Ice Station

In Matthew Reilly's Ice Station, the first installment in the Shane Schofield action-adventure adventure, this debut will break no boundaries and leave you feeling cold all over. When USMC's Lt. Shane Schofield received a SOS at the Wilkes Ice Station in Antaractica, the cold place in earth, this was no ordinary rescue mission. At first Schofield and his team had responded to a rescue mission, when a group of scientists were held captive by French paratroopers. But things aren't what they seem to be, when things turn hostile and lead into a battlefield on ice. It had left Schofield and his squadron members caught off guard to rescue those civilians and prepared to fight. But they had to deal with other obstacles along the way to get everyone in safety--killer whales and aggressive elephant seals for starters. But sooner than later, some of his squad members were either injured or killed in action, fighting for their country against British and French soldiers. If that wasn't enough, something did sit right with Schofield when he believed there might be a spy among his troop and an enemy out there with the others from the ICG, a secret spy agency to make sure the USA comes on top and be the best, even if they had to kill others in their way. And they would need the help from two Washington Post reporters, Peter and Allison Cameron, to blow this cover wide open. In order to survive the elements and hostile enemies, he would unearth the big secret behind it and come back home to Hawaii alone.

This was a pretty decent action-adventure debut from Matthew Reilly, though I have found it a bit too violent and gory for this novel. It needed to be tone down a bit in my honest opinion. I did care for Schofield and how he survived a brutal fight out there in the Station... and how he dealt with his scars above his eyes. I also found Kirsty a smart girl and found Wendy, the seal, a real charming arctic pet.  I did find Gant a remarkable solider who had defied and defeated the odds. The location of having it set in Antartica was really ideal and stellar with some scenic settings in the D.C. area, too. I did like how action-packed and fast-paced it was from stone to finish with intense action, lots of drama and tons for suspenseful scenes too.  This would leave you breathless and a bit numbing and cold right to the end.

Will you take a trip to the Ice Station today?