Rating: 
Summary: Completely Enjoyable.
Review: These boys did their homework. The Ice Limit is a complete work. The premise--an expedition to retrieve the world's largest meteorite from an inhospitable Chilean island near Tierra del Fuego for a billionaire's museum--is worthy. The plotting is above par. Plenty of twists and page-turning suspense. And the surprise ending, foreshadowed throughout but difficult to predict, is a special treat, ratcheting the tale up another notch on the Richter scale of excellence.But two things make The Ice Limit a best-seller and sure candidate for a movie. One is the characterizations. With nearly ten major characters, it must have been a daunting task to keep them well-defined, easily identifiable, and fresh. Readers want characters, not caricatures. Child and Preston make their efforts look easy and transparent. My favorite was Eli Glinn, head of the engineering firm hired to scoop up the heaviest object ever moved by Man. He was unique, sort of a mixture of Roddenberry's Spock and Verne's Captain Nemo. The other bonus was the science. I almost thought they had overdone it at times, but by book end I was simply left impressed. And it's not the depth of their understanding of one particular subject; it's all the subjects. They researched everything. Meteorites, Chile, Antarctica, navigation, oil tankers, periodic charts, meteorology, structural engineering, naval ordnance, electronics, and on and on. They don't necessarily beat you upside the head with it. But they do prove that they're two smart guys. Bravo! --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
Rating: 
Summary: High Tech High Adventure
Review: This one moves at breakneck speed and keeps you on the edge of your seat with the suspense. It's a "What's going to happen next? and what else can go wrong?" type of read that cannot be put down. The drama, plot, action, high tech approach and excitement are all top notch. More than anything, what grabbed me was how quickly the authors defined the cast of characters. The book contains a pretty substantial number of important players. Usually with a cast of meaningful members this large it takes a while to know who's who, and where so and so fits in the group dynamic. But in "The Ice Limit" that's no problem. Almost immediately the roles were clearly defined and the action took off. I thought the final sixty pages could have been done in twenty and that's all that kept me from giving five stars. This was my initial Preston/Child read and I will read them all. I'm hooked.
Rating:
Summary: Another great book from two great authors.
Review: These two just keep putting out great book after great book. I wish they could write faster. The "Ice Limit" follows in the path of many fun and exciting books that are very hard to put down. A great read that once again kept me up all night until I finshed each page!
Rating: 
Summary: Nice idea, variable pace, so-so ending
Review: I found this to be a pretty reasonable idea for a story, with some good characters, and occasionally excellent pacing and adventure. But the pace wasn't consistent, and the ending was a bit disappointing, both in its nature and its telling. It's acceptable fare for people like me who are looking to kill time driving around, but it's not something I'd recommend as a must read. The reader has all the emotional intensity of Leonard Nimoy playing Star Trek's Spock. That doesn't hurt the telling as much as I expected, though I did have to start over a few times because the subdued voice kept lulling me into daydreaming, and I kept missing foundational information I wondered if I'd need. Though some parts were exciting, overall I think the story drags here and there enough that an unabridged form felt like it would have been tedious. There were times when it was obvious what was going to happen and the waiting for the reader to finally spit out that obviousness was excruciating. My main gripe isn't that it was such a bad story, but rather that I think it could have been so much better with just a little more work.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Intelligent Thriller Writers On The Planet
Review: Doug Preston and Lincoln Child spend so much time researching material for their books that it's a wonder they're still married and have happy families--separatedly, of course. The Ice Limit rides the fine line between Mystery and Sci Fi, but it brings together wonderful characters, all with real human flaws, a well-designed plot, and a surpise ending. With Doug and Lincoln, you shouldn't guess too quickly; things are not always what you wish they were. . . . One of the best surprises is how much interesting information you take away from their novel. It's all so plausible, like a great John D. MacDonald Travis McGee read. Thanks, Guys!
Rating:
Summary: Not their best, but still good!
Review: Ok, right off the bat I have to say that this was not the best effort the Preston/Child team has put forward. After the opening sequence, which is, as usual, captivating, the plot does drag for a while as the main ideas are substantially grounded. However, that is where my criticism must end because from there on out this is pure fun and it never lets up! One has to understand that the authors are very adept at writing books that could instantly be made into movies -- mighty expensive movies -- with little or no dialogue changes to be made in the process. Sure the characters are not as deep as one might like or find, say in an Oprah book selection, but you sure like them nonetheless and that is where the fun comes in. Their books are mysteries enshrouded in science and what would be some killer special effects if these things were made into films. 'The Ice Limit' is no exception to this formula. Great mystery, great science! I am looking forward to the next one! Oh and did I mention -- GREAT CLIFFHANGER!!
Rating:
Summary: It Never Fails to Please
Review: How can I say it. These guys are Brain Candy to the Nth degree. I have read everything these guys ever written and I think this is one of the best to date. I loved the adventure, mixed with the technical explinations. These guys, have a formula that works and are smart not to ruin a good thing by staying on the mark. These guys always have a story where you have to read on to see what the hell the mystery is, then how will they obtain it. Listen people this book is great, what more can I tell you. Unless you find traveling down to the tip of South America, digging up a meteor weighing as much as 5 Efial Towers, that harnesses a power that can't be explained, while being chased down by a rouge sea captain armed with a destroyer, against the back drop of the Antartic Ocean's black icy waters BORING. If that is the case then Shock treatment must also be boring to you.
Rating:
Summary: Are the boys becoming sell-outs?
Review: After I read this book I immediatly went to my bookshelf and grabbed a new book from the pile just to keep my mind off what I had read. The Ice Limit had so much potential at the start, but as it progressed it started to drag and then when it ended I was asking myself why I wasted two days reading a book that left more questions than it answered. It was with a pittiful whimper instead of the bang you expect from this duo. I'm almost afraid that Lincoln and Child are moving into the realm of sell-outs.
Rating:
Summary: IT'S ONE MIGHTY BIG ROCK
Review: I love the collaborations by Preston and Child. They keep your attention and tell a good story. This novel is very gripping and well told.You will want to keep turning the pages to see what is going to happen. How are they going to get the meteorite out of the ground and then out of Chile? This is the whole premise of the novel and you will love finding out. There are plenty of twist and turns that will keep you guessing.
Rating:
Summary: A so-so effort
Review: Only when you reach the very end of this book, do you realize how much better it could have been. I won't get specific, but Preston and Child obviously have a hook for a sequel that renders this book fairly boring. And it is boring -- nothing like the tension of RELIC. To Preston and Child, I would say: "Your formula is showing". By most accounts, readers seem to feel RELIC is still their best book, and funny that it does not follow the same "scientific expedition" plotline like every other novel they've done. This one is no different -- get some rich old guy to finance a dicey expedition in search of some object that the hero swears is there but nobody else believes him/her. This book is THUNDERHEAD all over again, which was RIPTIDE all over again. Worse, in this one the apparent hero McFarlane has absolutely no real impact on the outcome. That was very strange, since I could never get a handle on what precisely was driving events. Sigh. The thing is, Preston and Child are capable of putting some nifty ideas in their books, for instance I thought the Glinn character in ICE LIMIT was great, but too bad there is no worthy plot to back it all up. So there's my plea to them -- alter your formula! There's more than one way to tell a story, find a new one!
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