Icebound

ICEBOUND
Icebound, by Dean Koontz, is a story about a group of international scientists stationed in the Arctic who are conducting a feasibility experiment. Their assignment is to plant a dozen high explosives in such a manner as to break off a portion of the ice cap and then have it towed, with the aide of prevailing ocean currents, to a location where it can be melted and the fresh water used to irrigate arid regions of the earth. However, a subterranean earthquake and resulting tsunami breaks off a larger chunk than expected, which includes the entire team of researchers, the already implanted bombs set to explode at midnight, and sets then adrift. A severe storm also hits the crew. How can they survive when they don’t have enough show more fuel to keep them warm until midnight or enough time to disarm all the bombs? It is a race against time for their lives.
The group includes a young adventurer whose uncle was a former American President who had been assassinated and whose family had experienced other terrible tragedies, a woman with a phobic fear of ice, an East Asian with an extreme hatred of all things Communist, and, to complicate things, a psychotic murderer within their ranks and a Russian spy submarine coming to their rescue. Not everyone survives.
A well written, suspense filled novel which makes me glad I live in Florida. show less

Just finished this one. I was reading this in bits and pieces and wasn't sure I was going to like it, but once they were all adrift on the iceburg - along with the bombs - I was hooked. I was interested to read the author's note at the end. I have to agree with him that there isn't much character development. I was interested to see that he mentions Alistair Maclean as a master of the man vs. nature sort of thriller. I think Maclean did it better, but this was a fun read that kept me up until I got to the end.

As a Dean Koontz fan, I looked forward to experiencing the author's suspenseful take on a scientific feat-gone-awry in the harsh Arctic wilds. But I just couldn't get into it. In fact, there were parts of "Icebound" that were only mildly more enjoyable than shoveling a snow-clogged sidewalk after a Buffalo snowstorm. The plot was predictable in spots, tedious in others. Not one of his best books.
Still, a hodgepodge of interesting characters placed in a unique setting provided some enjoyment.

Icebound is a departure from Dean Koontz’s usual horror genre…but not by very much. It can easily be called a techno-thriller. The story follows the experiences of a group of Arctic explorers who are on a mission to blast off an iceberg from the ice cap but unfortunately get trapped on ice when a tsunami occurs. Two further problems are that the detonation charges are sealed in the ice and that there is a murderer amongst them. Who that is becomes evident and the yarn just keeps getting more complicated with the addition of a Russian submarine rescue mission. The scientists remain trapped on the iceberg with the charges set to go off at midnight. Dean has given us a group of characters that we don’t want to see blown to show more smithereens but it’s not looking good. All we can do is keep reading in the slim chance that hope will win over despair. It a tense and unforgettable read. show less

Not Dean Koontzs' usual fayre but not a bad read at all. For a while I began to get bored with this as it's not my type of book but as I got further into it I knew I just had to finish it.

A group of scientists are in the arctic setting explosives to release an ice-berg to float to drought-ravaged countries around the world. However, there is a massive storm and are stranded on the ice with the bombs ticking. To make matters worse, there is a killer amongst them. Best of all you have no clue whatsoever which one of the team this is until the very end. Gripping.

4.25 stars

Scientists have gone to the Greenland Arctic to do some testing on the ice. While they are there, an earthquake hits directly below, breaking off a large iceberg from the edge, exactly where the majority of the scientists are working. They are left with no shelter (their main shelter was further “inland”, and their temporary shelters are destroyed). A huge storm has blown in, making rescue difficult as the scientists float away on their prison of ice. In the meantime, as part of their testing, they have planted bombs that will detonate in 12 hours…

This was really good. I was on edge throughout almost the entire book. It was very quick to get through, and very exciting and nerve-racking. It was originally written in the show more 70s, but Koontz has rewritten it slightly to update it to the 90s when the edition I read was published. This is probably my favourite Koontz book that I’ve read so far. show less

Icebound starts with an exciting premise, then piles on the twists. A group of scientists are trapped on a drifting iceberg that's primed with explosives set to go off at midnight. The only rescue vessel with any hope of reaching them is a rickety old Russian submarine captained by a sailor with "nothing to lose". One of the drifters is the son of a famous American family (basically the Kennedy's). Another is a psychotic killer. It's a race against the clock, a whodunit and a (sort of) political thriller all in one. There's not a lot of depth, no, but there's plenty of speed - which is exactly what the author intended. In that, it's a success. Because sometimes that's all you need.

Read the full review at my blog.