Fire and Ice [Audio Cassette]

Paul Garrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Doctors without a country, Michael Stone and his wife Sarah bring aid to those in need in the equatorial Pacific. When Sarah and their young daughter, Ronnie, are kidnapped, Michael embarks on an incredible and dangerous odyssey to rescue them.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In his first novel, professional seaman Paul Garrison creates characters who are unique and sympathetic, then puts them into situations full of believable peril. Fire and Ice starts with a knockout punch: we watch a man's whole world being stolen from him. Doctors Sarah and Michael Stone, along with their 10-year-old daughter Ronnie, seem to have an ideal life. He's an American, she's a Nigerian educated in England. They sail the rugged waters of the Pacific in their 38-foot hospital ship. Just as the Stones are about to check in at a remote atoll to see if anyone needs medical help, a giant liquefied-nitrogen-gas carrier nearby radios an S O S: its captain has been seriously injured in a fall. Michael spots an old man in distress on the atoll, so Sarah drops him off and heads for the carrier. Trying to help the dying man, Michael watches in terror as the carrier scoops up the hospital sailboat and steams away. Things get even more exciting as Michael chases the mysterious carrier and its ominous cargo to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo--for a literally explosive finale. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Cover blurbs link this debut thriller to the recent nonfiction bestsellers Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm, but its real ancestors are the expertly crafted nautical adventures of Hammond Innes. Like Innes, professional seaman Garrison creates characters who are unique and then puts them into situations full of believable peril. Do-gooder physicians Sarah and Michael Stone and their 10-year-old daughter, Ronnie, seem to have an ideal life: they sail the rugged waters of the Pacific in their hospital ship, "an elderly, sun-bleached 38-foot Nautor Swan," bringing medicine to islands off the trade routes. One day, just as they are about to put in at a remote atoll, a giant ship carrying liquefied nitrogen gas radios an SOS: its captain has been seriously injured in a fall. The doctors split up. Sarah drops Michael off and heads for the nearby carrier?which promptly scoops up the sailboat and steams away while Michael watches, helpless, from shore. After this smashing start, Garrison piles on even more empathy, action and suspense. On board the carrier, a gnarled, fascinating old China hand is suffering from botched surgery to remove a bullet. While Sarah works to keep him alive, his very nasty bodyguard uses violence to keep the crew?and Sarah and Ronnie?from finding out where the valuable, dangerous cargo is headed. Meanwhile, Michael repairs an islander's canoe and sails for Palau, where a friendly local politician discovers that Dr. Stone has a very good reason for not calling in the U.S. Navy to help him recover his wife, daughter and sailboat. Instead, Michael recruits a team of Chinese gangsters (and one stranded female American ex-cop) to go after the kidnappers in a fast-forward showdown that takes him to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Garrison writes about these exotic people and places with immense vigor; it's no wonder that Disney has optioned the book for a cool million. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Audio Literature (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787110159
• ISBN-13: 978-0787110154
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,461,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PAUL GARRISON was born in New York and currently lives in Connecticut. He has spent a lot of time on boats, and has published five thrillers, mostly sea-oriented: Fire And Ice; Red Sky At Morning; Buried At Sea; Sea Hunter; and The Ripple Effect. He is at work on a series of novels based on Robert Ludlum's The Janson Directive.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and exciting, August 13, 2003

By 

Oddzilla - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire and Ice (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a really good book and a true adventure story! It was hard to put it down. I didn't find it too technical as some of the previous reviewers mentioned. The only bad thing I could say about this book was that it was so suspenseful and the suspense went on and on for so long, that I got tired of being stressed out about it. It was like the author didn't know when to end the book, but just kept having bad things happen to the family. But overall, it was a great story and I recommend it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, sequel to Justin Scott's Shipkiller, November 4, 2001

By 

J. W. Hunt (Bath, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fire and Ice (Mass Market Paperback)

As an avid sailor, I appreciate the accuracy of Garrison's portrayal. However, it certainly appears to me that this book is all but a sequel to Justin Scott's excellent sailing suspense novel The Shipkiller. Same boat (Swan 38), same characters (white Dr. inventor, black Doctor wife) whose background matches those of the characters from The Shipkiller. I think The Shipkiller is one of the best novels I've ever read. Fire and Ice is an excellent follow on. I am just surprised that there is no credit or mention of Shipkiller given.

(Since writing this review 8 years ago I have found out that Paul Garrison is a pseudonym. Paul Garrison IS Justin Scott. Thus the excellence of this sequel!)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HOT COLD AND IN BETWEEN, March 23, 2001

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fire and Ice (Mass Market Paperback)

One thing's for sure. Paul Garrison knows his sailing, and his oceanography/geography. In this, his debut novel, Garrison weaves a story about an unusual kidnapping that takes place aboard a natural gas carrier. Dr. Michael Stone's wife and daughter, Sarah and Ronnie, are held hostage by a madman named Mr. Jack, who has some devastating plans for his old enemies, the "Japs" as he calls them. His henchman, Moss, is a despicable muscle-bound moron, who takes pleasure in beating up women and perhaps even children?

"Fire and Ice" is a good read, a little technical in spots, that tends to slow down the action and the pacing. However, the story holds your interest and even if the slam-bang ending seems a trifle far-fetched, it delivers.

My biggest complaint is that the novel ends so abruptly; there is one villain we don't know what happens to him, and the heroes future seems up in the air as well.

If the ending had a stronger resolution, I would have gone with five stars. Worth the read, though.