his next offering with even more anticipation and enthusiasm. show less

Hallie is a microbiologist, and while not in any way a kick-butt action hero, is an athletic outdoorsman who enjoys all sorts of diving, climbing and, well, ends up doing heroic things. She’s both very capable and strong-willed. Loving a good challenge in the field, she jumps at the chance to take her friend’s place to dive in Antarctica after her friend made a discovery that could change the world for the better. Unfortunately, she gets the invitation because her friend died the week before, but not from what they’re saying.

Welcome to Hell. It’s always dark outside, colder than you can imagine, the food sucks, the water and everything made from it tastes like chlorine, you can only shower for 2 minutes per week, everyone is show more sick to some extent and mentally affected from being there. Oh, and people are dying quickly in front of her.

But there is a mystery going on, approached from a few different angles and it’s going to take you some time to figure out the who, what and why; at least within the outpost at the South Pole.

I hadn’t realized there had been a prior book and don’t believe that my enjoyment of this book lacked because of it. I definitely will be picking up the first book, The Deep Zone. A few references to prior experiences are brought up that I’d like to read about. But it’s easy to pick up this book without reading the other.

I found the plot, dialog and world and character building to be really good and apparently a great deal of research went into writing this book for a number of different subjects. There are times when some things become too technical and I wish the story would just move along, but I’m sure many others will enjoy this aspect.

Read for review for Library Thing. show less

The good news: an over-the-top, non-stop thriller which will keep you up late, so don't read it when you're trying to wind down for the night.

The bad news: deliberate and gross inaccuracies about the South Pole unnecessarily used for dramatic effect.

Microbiologist Hallie Leland arrives at the Pole in early February to replace a dead colleague who had been involved in important research requiring diving in the water below the ice. (Hallie is a master climber and diver, among other attributes). Within hours, she discovers her friend was tortured to death and she witnesses two other women die of sudden and massive hemorrhaging. Things escalate from there (oy - but lots of fun). Intermittent chapters follow Hallie's boyfriend, who does show more intelligence (and wet work) for a secretive government agency (think "Mission Impossible" if Cruise actually resembled Reacher physically); and three scientists who are plotting to infect the world with a virus that will halt population growth.

The South Pole actually has 6 months of sunlight and six months of no sunlight each year, with a few weeks of sunrise and sunset at either end of the long night. IOW, complete darkness for about 4½ or 5 months a year. The sun rises on September 21 and doesn't set at all until March 21. When Hallie arrives in February, the sunset is 6 weeks away, but Tabor changes this so that complete dark is already in effect. This is a major plot detail. In fact, Hallie's dead friend mentions in a video diary that it was already complete dark in early January on her own arrival. The head of the polar station and Hallie's boss at the CDC both mention that the Pole experiences EIGHT months of complete darkness. To someone fond of fiction set in Antarctica, this inaccuracy, which starts on page 1, was immediately off-putting, and I wouldn't have continued reading if I hadn't agreed to read the book for Early Reviewers. Tabor apparently felt the need to use the complete darkness in order to increase drama but still get his heroine out before winterover, when the base is shut off to all travel for several months. In my opinion, any heightened tension was not worth the blow to suspension of disbelief caused by the inaccuracy, and considering the few books set in the locale, this was likewise a disservice to any readers without the background to realize they are getting bad information.

Still, the book IS fun, hard to put down, and a quick read, and I'd pick up another in the series if I was in the mood for this type of thriller. show less

Written very well, with thoughtful descriptions of the environment and its harshness. Intriguing plot; can't say I disagree with what the bad guys were trying to do!! It was a pretty good idea, in theory anyway

"Frozen Solid" is a very tight thriller, with a wonderful setting--the South Pole.

Hallie Leland, a microbiologist, has been sent down to the South Pole in a last minute arrangement because of the sudden death of a former colleague who was doing important research down there for the NSF. It doesn't take long before Hallie discovers that her friend was murdered. But since most of the "Polies" have been down there for many months, and are all a little crazy, she's not sure who to trust. It also doesn't help that two other women die right before her eyes in a very bloody manner not long after she arrives.

In the meantime, we meet three scientists/doctors in India who are planning a population control experiment called Triage...and of course show more this experiment is taking place at the same facility at the South Pole.

To go along with all of this, a discovery has been made below the ice that could change the world--a near-pollution free fuel source. Unfortunately, this wasn't explored more (and might make for a great sequel).

In many places, "Frozen Solid" felt very much like a Michael Crichton novel. The only problem is that some of the scientific jargon isn't explained much, if at all. Crichton was the master at always having a character who needed terms and concepts explained. Here, Tabor could have used a character tasked with PR or communications to ask the questions we as readers might ask. Nevertheless, the concepts aren't too difficult to understand and make for some chilling (no pun intended) reading.

The best part about the book was the setting. Living in a completely isolated, wickedly frigid environment like the South Pole must be extremely difficult. Tabor's descriptions were fantastic and really helped you "see" the bleakness of the area.

Overall, "Frozen Solid" was a great, quick read. I want to thank LT's Early Reviewer program for allowing me to win it. show less

Hallie Leland, the main character in Frozen Solid, is a very sympathetic character and refreshing in that she is not one of those tiresome "action hero/sassy (i.e. mean-spirited) characters you so often find now in thrillers. In this story, she is a microbiologist sent to the South POle to try to figure out what is going on after the death of one of her friends.

It is definitely a thriller and keeps you turning the pages--in that regard--I really enjoyed the book. Tabor drew a brilliant, atmospheric picture of the Antarctic that will keep you enthralled. I was less enthralled, however, with some of the cruelty of the bad--uh--character(s). (I'm not going to give anything away because I don't want to spoil it--so I'm not even going to say show more if there is one or more bad folks around.) For a while, I was more tolerant of cruelty in fiction, but more and more I find I really don't want those scenes in my head anymore. The death of Hallie's friend seemed so awful to me that I found it difficult to finish the book, hence my 4 instead of 5 stars. Don't get me wrong--it really was a thrilling read--but I wish some of the things had happened "off camera" because it was a bit too much for me. I believe other readers may not be as squeamish and may enjoy it more.

The story itself though was interesting and it does take you a while to figure out the mystery, all of which is good. :) show less

Frozen Solid is a well crafted mystery novel centered in a chilly, hostile environment. James Tabor effectively captured the genuine daily struggle to survive at this remote research station at the South Pole. Hallie is a scientist sent to the remote location to replace a friend who died the prior week. Immediately, the novel springs into the action and adventure with a couple of extraordinary deaths, a diving mishaps that threatens Hallie's life and ambitious scientific discoveries. The deaths continue to be a mystery that pulled me forward in anticipation as the clues slowly were slowly and effectively revealed.

I really liked this story overall. Combined with strong character development, the intrigue of this harsh, cold South Pole show more environment made this a fun and memorable read. show less