Customer Reviews

Fire and Ice

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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!)

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.

From Sarah and Ronnie's kidnapping, and Michael Stone's attempt to find and rescue his spouse and daughter, Garrison weaves a web of suspense. However, too much info as it relates to the technicalities of sailing, etc. Otherwise, a good book!

I LOVED Paul Garrison's "Fire and Ice" as the author swept me away to Asia and the ocean and adventures that seemed so gritty and so real that I was desperate to keep turning pages until the end. It's wonderful to find an author who sounds authoritative about such a remote, adventurous background and his take on the steamy, grimy industrialization of China was amazingly real for me. I found the technical "stuff" never got in the way and added to the verisimilitude of the racing storyline. I'm a "bookaholic" who's read thousands of suspense thrillers of all types and this one is one of the BEST I've ever read.

From Sarah and Ronnie's kidnapping, and Michael Stone's attempt to find and rescue his spouse and daughter, Garrison weaves a web of suspense. However, too much info as it relates to the technicalities of sailing, etc. Otherwise, a good book!

The book is good, however, Garrison obviously read and enjoyed Justin Scott's The Shipkiller. There are too many similarities, the make of sailboat boat, the African doctor married to an Americam doctor who is more engineer than doctor. He even made his money from an "electronic probe".

The storm scene was well done. However, the way the cargo ship responded to the helm during the final scenes is far from accurate for a ship that size.

On the whole it was enjoyable and I'll look for more of his books.

This is the story of a doctor and his family living on a boat sailing the high seas and going wherever their services are needed. Adventurous and romantic, full of thrills and chills will guarantee a good time.

The main characters in this book live the type of life some of us will hope to live, having the world as your office!, if you are such person you will enjoy this book.

Set on the dangerous waters of the Pacific, Paul Garrison's Fire and Ice is about a family whose faith and trust in each other is tested through their separation, due to kidnappers. A family that was once united is now torn to pieces by one man's reckless plan. Sarah Stone and her daughter, Ronnie are kidnapped. Her husband, Michael Stone is left abandoned as he helplessly watches a huge ship take off with his only family aboard. Throughout the novel, Michael and Sarah struggle to maintain their sanity in the absence of their beloved spouse. We enjoyed the fast-paced novel that has you jumping between the two main characters hopeless situations. With a cast of extreme characters and catastrophic situations, the author weaves a web of deceit so that you find it difficult to know who to trust. Though a reader may doubt the story due to its complexity, this book has great potential to become a major suspense/action film. Although the reading comprehension is difficult, we still strongly recommend reading this thrilling novel. It contains a conclusion that will shock and satisfy your desire for drama.

This story is made for the movies. If Disney doesn't get Harrison Ford for the male lead they're missing the boat. (No pun intended.) I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Read it at one setting, finally putting it down at two in the morning. The next book (previewed at the end) sounds equally good.