Customer Reviews

Icebound

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

First of all, I'm a great Koontz fan. He is a superlative writer, and this early book--updated by the author--is an example of his extraordinary talent. FEW writers can combine great adventure and plot WITH excellent characterization. Koontz is a master of doing just this.

Icebound is a departure from Koontz's horror genre. This is strictly a techno-thriller. The action is nonstop--never a dull moment, and all very, very well done. It is about a group of scientists who are carrying out an assignment in the arctic...very believable scenario, I might add. As a result of severe weather storm conditions and sub-oceanic quakes, a large chunk of ice breaks off and they find themselves stranded on an iceberg upon which they had implanted explosives scheduled to go off in 12 hours. There are no American ships that can rescue them because of their distance and the severe weather. Only a Russian sub on a clandestine mission is close enough and has the ability to possibly rescue the team of scientists.

The stories of the men, especially the submarine captain, make you really care about the outcome. Although Koontz, in his afterword, is humble enough to diminish his technological detail as compared with a Tom Clancy, I found the whole thing so real that I was there! I love submarine adventures and to me, this numbers with the best of them.

Noteworthy is the graphic detail of what it must be like to work in such an extreme environment. The descriptions of the arctic and the weather conditions are awesome. Even the death scene where one man dies through drowning is so realistic I could imagine vividly what it felt like to die this way.

On top of the natural perils they face, there is a one twisted mind with them who is obsessively determined to commit murder. This portion of the story is also very well executed.

In short (I should have said this some paragraphs back!), I can find nothing negative to say about this story or writing style. I read it at breakneck speed because it was so riveting. I heartily recommend this book to not only Koontz fans but to anyone who enjoys a techno-thriller.

If you're looking only for a supernatural horror story, this is not the ticket. But...if you love Koontz's immense talent and want to read an exciting thriller, have at it!

While I noticed many reviews on this book were negative, I have to say, I enjoyed the book. I am a long-time Koontz fan and have read all but 5 of his books, so I'm a good judge, I think.

While Icebound is quite different than most Koontz books, I found this to be a refreshing change. I thoroughly enjoyed the action and suspense. The whole plot of being trapped on a huge iceberg in the middle of the Artic with bombs set to detinate in 12 hours and you're awaiting rescue...how much more thrilling can it get? The description of things around these 8 people, the cold, the ice, the water, the wind, really made me feel like I was there too.

I thought the book flowed smoothly- not too fast or too slow. While at times it was hard to keep the characters straight and their development was not the best, I still enjoyed some of the central characters. Koontz did fill us in on some of their pasts as well, which I enjoyed- almost as subplots, something to take us away from the story at hand and engage the reader.

I'd recommend this book to fans of suspenseful or action packed books. It's not an average horror/scary Koontz book, but I think if you know that going in, Koontz fans will also enjoy this book.

This was quite interesting, and for the most part, quite a delight. Koontz takes a turn from his usual, and gives us an unusual twist in the Arctic Circle. I think my question was like the question of some, and I wondered if it would work. Would Dean Koontz try to be Tom Clancy mixed with Oliver North and try to pull of a techno-suspense thriller? No he didn't and I thought WHEW as I finished it up.

So we take an assignment to the Arctic, on an iceberg, and let the games begin. But with the climate, storms and what not, trouble brews. As time passes, you wonder if there is somebody there with murder on their mind. You have Harry and Rita Carpenter. Harry is the leader of the expedition, the big dog. Rita has her fears, actually intense phobic reactions. These fears are, #1; Cryophobia: the fear of ice and frost. #2 fear is Frigophobia: the fear of cold. And last but not least is Chionophobia: the fear of snow. Then you have big and bad Pete Johnson, along with Roger Breskin, your basic no fear type guys, Pete is the electric engineer. Then you have Brian Dougherty, related to a former President. I myself couldn't help but laugh at George Lin, who thinks the communists are trying to control them. Claude Jobert, who is also part of the team, and Franz Fischer, who used to date Rita. There you have a believable story, mixed in with the fact that you have a murderer. Oh and by the way, you have bombs in the ice that will blow up the iceberg in about 12 hours. No sweat, right? And HEY!! the Russians are coming to the rescue this time! Don't miss out. I really like the Russian submarine captain, Nikita Gorov, who is in all reality, doing this for his son.

I guess the reason I gave this only 4 stars is easy for me. I missed the heart stopping suspense that he normally delivers, and I didn't get much in this. I did get a well written story, one that you can share with anyone without scaring them too much. Koontz really showed a lot of guts in attempting something new, and he pulled it off.

So, there was no quote in the beginning from "The Book of Counted Sorrows" as usual. There was no real blood and guts, as you suspect from Koontz, but he made it work, and did better than most I might add. Now, in his author's note, he added that he previously released this as "Prison of Ice" by David Axton, and it was rougher and grittier in form. He even said it wasn't his intent to be as technically detailed as Tom Clancy, and I'm glad he wasn't. That would be too overwhelming. But instead, he gives us some frostbite, just a little on the brain to play with our heads here and there. Try it, you just might like it!

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 408

Koontz basically sleepwalks readers through the first half of this arctic thriller and will leave many out cold with boredom. Scientists Harry and Rita Carpenter are head of a project to study the feasibility of towing huge icecaps south from Greenland, where they can be tapped for the irrigation of crops. In order to do so, the Carpenters and their crew have to detonate a series of explosives to separate a huge iceberg that can be transported and used to cure a global water shortage. However, earthquakes tear their icy research stations apart and they are stranded in the middle of an awful snow storm and won't be able to get off the island before it is blown up by the bombs...unless they are saved by a Russian spy submarine. The novel has an interesting premise, but unfortunately, Koontz tries to incorporate a psycho-killer plot and it fails miserably. "Icebound" is disappointing novel with undeveloped characters and a far-fetched storyline that sways too far away from what is really important--and thats a story that can be believed.

As if being stuck on an iceberg isn't bad enough. You are stuck on an iceberg with 60 bombs and a homicidal maniac. Now that is danger. I liked this book alot. Far from my favorite Koontz book but well written all the same. I could have however lived without the killer. It was just one more danger that they didn't need and to me it was almost an afterthought in an otherwise exciting adventure. I really liked the variety of characters in this book all working together and didn't feel that one of them should have been a killer. Found it hard to beleive the killer could hide his true self for 8 other extremely intellegent people for 6 months. Furthermore While I did enjoy the swim down the tunnel I thought they could have come up with a better more exciting escape. I must however say though that the book is well worth reading. I found myself viewing it all through the submarine captains eyes. A loveable noble man who desires to make something in his life right. This book is fast paced and nonstop from about the 10th page on. Enjoy

When I saw that this book was written in 1976, I wasn't expecting much. Koontz is a great writer, but I figured this was just around the time period that he was still finding himself as a writer.

What I discovered in this book was a style of writing that isn't common in any other Koontz book, which certainly isn't a bad thing. A lot of time, Koontz doesn't deviate far from a particular formula, but this book bears no resemblence to anything he has ever written, and it is a pleasant surprise.

Highly recommended for those who need a break from reading Koontz's recent novels.

In this novel's defense it moves very quickly. On the other hand the whole concept of drilling an iceberg for freshwater (though intriguing) in my mind falls on its collective rear end. The characters are all very cardboard, you feel like you know them within the first few pages because the author describes them and they behave according to stereotypes.

Finally...the rescue with the submarine? Please. I also was quite surprised the bombs did not have a fuse that could be set off by a pulse or whatever...but I suppose it becomes more intriguing this way. I had not read any Dean Koontz before this novel and it is not encouraging me to start. Please do yourself a favour and avoid it.

I am a HUGE Dean Koontz fan, having read a majority of his books and owning quite a few, and this book was one of the most recent that I have read. I've had it quite a while, but after reading the first chapter, I couldn't quite get that into it, so I'd set it away and start a new DK book. Finally, I was out of new material, so I picked this book back up and was determined to get into it. I must say that it wasn't long before I was swept into the arctic by this fast-paced novel. My initial feelings toward the book were gone as soon as I got past the first chapter. While this is not in the same league as "Watchers" or "Dark Rivers of the Heart" (my two favorite Dean Koontz books), it was very enjoyable.

Of course we all know that this book was written eons ago when Koontz was pretty much unknown. It was even written under a pseudonymn, David Axton? At any rate, once he soared to his incredible heights of popularity, Koontz went back and revised this okay "thriller." When one considers the "Ice Limit," by Preston and Childs, and Matt Reilly's adventure books, "Icebound" pales in comparison.
We have this collection of adventurers who are in the Arctic to blow up and iceberg and set it sailing south so that it can be used to replenish the earth's vanishing water supply. But, nature doesn't cooperate at all, sending the snowstorm from hell to disrupt everything. Add to that there's a psychotic killer on the loose, and a Russian submarine that wants to rescue the team because one of their members is the nephew of an assassinated US President, and that'll make the Russians look good. The hero's wife has an incredible phobia of ice, snow and cold. The characters are pretty much cliche, and the presence of the killer adds little or no suspense, as it's never clear why he or she wants to kill the aforementioned nephew. It's all handled in pretty pedestrian fashion, and in the aftermath of everything, all the characters' fates are cleaned up...EXCEPT that aforementioned nephew. Why 3 stars? It held my interest and it certainly isn't a horrible novel; it's just way below the standards of the writer we now know as Dean Koontz.
RECOMMENDED ONLY FOR KOONTZ FANS AND PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE COLD

A group of scientists drill bombs into the Antarctic in order to blow a chunk of ice out and let it travel away for scientific reasons and experiments. But, an unexpected disaster occurs and soon the scientists find themselves stranded on an Iceberg with bombs planted beneath them ready to explode. While considering ways of escape which prove to be useless, a Russian Submarine patrolling the area decides to rescue them. Soon, one of the scientists is attacked from behind and left for dead, and it becomes clear that there is a psychopathic killer amongst them. To be honest, the plot was the main attraction which drew me into reading this novel. But, I'm sorry to say that KOONTZ could have and should have formed a more interesting novel with the above *plot skeletons*. The story tends to lag in numerous places and if it wasn't for the decent ending it wouldn't be exciting at all. The sub-plot of the *psycho* was the only interesting aspect in this otherwise cold, average "market" novel. Note: It was published by Koontz under another name many years ago - you wouldn't be too suprised either.