Black Ice

by Matt Dickinson

'A ripping good adventure yarn with a thoroughly admirable heroine, a suitably black-hearted villain and such vivid descriptions of the sheer agony and awfulness of Antarctica you'll be reaching for the central heating switch as you read.' Irish Independent

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Action, Survival, Mystery Thriller

479 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 14, 2002

Reviews

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Lauren Burgess, glacial biologist
SETTING: Antarctica
RATING: 4.25
WHY: Lauren Burgess, glacial biologist, has built a base in Antarctica staffed with 4 others who are helping her to drill to an underground lake. She expects to find the existence of previously undiscovered species in its water. The team is summoned to rescue 2 explorers and a reporter who are stranded about 300 miles away after a rescue plane failed in its mission. After a strenuous trip, they bring the men back to camp where they are about to lock down for 7 months of permanent night approaching. A famed UK explorer, Julian Fitzgerald, sabotages them at every turn. Then the unthinkable happens and they must return to the rescue site to obtain the emergency signal. It's a mind boggling journey, almost beyond human limits. In addition to the incredible cold, they have no food and several of them are not doing well. The conclusion disappointed as it took its focus off of the team. Overall, this was a remarkable piece of work. I can't imagine how Dickinson did the required research to document the conditions so well.

[?? · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was a wild ride! The action is really non-stop, and it was obviously written by someone who really knows his stuff about Antarctica. An edge of realism is something you rarely see in thrillers.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was unexpectedly excellent, I didn't really have any expectations going in but whew, what a ride. It begins with an Antarctic expedition in disarray with one of a pair of explorers wishing to throw in the towel and the other wanting to push on even though they're out of food.

After a botched air rescue results in the aircraft crashing and another person trapped on the ice a scientific base 300 miles away is contacted and coaxed into a risky rescue mission. Whilst the rescue mission is ultimately successful it turns out that one of these explorers is a bit of a delusional sociopath with little to no regard for anyone but himself.

As the story progresses his actions puts everyone at risk resulting in destruction of the scientific base and a race back across 300 miles of unforgiving Antarctic ice to the rescue beacon previously used to call in the ill fated air rescue.

It's quite an action packed survival adventure and the above doesn't even give a true indication of how much of a douchebag the explorer in question is. The guy seems to be living in a delusional world of his own, caring for nothing but promoting his own exploits.

Overall, an excellent page turning thriller.

[Greg D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a non-stop action novel. Unpredictable. Didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I thought the story was going to be about an unknown species coming to wreak havoc upon mankind via the Antarctica. Instead, it is a story about survival. Survival between the good guys and the bad guys. Which will win at the end. You may be surprised. Great book, and easy to read. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago, but I still remember the book very well. It was such a good and thrilling story! Now years later I had to put this on my booklist here in Goodreads.

[Tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the tension and ability to keep me absolutely hooked!

3 stars for the actual writing and the fact that parts of the story absolutely did not make any sense and the lead character was the most annoying punchable person.

Things that made no sense:

1) Why start your research just before winter? They said winter was 7 months, ok that still gives you 5 entire months of non-winter, why wouldn't you start at the beginning of summer so at least you have 5 months under your belt while you do your research?

2) For someone (Lauren) who had been working in Antarctica for so long, she sure was unprepared. I mean, how many times did she repeat that when winter came, there was no way for planes to get in and out and the other base was 800 miles away. Even I, as a person who has never worked in Antarctica, would never EVER be somewhere where I knew I could freeze to death without a backup plan. She had no backup plan. Like, "if there is a fire we are all screwed" but... don't have any backup sheds or barrels where you keep supplies just in case? SO STUPID and MADDENING. I literally put more effort into a short road trip than she put into the entire thing.

3) Lauren was the most annoying character, and the fact that they all kept listening to her and touting her as some genius was beyond ridiculous. They had Fitzgerald right where they wanted him, why not let him drive off into a crevasse and DIE?! He literally tried to murder all of them and deserved to die. But she stops him at the last minute WHY???? The dumbest move ever and I actually yelled out loud in anger. It was obvious the writer wanted a female lead but he didn't think to actually make her likeable or smart. It was Sean that was the actual star of the show.

4) So what happened to the actual real specimen that Lauren collected? She gave a fake one in order to save their lives, so did she just dump the real one? She only had one test tube so she couldn't have had a dupe?

[Jan Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! all I can say is "what a ride".
This was an amazing book and one that I could not put down until I found out what happened to all the characters. I read this one in less than 2 days!

The action started slowly then turned into a race to stay alive that kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. There are so many good hard working dedicated characters in this book and one really bad creep that I hated so much, I wanted to crawl into the book and beat the crap out of him myself.

Mr. Dickinson has created a wonderful group of characters that I cared about. The details of the misery and pain during the trek to help and aid were so vivid that I was shivering with the cold in sympathy with the group.

I highly recommend this old book if you have not read it yet!
Enjoy and stay warm!

[Ala Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que buen libro! Tan interesante, tan técnico, me hizo llorar enojar y reír. La desolación de la Antártida, la lucha de Lauren y todo el equipo. Llore mucho cuando Julian logro su escape, me parecía tan injusto que con toda la lucha del equipo este hombre egoísta y psicopatía sea el que sobreviva. Me llevo la alegría de que Lauren cumpliera su promesa al equipo, el compromiso del inversor con ella y el merecido de Julian. Todos los personajes me parecieron bien construidos y con personalidades fijas, y la fuerza y el ingenio de Sean me enamoró. Lauren una mujer impresionante 🩷
El libro fue taan bueno, no tiene cinco estrellas por la cantidad tan inmensa de introducción, pero a lo mejor la necesitaba. Me encanto la historia y el escenario, sin duda leeria mas del autor.
Carl en mi corazonn

[Jenny Manley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, the premise, the characters, the way it played out, the suspense and the way it was written - I feel like I learned a lot of new glacial terms without having to Google anything. However, I did find the main storyline predictable, until the last few pages.
Makes me wanna go to the Antarctic, and I'll definitely check out more of Matt Dickinson's books and films.

[Gaspar Córdoba · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Lo volvería a leer con entusiasmo?

Si.

Una novela de ciencia ficción muy bien narrada, así como el detalle con el que son descritas las condiciones extremas del continente antártico, seguro aprenderás cosas nuevas que no se leen todos los días en cualquier libro, vale la pena leer esta novela.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Enrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lectura amena

[Gordon]

The only book that can cool you down on a hot day, or have you putting on a sweater as you read this nail-biting story set in a frozen arctic landscape.

[John Ulferts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional thriller. Dickinson's real life experience as a mountain climber makes this novel all that much more realistic. I was left wanting more and will seek out his other books.

[Billy Forbes]

This is the first book I've read by this author very impressed.

[Shourya DEshpande · Rating 5 out of 5]

mastermind purely unexpected their decision

[Kara Jorges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren Burgess is fulfilling the dream of a lifetime running Capricorn Base, a scientific research station in the Antarctic interior. Three hundred miles away, an expedition consisting of famous explorer Julian Fitzgerald and his companion, Carl Norland, has run into trouble. The two men would have been the first to cross Antarctica on foot at its widest point if they hadn’t run out of supplies and begun starving to death 80 miles from the goal. The rescue plane they summon crashes, so Lauren and one of her four teammates, Sean, ride to the rescue, taking the two explorers and Richard, a journalist who survived the crash, back to Capricorn to wait out the winter. It is soon apparent that Julian Fitzgerald is not the hero the media has made him out to be; rather he is dangerously reckless with resources and lives, and Lauren and Sean believe he kept food supplies to himself while leaving Carl and Richard to starve while awaiting rescue. When he announces his plans to finish his trek, demanding a ride back to the crash site the resume his journey, Lauren refuses, and his behavior really gets out of control. Suffice it to say, the team at Capricorn Base finds themselves on the run with almost no resources, in a race to find rescue in the most inhospitable place on earth.

While the story is intriguing and compelling, there were a few minor weak points. Julian Fitzgerald vacillates between being paranoid and just a spoiled brat in a way that lacks consistency. Also, while I liked the outcome, the ending left me feeling cheated. We had been with these characters through an entire Antarctic winter, suffered every step with them on their arduous journey, felt all their hunger and pain, and in the end, though we know their fate, they fade into the background instead of having the book show us their triumph. The same number of pages in the postscript that focused elsewhere would have been better spent with our team of six hardy heroes, and delivering comeuppance to the villain. That was an event I DESERVED to see after all I vicariously went through at his expense, but it didn’t happen.

While it is a black mark against it, the ending does not ruin the book because I did like the outcome, and overall it was very well written. Though it contained the clichéd scene of the good guy being too good to finish the villain when she had the chance, thereby needlessly further endangering her team before belatedly growing the spine needed to try to fix things when it was already too late, it was still nonetheless a very good Antarctic thriller. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with better descriptions of that continent and its frozen landscape. The heroes were also a likeable lot, and the villain deliciously detestable, as he should be in a good adventure tale. In all, Black Ice is a satisfying page-turner.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gripping adventure with a standout villain in Julian Fitzgerald, a character that the reader will grow to hate in no time. Dickinson creates a fascinating world at the edge of the ice with a careful eye for details both technical and natural. The reader can almost fill the chill in their bones with the near-death escapades of the characters in this book. The descriptions of the arctic wasteland and their dangers are really intriguing to read, its almost like a science-fiction tale in how other-worldly it is. The story packs allot of adventure, starting off with the initial expedition, followed by the shift to the drilling station Capricorn, and then once again to the frigid wilds. Likewise the story shifts gears from survivalist adventure to suspense and back. The cast of characters are fairly good, they are exactly what you need them to be for the story to work and nothing more nor less, although Fitzgerald is by far the most memorable for his never-ending selfishness and his utter lack of care or concern for his fellow man. One aspect of the book that sadly got lost is the discovery of new life in the underground lake. After a pretty enticing tease as to what might be down there, the book never manages to get back to it. A gripping page-turner that easily entertains on a slow weekend; just don't read it when its cold outside.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally Finally Finaly! A cant put down adventure book! Wrencked the entire eveneing and next day (because I stayed up until it was over). read it in one sitting and everything else went on hold.

Its so so wnderful to read a book that has adventure and man against nature and true catastrohic events in an alien but scientifically sound environment that happen within a reasonable plot line, including a really bad guy and a really cool good guy (girl, in this case). And it was sooo so good. I dont have ANY complaints-

If I had to pick one item that might give someone pause, the bad guy is a little too bad- and the good girl is a little too good- but these are minor complaints becasue in the world of antarctic exploration you kinda assume they're gonna be a bit more intense than the average person and not unrealistically so- for me it was right on the money- I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT. Nothing seemed contrived, except perhaps for the altruisim of the heroine, But she is the hero and heroic measures are necessary.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book of the Month for me! The crew on the Capricorn scientific base in Antarctica are called on to rescue a pair of explorers who have failed in their attempt to cross the continent at its widest point. After a hair-raising rescue mission the explorers plus a reporter who survived a rescue-plane crash have to spend the dark winter months at Capricorn until another plane can come into land. Whilst two of the three are grateful for the food, warmth and medical treatment, the other one has murder on his mind and such selfish intentions he jeopardises the lives of the whole base.

The author knows his Antarctica, fascinating details that make you feel you are there, or, more to the point, glad you aren't. Each page of the developing story makes you feel increasing anger towards the villain and heart-breaking sympathy for the rest of the team. A wonderful roller-coaster of a read that had me reaching for the book to read a few more pages at every opportunity.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was mis-shelved at the the used book store, and one of the tag-lines on the front cover confused me as well. I was expecting some sci-fi, under the ice, adventure, but it turns out not to be the case. It is an adventure novel set in an Antarctic science research base, but the science aspect is a minor plot point in the story. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if it had been shelved in regular fiction, or in an adventure section, but as it turns out I really enjoyed it.

The ending was predictable, but not very believable. In fact, I think at times the author glossed over, or didn't stick to likely reality of the physical impact of the cold climate. He would mention it, and use it some situations. But in general, it seemed that the extreme temperatures didn't seem to effect the characters as much as I would have expected (or he glossed over the protective clothing that everyone must have been wearing).

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more of a survival book than an adventure book, which I wasn't really expecting. I have read at least two other fiction books about things buried in the polar ice, but this was much different. It just wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be, but I did learn a lot about the conditions of the Antarctic. I did read it almost entirely in one sitting though, so it had that going for it.

The writing seemed a bit..amateurish at times. Not a lot of character development either. Neither of those would have been a big deal if the plot picked up a bit more.

I guess I would recommended it for fans of survival/expedition accounts, who want to read something fictional for a change.

[Russ Marchese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a pretty tense survival-of-the-fittest-and-sharpest story. Some parts dragged a little, but in general, a good story about an Antarctic research team led by a sharp, young woman trying to discover an underground lake that could possibly hold a new form of microscopic life. Their research (and ultimately their daily living habits) gets interrupted by a crazy, world renowned explorer who only seeks fame and glory.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another arctic chiller/thriller. This book really was a great tale of survival in some of the most damn brutal conditions a human has ever encountered. When fire destroys a small research station the team leader must pull out all the stops to keep her team alive. However there is a lot more to the story. Shall we say several plot complications that I really don't want to spoil. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a thrilling and chilling good read.

[Tracy RumRum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!
This was my second time on this adventure and I liked it even more than the first.
This was definitely a man vs. nature adventure with an evil villain thrown in the mix to make it more exciting. I think what I enjoyed most about this book was the ending. I may have wanted a bit more information about what happened to the characters but I’m okay with making up my own narrative to fill in the blanks.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good adventure book. It was a fast read since I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. It's about a team of scientist working in a drilling station in Antarctica that have made a new discovery, but then have to go on a rescue mission. The man they are trying to rescue turns against them, so they are now fighting for their lives in the severe, stormy weather of the Antarctic.

[Phyllis Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't imagine how Dickinson wrote such a detailed description of the problems and perils of living for months on a solid continent sized piece of ice! Excellent details and character development. It's a page turner! You can never be sure which people will survive. I don't like cold, but this was a cool read during the high temps of the summer of 2011.

[Empress Reece (Hooked on Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book- even though he clearly chracterizes the dangers of Antartica, it still made me want to visit the Beagle Channel & also glide across the Ice under the sun and feel the artic wind on my face and cross crevasses on a snowmobile. I really hope i get to visit Antartica one day! This is a must read if you enjoy adventures in the Artic!

[juice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author really needs to do some basic research into things he clearly has no idea about (ie bench-pressing 40kg for 20 minutes? Clueless) and not leave huge plot holes and create dumb characters that Dan Brown would have been proud to create.

[Danielle Packer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is an amazing book! Such an adventure thriller that sucks you in and becomes a non-stop read. I was so into this book for one key reason: the antagonist. The bad guy in this book is a love-to-hate type of bad guy, which to me, makes for the very best stories.