Colder Than Ice

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Summary: Another fine book
Review: This is Helen MacPherson's second novel and, like And Those Who Trespass Against Us, it features interesting characters and an engaging story. Dr. Allison Shaunessy, an archaeologist from Australia, wants to launch an expedition into Antarctica to find the possible remains of the Finlayson Expedition. She is trying to prove that Finlayson was actually the first explorer to reach that continent, but she's having trouble raising the money to cover the costs. Enter Dr. Michela DeGrasse, a psychologist with the International Space Research Institute, who is working on psychological studies for the first Mars mission and would like to go on the expedition to study how the team interacts under adverse circumstances. Michela manages to find the descendent of Finlayson, who is willing to fund the project, if she heads it. The rest of the story unfolds as these two strong-willed women get to know each other and try to find a way to work together, while struggling with a physical attraction that surprises both of them. They do find Finlayson and a surprise they hadn't counted on. And they discover something about themselves, too. This is a really good read.

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Summary: Midwest Book Review, February 2005 Issue
Review: What happens when two driven and independent professional women are forced to work together under circumstances neither can fully control? This is the situation archaeologist Allison Shaunessy and psychologist Michela DeGrasse find themselves in. Part of the problem from the beginning is that Allison craves control in her work life because she doesn't really have it in her personal life. She's been dating an oaf, and she hasn't yet figured out that he's a selfish jerk. She wants to focus on and run the expedition, but the sponsor who put up the money knows Michela and specifies that the psychologist be the one in charge. From the beginning, then, there's a rivalry that's not helped by the fact that seemingly straight Allison is drawn to Michela, who has, unfortunately, just lost her lover to a scheming colleague.

So with both women in their own little barely contained crises, they set off on an trek into a remote part of Antarctica to investigate what might be the remains of the long-lost 1895 Finlayson Expedition. As they prepare and then travel, they are beset with all sorts of obstacles - from the money issues at the outset - to seasickness, illness, frightening weather conditions, stupid, risk-taking behavior, and the threat of violent death.

Both Allison and Michaela are stubborn and wounded in their own ways, and neither is able to see that if they could just drop their guards and open up to one another honestly, they actually have a lot in common. That process makes for entertaining reading as do the twists and turns of the expedition, some of which are not expected. Ultimately, the book is more a romance than an adventure, but this cross-genre novel affords some thrills and more than a few chills. ~Lori L. Lake, reviewer for Midwest Book Review and author of the "Gun" series