Ice Station (The Scarecrow series, 1) - Softcover

Reilly, Matthew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 033051346X ISBN 13: 9780330513463

Publisher: Pan, 2010

Synopsis

At a remote US ice station in Antarctica, a team of scientists has made an amazing discovery. They found something unbelievable buried deep below the surface - trapped inside a layer of ice 400 million years old.

Something made of metal...something which shouldn't be there...it's the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of immeasurable value. And a discovery men will kill for.

Led by the enigmatic Lieutenant Shane Schofield, a crack team of US Marines is rushed to the ice station to secure this bizarre discovery for their nation. Meanwhile other countries have developed the same ideas, and are ready to pursue it swiftly and ruthlessly. Fortunately, Schofield's men are a tough unit, all set to follow their leader into hell.

They soon discover they just did...

'For lots of lethal violence involving high-tech weaponry. For thrilling escapes from the jaws of death. For cliffhanging suspense on just about every page...Ice Station delivers the action-thriller goods with all the explosive fire power of a machine pistol' West Australian

About this title

Review:

A remote antarctic research station, a strange alien presence and a group of hardy survivors trying to stay alive until help arrives? Sound familiar? Well, Matthew Reilly's debut novel is something of a mish-mash of several well-worn paths, borrowing liberally from movies like "The Thing" and "Die Hard" (among countless others) to create what really is the equivalent of an action movie in print. A distress call from the research station in the Antarctic prompts the arrival of a crack team of US commandos, eager to claim as their own the extraterrestrial prize discovered buried in the ice. Several station staff have already met mysterious deaths in the cavern where the supposed 'spaceship' has been found but a team of French soldiers also have their eyes on the treasure and before long all hell breaks lose as a band of soldiers and surviving scientists find themselves fighting for their life against what may be an inhuman enemy. At just over 700 pages, it's a hefty read but there is a distinct lack of padding and the plot is efficiently and tantalisingly constructed. Reilly's gifts do not lie in characterisation or believable dialogue and we are force- fed a diet of stock characters and some dialogue so banal that even Jean-Claude Van Damme would feel embarrassed to utter it. But what the book does deliver is action and plenty of it. The pace is relentless, as the reader is hit with one amazing set piece after another. Credibility is stretched to breaking point on several occasions, but that doesn't seem important. Ice Station will keep you turning the pages until the very end to create a pyrotechnic explosion of action and adventure. It is going to make one hell of a movie! --Jonathan WeirEND

Review:

"Grabs you like seeing a glock pointed at your head. If you want action--and I mean serious action--then pick up Matt Reilly's "Ice Station,""--Richard Marcinko "Some of the wildest and most sustained battles in an action thrilled in a long time...non-stop action, lots of explosions--and a little bit of conspiracy."--"Chicago Tribune"

About this edition

• Publisher: Pan
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 033051346X
• ISBN 13: 9780330513463
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 704