Rating:  Summary: Couldn't put it down! Review: It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a books as much as "The Ice Limit," and I honestly couldn't stop reading. Buying this novel is money well spent.
Rating:  Summary: You want a page-turner? This fills the bill. Review: ...anyone who is looking for an absorbing, fun, thrill-a-minute vacationtime page-turner should certainly enjoy the book. Preston and Child have developed a winning formula for science-and-myth-based thrillers, and this may be the best one they've released so far. Yes, the story IS formulaic, with some of the plot developments being forseeable right from the beginning. There also are elements (such as a deranged Chilean destroyer captain) that strain credulity and ask the reader for a "suspension of disbelief." Despite this, however, there are enough twists, turns, and surprises to keep readers riveted. The characters tend toward stereotype, but they do exhibit enough reflectiveness and personality to render them adequately believable. Finally, the quality of the writing itself is far better than one finds in most potboiler "thrillers." As always with Preston and Child's efforts, one can certainly envision this book as a Hollywood production someday. If *The Ice Limit* ever appears on the silver screen, I'll certainly buy a ticket.
Rating:  Summary: Don't forget to pack your mukluks! Review: In The Ice Limit, Preston and Child have come up with an original realistic adventure that takes the reader to one of the most uninhabitable places on earth. The thing that impresses me most about this duo is the thoroughness of their research. Every time they write a book on a new subject or profession, it comes across like they've been doing it all their lives. The facts, lingo, and points of view are always right on target and ICE LIMIT is no exception. My initial impulse was to give this book the typical praise of all the P/C books I've read but after thinking about it I'd have to say this book moved a little slower than most. That's not to say that it wasn't interesting. It just didn't carry the element of suspense and thrill that books like Relic and Riptide did. Yes, there was always the element of what exactly is this thing they are digging up and there were a few monkey wrenches thrown in by the locals but I can't really consider that thrilling or all that suspenseful. Toward the end, the book did pick up steam and ended as a real page-turner. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. The detailed writing of the settings, people, and operations were top notch and interesting. The plot was well planned and wonderfully written. The characters were well developed. I would say that ICE LIMIT was a better written book than Riptide; probably on par with Mount Dragon. It had enough plot twists to keep you guessing but lacked the excitement (at least in the first ¾ of it) of some of their other books. Still a recommended read at 4 stars.
Rating:  Summary: masterpiece Review: this book has been the best book I've read in my entire life...no joke. the entire book, the characters, the plot, the undescribably beautiful technical details, everything, make this book an insanely good read. I read this book in one day...flying home from frankfurt to my home in idaho, and I couldn't stop reading. even the disgusting airplane food couldn't stop me. not even "the mexican" and "spy kids" playing back to back on the airplane screen. I was reading through the layovers, reading through the meals, reading through everything. this book was brilliantly written and researched. I can't draw any attention to my favorite aspects of it because doing that will detract from the rest of the book to you, the reader of this review, so I will not say anything, because this entire book was fantastic through and through. I lied, the characters were my favorite, by a long long shot. eli glinn, lloyd, britton, MacFarlane, all of them, absolutely amazing. I especially liked the chilean sea captain, a truely vengeful psychotic indeed! READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:  Summary: Easy to put down... Review: Starts out slow and then gets even slower. Plods dully along without the thrills, chills and scary fun these authors brought to their other, better books. About as exciting as watching your potted plants grow.
Rating:  Summary: Great Technical Data! Review: My only disappointment was that, as a Vendee Globe fan and nautical buff, there wasn't enough good information about the Southern Ocean to suit me! Other than that, everything was there! The characters were well-seated and very interesting, the authors presented a sticky problem and viable, well researched solutions! I felt as though I had learned something, which always makes a book worth the read!
Rating:  Summary: Well researched work Review: Excellent and well researched piece of work. I disagree with some of the reviwers who complained about the "too much enginnering" detail.If you are primarly intersted in fairy writing and smooth story lines then they should be reading light fiction and not techno thrillers. Generally the ALL characters are very well developed and threre are no grace chapters where readers have to skim through. If you are an enginner yourself and like a story well balanced with realsitic enginnering and suspensful story telling then this is for you. If on the other hand you are a S.Sheldon type then this might not be your cup of tea.
Rating:  Summary: Way dumb Review: Shallow characters and all too obvious lack of technical understanding. Even for airport pulp, this one is not worth the price.
Rating:  Summary: Not the best Review: I usually love this duo's books (esp. Riptide and Mount Dragon) but Ice Limit left me cold (no pun, etc.) I disagreee with a lot of the reveiwers: 1. I got lost and totally bored with all the technical details of geology, naval engineering etc. This is like techie-sciencist lore, and I hate to admit "as a woman" I didn't care at all about the theme. 2. Sorry, I didn't "get" the ending. Plus, part of the plot with Rachel reminded me too much of De Caprio & "Titanic" 3. The only things that held me in the book were the semi-suspense and the fair writing (minus technical details). My advice: Skip Ice Limit, return to their older books.
Rating:  Summary: Not Your Usual Trip to South America Review: The not-so-incredible billionaire wants the largest meteorite ever found transported from an island off Tierra del Fuego to his state of the art natural history museum in New York. The first thing you have to wrap your mind around is the incredible estimated weight (10,000 tons) of the meteorite. The second is the proximity of Tierra del Fuego to Antarctica. I was grateful for the map, because I had difficulty grasping the idea that where they were going is very cold indeed! Preston and Child deliver on this thriller. The characters are three dimensional, particularly the billionaire. The engineering feats are well written for the laymen. The storm at sea is stupendous; you have a true feeling of doom at your doorstep. However, I subtracted two stars. The first because the book is a slow starter. It took 150 pages to set up the story. The second star is withheld because of the ending, which is reminiscent of a '50's horror movie. I wanted to say 'oh puh-leeze!' These two faults are not a major deterrent; it's 60% fine entertainment.
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