Ice Hunt

By James Rollins

I found the Synopsis interesting so ended up buying this book. This book is kind of an “edge of the seat” thriller—very interesting and fast paced. As I started reading the book, I was in an ebullient mood, thinking that this is going to be a refreshing story, unlike my other slow-paced novels. Well, it satisfied me till the half way, and then I could easily guess what’s going to happen next. It can pass for an interesting thriller, only if you forget the “easy to guess” climax.

I felt everything happening a little too early in the book. Or maybe the climax is dragged too long that I found everything early. Matthew Pike, a Fish and Game officer, also an ex-Green Beret, finds a plane crashing in the Brooks Range of Alaska. He rescues the lone survivor Craig, a news reporter. Trouble starts when a chopper shows up and drops two villains to kill Craig. Then starts the roller coaster ride of pursuing villains, intelligent escapes and a series of exhilarating plane rides. Matt manages to escape from the villains with the help of his ex-wife Jen and her plane.

American research vessel Omega, captioned by Perry, accidently bumps into an abandoned Russian ice station Grendel. Curiosity drives the scientists, geologists and researchers to research on the ice station. Amanda Reynolds, the research head, along with Captain Perry and a couple of others discover a chilling secret hidden inside the fourth level of the ice station. Determined to let the world know the truth, Amanda summons Matt’s group (as they managed to land the plane near Omega) to the ice station.

The story went well till this point. Then it becomes kind of repetitive—chasing villains and mysterious animals become boring after some time. The escapes were too easy to predict. After a dozen of hide and seek games, Matt discovers the chilling truth—but he knows little that the worst is yet to come until he finds who’s behind all those.

The group escapes and Captain Perry intelligently hides his submarine and brings it on time to help the escaped group. The story ends happily when Matt and Jen reunite. I liked the way the characters are portrayed, they are rich and vivid. The ones which are caught in my mind are the no-nonsense Russian Captain Viktor Petkov, waiting for a revenge for his father’s death; the smart dog Bane; and the cute couple at the Fuel stop.

It can be a good book if you can bear with too much danger-and-escape games. Its very fast paced and you hardly feel like keeping the book.

Read it once.