Ice Hunt

Rating:
Summary: A literary roller coaster ride
Review: It's books like "Ice Hunt" that makes you stop and be thankful there are people who have dedicated their lives to creating the printed word. This book is AMAZING. Oh, sure, it's a check-your-brains-at-the-door kind of premise, but once you buy into it (and that's easy enough to do here!), you will be on the edge of your seat, turning pages quicker than ice melts in a BBQ. I love Rollins' style: he sets up one cliffhanger situation and suspends the tension over at least 3 or 4 other cliffhangers at the same time: he visits each of them in time, but not until you're ready to scream out, "I CAN'T STAND THE TENSION ANYMORE!" It's Indiana Jones in extreme. Read this book. You'll certainly become a fan of Mr. Rollins' writing, as I have.

Rating:
Summary: Ice Hunt
Review: Buckle your seat belts, folks! This is what I love about Rollins. His books are so much fun. From the first page to the last, you are on such a unique ride. I don't want to spoil any of the action or surprises, but 'WOW'! And his characters are so enjoyable. Let's just say Kowalski is my favorite, and I'm sure you'll figure out why once you read the book. If you like action, suspense, and some great humor, I can't imagine how you wouldn't love Ice Hunt.

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Summary: Nonstop adventure at the Polar Ice Cap
Review: Once again Rollins takes readers on a roller coaster ride, coupling brisk action with better-than-average characterization for an author of plot-based thrillers. I think the thing I admire most about Rollins is his superb imagination. He manages to make unbeliveable plots seem factual. What a talent! The "things never meant to survive or be found" were wrapped in enough scientific plausibility to allow the the reader to engage completely in the story. Also Rollins created a very interesting array of characters who work well together in all aspects. I never miss a Rollins book, for the simple reason that his batting average is so darn good. His novels range from very good to spectacular--this makes me await eagerly each new book. If you like LOTS of action, suspense, narrow escapes, some who DON'T escape, original plot lines, and likeable characters, you really can't go wrong with a Rollins story.

Rating:
Summary: Great book to cool off with in this Texas heat
Review: Another great ride with my favorite author, James Rollins. I picked up Ice Hunt to read at the pool this summer. Again, Mr. Rollins keeps us turning the pages so quickly from all the action and plot twists that I found myself struggling to put the book down. I love the "science mixed with adventure" theme in all of his books. I appreciate all the research that goes into each novel.

This book is a must read! Where will Mr. Rollins take us next?

Rating:
Summary: Reading entertainment at its best! Two thumbs up!
Review: I'm not going to bother giving you a synopsis of the storyline for this novel, the publisher's blurb preceding these reviews does a fine job of that. Personally, I think this book is probably the most action packed of Rollins' collection of novels. I was hooked by page 25, talking to myself as I cheered on the good guy as he escaped from snipers by page 59, was forgetting to make myself some supper by page 150, living on popcorn and Coke Classic by page 300 with nothing on my mind but reaching the end of this fun ride! This book is packed with nail biting chases and battles, a white knuckle plane ride in the first 100 pages that will leave you breathless and hoping you see it on the big screen one day and more than enough interesting twists and turns to make you drool with anticipation and suspense. I won't give anything away in regards to the base storyline or what you'll find lurking deep in that ice station but believe me, it will be worth the time you invest to read this book. All the excitement comes together into a climactic ending that will make your jaw drop. Rollins incorporated a nice mix of different characters, some more intense than others but all relevant to the storyline and for moving it forward. An absolutely brilliant story with a very imaginative ending. I absolutely LOVED this book!!! This was how action/adventure was meant to be written!

Rating:
Summary: chilling sci-fi
Review: The adventure grabs you, starts running & doesn't let you go! All the while there's a little voice whispering "Don't stumble! Don't stumble!" Page by page you're led into the maze, & page by page you're brought out until you wipe the sweat off your brow, slow your pounding heart & say "Wow! That was good!"

Rebeccasreads highly recommends ICE HUNT as one of the best science fiction adventures of the year!

Rating:
Summary: Seriously, who are you people?
Review: I am amazed how many people have recommended this guy. I could stomach Amazonia, and I struggled my way through Excavation, but my patience is officially at an end.

James Rollins might be able to come up with vaguely (really vaguely) plausible scientific/archaeological/whatever plots, but the man can't write worth a damn. Clive Cussler I can understand, I don't think much of his writing either, but in the Amazon.com review they invoke the name of Michael Crichton! Bite your collective tongues. Preston/Child are closer to Crichton, and even they aren't that good. There's tiers at work here folks, and Rollins, while imaginative, is on the third, at best.

I don't understand the pention for publishing companies to sell novels that would make better movies than they make novels. An agent was quoted as saying we'd rather buy a great story by a good writer, than a good story by a great writer, and this book is a perfect example of why.

Thumbnail sketches of characters painted as shallow as puddles, from the submarine captain who is a rip off of Tom Clancy's Marko Ramius, to the park ranger who happened to have been trained as a freakin' Green Beret, the layers of preposterosity keep coming, and I keep losing interest.

Maybe good enough beach blanket reading if you can suspend your disbelief sufficiently. I found I could not.

Rating:
Summary: Overkill in the Arctic
Review: The author blasts his story through polar ice, sweeping squalls, Grendels (wait until you meet those beasts!), heartless Russians, not so innocent Americans, sub-marines, mad scientists, victimized Inuits, all at the Northern polar cap of our blue marble. Writings in Cyrillic and Inuktitut must urgently be deciphered, but the madness cannot be stopped. Many explosions later the ones who deserve to live, miraculously prevail. James Rollings has a sophisticated writing style and much knowledge about the animal kingdom due to being a veterinarian. The worst animals in his stories, however, seem to be the species human with a relentless "kill!"-gene, mostly each other. This is my third book by this author.
I think the plotting of his stories is too raw, human values not blended in to make for satisfying reading. On a normal scale the adversities presented are not endurable, but overkill!

Rating:
Summary: Arctic cold war
Review: In James Rollins' "Ice Hunt" a lethal race to the North Pole between the U.S. and Russia developes when a defunct and abandoned Russian ice station is discovered by a U.S research team stationed nearby. The station called Ice Station Grendel is a vertitable morgue of frozen Russian personnel. It harbors a terrifying secret that both sides are striving to suppress. It also is the habitat of a dangerous, thought to be mythical creature called a grendel, a bipedal ferocious and ravenous beluga whale type of beast that lurks in the labrynthine ice caves surrounding the station.

Russian forces are lead by Admiral Viktor Petkov, commander of the Northern Fleet. Petkov's father Vladimir, who disappeared years ago, a brilliant scientist was the head of Ice Station Grendel. The U.S forces lead by Captain Greg Perry, commander of the sub Polar Sentinel are supplimented by a group of unlikely civilians. Matt Pike, an Alaskan fish and game warden and his ex-wife Jennifer Aratuk, a sheriff for the native Alaskan tribes are sucked into this conflict. They both aided in the rescue of a Seattle reporter Craig Teague from a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. They follow Teague into the mess that developes in Ice Station Grendel.

Rollins formulates a pulsating and rollicking imaginative adventure that displays his extensive creativity. He continues to demonstrate his uncanny ability to combine science with fantasy in a chillingly horrific and entertaining manner

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book! I wished I lived up North!
Review: This book was excellent! This was my first book by Mr. Rollins, and I must say I was impressed. The story, characters, and plot are woven into each other very nicely.

I did think the book had too many characters, but that I just 0.02. Although I did appreciate the character list, and the visuals at the front of the book.

I thought the book was original, and well developed. The only thing I didn't like was the book cover and the title of the book. The title didn't seem to fit the story. The cover art didn't look like it was finished.