cmaw63's Full Review: Dean R. Koontz and David Axton - Icebound: A Novel
As an avid Dean Koontz fan I tend to buy any book with his name on it that I don't already own. Passing through a bookstore I came across Icebound and bought it without knowing anything about the storyline. Hey, it had Dean Koontz's name on the cover, that was good enough for me. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
Icebound
In a departure from his usual supernatural and the unexplainable, Koontz creates a story that is as powerful as any he's written. No ghosts, no demonic creatures, no voodoo...just people in a very dangerous and intense situation.
A team of scientists are trying to break off part of an Arctic icefield using dynamite. Their hope is to float the iceberg to the United States to relieve drought conditions. The lack of water has created a crop shortage that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead of starvation.
Before the dynamite can go off, an underwater earthquake breaks off a huge chunk of the icefield. All of the team except one, who is back at base camp, are now afloat on this ticking time bomb of an ice cube. To make matters worse there is a storm of such huge proportions helicopters and ships cannot make it to the team to save them. The only help that has a remote chance to get to them is not one we would expect to count on. Even though this unusual source wants to help, the conditions may prevent them from doing so.
In a look at human behavior in the worst of times Koontz makes you question yourself. Staring at your probable death...will you become a hero or fall apart? Will you become a murderer?
It's Bedtime
Realizing that I hadn't reviewed a Dean Koontz book for a few days, I picked one randomly from the shelf. Icebound was the winner. And I truly mean it is a winner. I started at 9:30, planning to read until I fell asleep. At midnight I finished the book. I was so involved with Icebound and it's characters I had no clue what time it was. It's been a long time since a book has kept me so interested that I didn't put it down until it was finished.
The characters were as in depth as any can be in a stand alone book. More than one hero-type, a whiner, a political zealot and a would be murderer...each one was developed enough for me to root for or against them.
You wouldn't expect for there to be a lot of action taking place on a floating chunk of ice. You would be wrong...I was. Koontz keeps the story flowing and full of the twists he is so good at. If you're not a huge fan of the supernatural and have stayed away from Koontz books...try this one. It is a great suspense/action novel that will rival the best of any out there.
David Axton is the pen name Dean Koontz used to originally publish Icebound (as Prison of Ice). It is not a co-author.
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