Rating: 
Summary: I will take my drink with out ice thank you
Review: As if being stuck on an iceberg isn't bad enough. You are stuck on an iceberg with 60 bombs and a homicidal maniac. Now that is danger. I liked this book alot. Far from my favorite Koontz book but well written all the same. I could have however lived without the killer. It was just one more danger that they didn't need and to me it was almost an afterthought in an otherwise exciting adventure. I really liked the variety of characters in this book all working together and didn't feel that one of them should have been a killer. Found it hard to beleive the killer could hide his true self for 8 other extremely intellegent people for 6 months. Furthermore While I did enjoy the swim down the tunnel I thought they could have come up with a better more exciting escape. I must however say though that the book is well worth reading. I found myself viewing it all through the submarine captains eyes. A loveable noble man who desires to make something in his life right. This book is fast paced and nonstop from about the 10th page on. Enjoy
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: I am a huge fan of Dean Koontz and have loved every book I've read by him (about 15) EXCEPT Icebound. The story is boring and the characters are bland. I found myself never really caring if they ever got off the stupid iceberg and even hoping it would blow them all up. The action doesn't start for about 3/4 of the way into the book. My advice is pass this one up for a more exciting book.
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Summary: Wow--what a surprise!
Review: First of all, I'm a great Koontz fan. He is a superlative writer, and this early book--updated by the author--is an example of his extraordinary talent. FEW writers can combine great adventure and plot WITH excellent characterization. Koontz is a master of doing just this.Icebound is a departure from Koontz's horror genre. This is strictly a techno-thriller. The action is nonstop--never a dull moment, and all very, very well done. It is about a group of scientists who are carrying out an assignment in the arctic...very believable scenario, I might add. As a result of severe weather storm conditions and sub-oceanic quakes, a large chunk of ice breaks off and they find themselves stranded on an iceberg upon which they had implanted explosives scheduled to go off in 12 hours. There are no American ships that can rescue them because of their distance and the severe weather. Only a Russian sub on a clandestine mission is close enough and has the ability to possibly rescue the team of scientists. The stories of the men, especially the submarine captain, make you really care about the outcome. Although Koontz, in his afterword, is humble enough to diminish his technological detail as compared with a Tom Clancy, I found the whole thing so real that I was there! I love submarine adventures and to me, this numbers with the best of them. Noteworthy is the graphic detail of what it must be like to work in such an extreme environment. The descriptions of the arctic and the weather conditions are awesome. Even the death scene where one man dies through drowning is so realistic I could imagine vividly what it felt like to die this way. On top of the natural perils they face, there is a one twisted mind with them who is obsessively determined to commit murder. This portion of the story is also very well executed. In short (I should have said this some paragraphs back!), I can find nothing negative to say about this story or writing style. I read it at breakneck speed because it was so riveting. I heartily recommend this book to not only Koontz fans but to anyone who enjoys a techno-thriller. If you're looking only for a supernatural horror story, this is not the ticket. But...if you love Koontz's immense talent and want to read an exciting thriller, have at it!
Rating:
Summary: Icebound left me cold!
Review: As an avid reader of Dean Koontz' novels, I was more than a little disappointed as I "plowed" my way through this tepid "ice-venture". Koontz has always been great at character development and creating gut-churning suspenseful plots, but with "Icebound", he came up about 25 blocks short of an igloo. Granted, it was a quick read, but very predictable and basically lifeless. The characters were tough to like and even harder to figure out at times. What's the deal with George Lin, anyway? And, way too much time was spent dissecting the problems of the Russian submarine commander. Hopefully, this won't be your first venture into the world of Dean Koontz because the man is a great writer! Dont' let this book stop you from reading some of his "classics". The list is long, but I definitely recommend "Watchers", "Strangers" (The Dean Koontz version of "The Stand"), "Mr. Murder", "Shattered" "Whispers" and "The Servants of Twilight". Any of these terrific "reads" are a great way to start your Koontz collection. Not every hit can be a home run, can it, Deano?
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Summary: John John Kennedy... icebound?
Review: A team of enthusiastic scientists are finishing up the task of planting explosives in an Artic iceberg. It's part of a revolutionary, new idea to provide fresh water to a drought-stricken United States. Just when it seems that the expedition will wrap up in a state of tremendous success, the worst of the worst chain of events make for an exciting story of chance and heroics. Koontz tries his hand at something different than his usual fare and for the most part, pulls it off. The story rings of familiarity in both its characters (one unmistakenly modeled after the late John John Kennedy) and adventure (possibly a lukewarm Clancy or semi-believe-able Cussler novel). Dear reader gets caught up in that anxious feeling of racing against the clock, when he is mentally shouting to the characters to get their act together, because "Time is running out!" This book is far from the weirdness that Koontz normally brings us and seems to mock those authors who churn this type of story out year after year. Those who thirst for adventure will enjoy it, no matter what type of stories Koontz would normally write.
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Summary: A different kind of Koontz book
Review: While I noticed many reviews on this book were negative, I have to say, I enjoyed the book. I am a long-time Koontz fan and have read all but 5 of his books, so I'm a good judge, I think. While Icebound is quite different than most Koontz books, I found this to be a refreshing change. I thoroughly enjoyed the action and suspense. The whole plot of being trapped on a huge iceberg in the middle of the Artic with bombs set to detinate in 12 hours and you're awaiting rescue...how much more thrilling can it get? The description of things around these 8 people, the cold, the ice, the water, the wind, really made me feel like I was there too. I thought the book flowed smoothly- not too fast or too slow. While at times it was hard to keep the characters straight and their development was not the best, I still enjoyed some of the central characters. Koontz did fill us in on some of their pasts as well, which I enjoyed- almost as subplots, something to take us away from the story at hand and engage the reader. I'd recommend this book to fans of suspenseful or action packed books. It's not an average horror/scary Koontz book, but I think if you know that going in, Koontz fans will also enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Dean Koontz--Icebound (1995)
Review: Swaying from his usual out-of-this-world original style that consumes readers with his unnerving wit and suspense, "Icebound" is a Koontz piece that is certainly attempting to shade the likes of Clancy, Crichton, and even King. With this said, the novel does not possess the uncanny qualities that he often uses to grip his readers and the premise of an arctic team stranded in the ice-pierced habitat falls through the cracks. Harry and Rita Carpenter are part of a team of scientists who are studying how they can use age-old icebergs in order to save a planet that is thirsting for water after ill-advised societies whiped out almost all traces of the essential lifeline. Just before they are about to leave their mission as a success, the team is terrorized by a murderous maniac and is keeping them from leaving the shivering area. As Harry and Rita try to figure out who the mysterious killer is, they also have to keep the team together before the suspicions, delusions, and fears corrupt the expedition and cause them even more harm. Only a half-way enjoyable story, "Icebound" is a fast-paced read that unfolds to reveal nothing special--the characters are not well-developed and are a part of a drawn-out cliche of a novel. Seems like a rushed effort by Koontz after such incredibly satisfying works such as "Intensity" and "Dark Rivers of the Heart". A major disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Koontz meets Clancy meets Maclean
Review: When I read the back of the book -- the author's comments -- I was pleased to find that what Koontz intended with the style of this book meshed with what I picked up while reading it: namely, that although this novel has many of the same elements as other Koontz works, there's a cross-pollination of other genres involved. Partly a Maclean thriller taking place on a giant iceberg floating away with a party of scientists (who plan to blow up the berg for fresh water down south), part 'Hunt for Red October' (a Russian submarine is involved when the scientists become trapped on the berg), this novel includes a few too many characters and plotlines. The lead characters of Harry and Rita are well-rounded, but the inclusion of a murderous fellow scientist who may be targeting a Kennedyesque member of the team is not explored enough -- or really, even necessary. The fact that the scientists are trapped on an iceberg, with only so many hours before it's blown up is drama enough. The Russian submarine subplot is okay, and its captain gets a good character sketch, but the descriptions of how the sub works wander into Clancy territory too much. I think the best, and most claustrophobic, part of the book is at the end; not to give too much away, but the scuba scene is gripping enough without any embellishment. I would recommend this book as a good 'beach' book -- it would certainly cool you off...
Rating:
Summary: So-so story
Review: 1) John Glover reads the audiobook version of this story and like previous readings I've heard from him he does a good job. I always appreciate when an actor goes the "extra mile" to give different accents or speech patterns to different characters so that the audiobook come across more like a play vs. simply a reading. 2) This is not the typical Koontz supernatural story. This is a man vs. nature story that would better play off the submarine movie crowd and/or natural disaster crowd instead of the normal Koontz crowd. This story seemed like a scaled up version of a screenplay or TV made movie and probably would have done better as a movie than a novel. 3) Basically some scientist get stranded on an iceberg and need to get rescued. They have an unidentifiable bad guy in their midst in order to complicate things. A Russian sub is trying to rescue them but gets thwarted at each attempt. Story was fairly predictable and lacked a lot of suspense. 4) On the flip side, Koontz has a couple of strong characters that help keep the story afloat and as the iceberg drifts to its conclusion so the reader in turn will drift along with the story. At points you'll want to dump this book but then you'll realize that you've invested time and need to finish things out. 5) There were a couple of characters totally forgotten and given little if no attention for some reason. And the climax was formularic and in turn anti-climatical. It wasn't a terrible story, but it wasn't fantastic either. I'm glad I picked this up at the library and didn't pay money for it. Too bad because Koontz has some great books out there; Watchers being one of my favorite books to read and Tick-Tock being in my all time top three audiobooks to listen to.
Rating: 
Summary: Plot-Driven With Lookalike Characters
Review: I have always heard that Koontz was a great writer but I have noticed that he seems to do more "telling" than "showing" in his fiction. He is in love with big words which drag you out of the fictional dream. Certainly he knows how to write plots--as evidenced by his fine book "How to Write a BestSeller" (now only available as xeroxed copies passed from writer to writer) but he tries to do the thinking for his reader rather than giving them sensory information and letting his readers do the thinking.
Aside from that problem--which afflicts all of Koontz' work--this book has characters who you cannot differentiate. When he switches from one character to another, you do not remember who each character is. The Russian sub captain is about the only one who really is memorable. Also, the George Lin character is so obviously the shill villain that the reader is forced to expect that he's not the real villain. And when the real villain comes to light near the end, it seems completely unmotivated and therefore is unsatisfying. I will read the "Watchers" next, which I hear is excellent. Still, the problem with his intellectualizing his prose is really a killer. You just get the sense that, personally, he's a perfectionist who grew up in a poorer family and so he is constantly trying to impress you with his intellect.
Contrast that with somebody like Tolstoy in "War and Peace" who is brilliant but who provides the reader with sensory information--food for the five senses--and lets the reader discover the profundity. After all the money Koontz has made, you would think he would take the time to let me read the story, rather than digesting it for me and giving it pre-chewed.
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