Icebound [Turtleback]

Dean R. Koontz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2003

The arctic night is endless. The fear is numbing. Screams freeze in the throat. Death arrives in shades of white. Cold-blooded murder seems right at home....the chill of the grave.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jammed with the tensions of imminent disaster. The whole thing unfolds with the timing of a quartz watch."—Chicago Tribune

"Viscerally exciting...An extended, tense tour de force...An expertly crafted, ornate suspenser...Koontz fans will love it."—Publishers Weekly, starred review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

The arctic night is endless.  The fear is numbing. Screams freeze in the throat. Death arrives in shades of white.  Cold-blooded murder seems right at home....the chill of the grave --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Turtleback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Demco Media (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606287973
• ISBN-13: 978-0606287975
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,616,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When I was a senior in college, I won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and have been writing ever since. My first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where I was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. During my first day on the job, I discovered that the previous occupier of my position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and I was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. I wrote nights and weekends, which I continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, my wife, Gerda, made me an offer I couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of my writing career. Gerda and I, along with our dog, Trixie, live in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow--what a surprise!, June 17, 2003

By 

Jackie Tortorella - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Icebound (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different kind of Koontz book, March 31, 2004

By 

Theresa W (mi, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Icebound (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frostbite on the brain, anyone?, October 14, 2005

By 

Wolfe Moffat (Franklinville, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Icebound (Mass Market Paperback)

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!