Ice Station Wolfenstein

Order of the Black Sun #1

by Preston W. Child

Sam Cleave, reporter for a small newspaper, has seen better days. After his partner was killed during an undercover investigation, he lost his passion for work and living. But when a resident of a nearby assisted living home is tortured and murdered in a barbaric manner, he starts investigating. He is especially intrigued when a mysterious box is given to him that belonged to the dead man, but he needs help to interpret what it means. He teams up with Nina Gould, an expert in World War II history. Soon the two of them realize that they are about to discover one of the best-guarded secrets of the war, It dawns on them that this would be the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of immeasurable value, and a discovery that men would kill for. They join an expedition, sponsored by an eccentric billionaire, hunting for gold and breathtaking art buried deep below the Antarctic surface. Instead of gold and stolen art, they find something terrifyingly disturbing beneath the eternal ice. A team of Nazi scientists has made an amazing discovery. But experiments have gone terribly wrong. The situation gets out of hand, and before long the expedition members find themselves peering into the deepest recesses of the human soul. Nina and Sam realize that their only hope for survival is to unlock the secrets of Ice Station Wolfenstein. Ice Station Wolfenstein leads the reader on a roller-coaster ride in search of a legend. Packed with breathtaking suspense and nerve-shredding action, Ice Station Wolfenstein is a thrilling read for all fans of action, suspense, and intrigue.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Ebooks, Action

342 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2014

About the author

Still learning about writing and marketing books. When I'm not writing, I'm usually checking out single malts at The Black Cat, Rose St, Edinburgh. Join me :-)

Reviews

[Chloe Cuthbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not Preston and Child, but still good

I admit that the only reason I found this author was by doing a search for Preston and Child. The author has definitely benefitted from his name. That said, the first book in this series is good, but the editing leaves a lot to be desired. There are numerous parts in the story that are confusing at first, because it appears to continue on from the last sentence but in truth, should begin another section. I would be happy to offer my editing services to the author in order to make this a lot more readable.
The lack of editing does take away from the story, but if you can get past that, it is an interesting story. I'm looking forward to continuing the series and hope it gets better.

[Neal Hogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A first draft of an incomplete thriller

The author drags out the Nazis for want of an original villain. The plot is rushed. The only portrayals are the drunken self pitying part-time protagonist and his bit-player enabler. The failure to proof read the manuscript makes it painful to read.

[Dian Beatty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book kept me interested and was off to a good start, however after that it devolves into one improbable and poorly plotted event after another. Attempts at a resolution are weak and dissatisfying. I was disappointed.

[Mark Lucas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good plot idea but could have been much better

Poorly paced. But the central theme and plot devices would have been suited to a longer book. Too many superfluous characters.

[Kevin D. Lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off like it was building into a very good book, but it falls short along the way. Still worth a read if you have any conspiracy thoughts about the end of WWII

[Sean Aylward · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring !

Plot could have been much deeper and better thought out. It was very predictable and a bit of chore to finish the book.

[Henriette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich lese gerne Abenteuer-Geschichten und habe bei einer Internet-Recherche eine Reihe von Büchern gefunden, die vergleichbar mit Indiana Jones seien sollen. So auch diese Serie. Wobei in dem genannten Artikel ein späteres Buch aus der Serie, ich glaube das Grabmal des Odin, aufgezählt wurde. Da ich aber nicht gerne aus der Reihe lese, habe ich mit diesem Buch angefangen, auch wenn es mich thematisch nur bedingt interessiert hat.

Leider konzentriert sich das Buch zu stark auf die Unzufriedenheiten der Hauptcharaktere und zu wenig auf die historischen Zusammenhänge. Ein Beispiel: ca. in der Mitte des Buches erklärt der Milliardär, Purdue, den Expeditionsteilnehmern was sie eigentlich genau suchen. Angeblich haben die Nazis eine Eisfestung namens Wolfenstein (ein Name, der mir bisher nur aus First Person Shootern bekannt war) in der Antarktis errichtet. In dieser sollen angeblich die genialsten Erfindungen der deutschen Wissenschaftler (sowie die verschwundenen Kunstwerke) zu finden sein. Da er seine Milliarden mit Technologie gemacht hat, ist sein Interesse an Wolfenstein gerechtfertigt. Der Autor hätte die beiden Hauptcharakter, den Enthüllungsreporter Cleave und die Historikerin Gould, diese Fakten über Wolfenstein im Rahmen der ersten Hälfte aufdecken lassen können. Stattdessen konzentrierte sich das Buch im wesentlichen auf den Verfall von Cleave, da er seine Verlobte bei den Recherche-Arbeiten zu einer Story über einen Waffenschieber verloren hat. Und Gould echauffiert sich darüber, dass die frisch gebackene Doktorin noch nicht genug Renommee hat, um über das zu forschen, was sie will.

Nach dieser Ansprache zu Wolfenstein geht dann die eigentliche Handlung los. Sie finden die Festung. Hier gibt es Anzeichen dafür, dass Wolfenstein Jahre nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg noch im Einsatz war. Bei Indiana Jones hätten sie jetzt die Festung untersucht und im Laufe der Zeit alle möglichen Geheimnisse aufgedeckt. Nicht so hier, die Hauptcharaktere bewegen sich fast nicht aus dem Schlaftrakt raus.

Die Geschichte ist zwar abgeschlossen, aber am Ende gibt es offene Fragen, die eigentlich nie schlüssig beantwortet worden sind. Stattdessen haben die Charaktere nur Vermutungen. Bspw. wer eigentlich Nina Kruger‘s Tagebücher gestohlen hat.

Hinzu kommt, dass weder Cleave noch Gould wirklich wahnsinnig sympathisch sind. Cleave entspricht dem Klischee aus Action-Filmen der 90er Jahre, wo der Held nach einem Trauma immer irgendwo angesoffen angetroffen werden konnte. Und Gould erinnert an einen Millenial, weil sie der Meinung ist, dass sie Anrecht auf Anerkennung und Respekt hat. Nein, so etwas muss man sich verdienen. Damit nehme ich aber nicht Matlock in Schutz, denn meiner Meinung nach war von Anfang an klar, dass er versuchen würde ihr die Entdeckung von Wolfenstein zu klauen.

Ich werde aber noch ein zweites Buch aus der Reihe lesen, denn das erste war auch nicht wahnsinnig gut bewertet. Vielleicht, nachdem die Charaktere jetzt bekannt sind, kann sich der Autor mehr auf die Geschichte konzentrieren.

Ein Nachsatz: Auch ich bin dem Irrtum aufgesessen zu denken, dass diese Serie von dem Autoren-Duo Preston und Child geschrieben worden ist. Vor allem weil sie ein ähnliches Buch mit einer Anthropologin geschrieben haben. Und ich gestehe, dass dieser Irrtum zu meiner Entscheidung, dieses Buch zu lesen, beigetragen hat.

[Mazzy Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad yarn, entertaining if somewhat implausible in places. Fortunately, I have a fairly flexible willingness to suspend disbelief in fiction if both the characters and the overall story sufficiently capture my attention which they did. In fact, in a first for me, my reading of Ice Station Wolfenstein was interrupted by Cyclone Alfred’s slow progress crossing the Queensland coast and consequent lengthy power outages and I still wanted to find out what happened after a three day break.

A decent edit to smooth over grammatical and transitional gaps (words missing in sentences and sudden leaps between chapters, points-of-view etc) wouldn’t go astray. But, having received this as a freebie in exchange for a newsletter signup, I didn’t feel shortchanged. The main characters are interesting enough and have the potential to carry further books along, especially if those books are properly edited.

[Kathryn Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started out with a murder, two murders actually. Then a Scotland Yard dectivate went to a Scottish Reporter who reported about this type a murder before. His Former wife to be was killed this was because of a report they did together about a gun smuggling ring that involved some high leveled officials children. Now a new case comes up about a supposed WWII Ice Station that has to deal with Germ Warfareby the Nazi's Third Reich. He was asked to join the scientific crew going to the South Pole looking for it. They find mystery, murder, discovery, and much more. I really like this series so far.

[Alex Mellor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book in The Order of the Black Sun series started in a sinister manner, harking back to the war time era. It continued with a convoluted “wild goose chase”, following a legend. What happened next had me holding my breath. This is the desperate stuff of movies, with some poetic licence…….I enjoyed the link to many post-war rumours, that continue to this day, and also that the story started in Edinburgh, which I know well. Now, I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series, Deep Sea One.

[Jessica Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was honestly very happily surprised by this book. I think I’ve read too many bad adventure books lately.
The characters were well done and had depth to them. They seemed very real - which is rare. And I think one of the things I liked the best was that even minor characters had depth. The adventure was fun and made sense.
I’m off to read the second in the series. I hope I’ve found a wonderful new series to read.

[Tony Duxbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very far fetched and highly implausible, but a bloody good adventure. Sam Cleave wins his life back after nearly losing it many times as he is drawn into the hunt for a secret Nazi base in Antarctica. Unfortunately, not only explorers are involved. A shadowy neo-nazi organisation has already discovered it. More than the weather threatens Sam and his motley crew of companions. It a good romp with plenty of twists and derring-do. Recommended read.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read many books by Douglass Preston and Lincoln Child, but this is the first by Preston Child. Obviously, I found this book quite by accident. Expecting a more Preston & Child, feel, I was underwhelmed by the story line but will try the next book in the series.

Reporter Sam Cleave is invited to Antarctica to report on the find of a lifetime, a Nazi ice station. except there are already others there to claim the find.

[Anadarko52 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok

I’m glad that I got this book for free. I really like thrillers involving Nazi artifacts. The premise of this novel is not original. The writing is not great. However, there is just enough character development to make it readable. Don’t know if I will read the next book in the series.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrills and chills--twists and turns--non stop action as these explorers go to the Antarctic each with their own agenda. Ice Station Wolfenstein, deep under the ice, hides a terrifying secret. Who among them is trying to sabotage the expedition- Will they all escape with their lives?

I think you will like this book as much as I did!

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book overall. It started slow and I was about half way through when I realized that nothing had really happened yet. Once it did, though, it ramped up fast and furious and I am looking forward to seeing where this series is going.

[Jacob Pretorius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Reads really easy as the characters grow on you and by the end of the book you are left missing them and wanting to pick up the next one. The setting of the adventure was different making the story really interesting.

[Marti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually read this entire book (which is a testament to entertaining writing), but there were a frustratingly large number of holes in the plot and completely unbelievable events as well as editing errors. The ending was unsatisfying and disappointing with lots of loose ends.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

TERRIFIC PLOT!

Totally immersive, strong characters, lots of twists and turns. A few unanswered questions hanging on in the end but a series has to string together, right? Looking forward to the next book.

[irv Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book to read.

You are taken on a journey that will leave you wondering should they go on this journey. They wanted to know if this ice station was real or not , then the journey got real and scary. The author did a great job with the book.

[Owen Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about old German subs.

I liked the way everything was linked together and the subject matter was a new twist on an old trope. Did I mention that there were U-boats. It was a surprisingly good story.

[Kay Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of twists!

What a wild ride this book was. Twists and turns. Good guys turn bad. Bad guys end up good. Mystery, battles and eccentric characters flesh the story out. An ending that’s not. Great read!

[Donna Jahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book

Nice blend of old history and new . The ending was surprising but not predictable. One was left wondering about the Fate of some of the crew. ! good read

[Sherron L Pace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history and not history novel

So descriptive you can visualise the Ice Station. Great twists and suspense well worth reading. I recommend a good way to spend an evening.

[Chaplain Stanley Chapin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out interesting

The further you read the more it started to unravel. By the end it was so far from believability, that you wondered why you read it.

[Phil Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

Starts out very well but then drags on. A lot of illogical thought processes which slows the flow as well

[Anthony Yvonnica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, action packed story and the beginning of a long series which I hope will keep my interest for a few weeks to come

[Thomas A Peden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grand Adventure

Interesting story that included a Antarctic expedition and numerous twists in the story line.
Good "escape" reading, but hard to follow.

[Mark Melly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

It is well written and enjoyable although the plot is basic and has been used before.
Easy and pleasant reading though

[S M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author developed plot well, but the ending could have been better, if all the threads were terminated . Some were left hanging.