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Deep Freeze
Sub zero temperatures slice across the beaches of Santa Monica. A blinding blizzard whips through Hollywood. Swimming pools turn to solid blocks of ice. Roads are impassible. Cars have been abandoned. And as night falls, so does hope...
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 7, 2005
69 people want to read
About the author
Thom Racina
24 books10 followersFrom: http://www.thomracina.com/about.html
Thom Racina hails from Kenosha, Wisconsin, went to school in Albuquerque and Chicago, where he got a MFA in Theatre Arts and Directing, lived in Los Angeles for 25 years, but now makes his home in Palm Springs, California. He's an accomplished pianist, loves to cook, and is a travel junkie—he's when he's in Row 3 on any American Airlines plane.
Next to books, theatre and music are Thom's passion, and he's authored several musicals for children: "Allison Wonderland," the Alice story retold as she falls into a television set (with a new version just produced as "Allison Webland"), "The Wizard of Odds," with an anti-bullying theme, "The Marvelous Misadventure of Sherlock Holmes," and a contemporary musical version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." All four plays are published by Samuel French, Inc. and are performed all over the world.
To put himself through college—Thom graduated from Chicago's famed Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute with an MFA in Theatre Arts and Directing—he wrote books he wouldn't put his name on. Westerns, romances, porn, whatever the publisher needed that weekend (he wrote over 200 of them in about 3 years). He graduated to mainstream publishing with a take-off on The Happy Hooker called "The Happy Hustler" (Warner Books), which he invented in a weekend, and sold three million copies, spawning three sequels. He then ghost-wrote seven books for Xaviera Hollander (The Happy Hooker), made up life stories for Ivory Soap girl-turned-porn-star Marilyn Chambers and Fanne Fox (Wilbur Mills and the Tidal Basin), and turned out 25 novelizations of TV shows and major motion pictures. He has been published by Warner, Dell, NAL, Berkeley, Ace, Putnam and Penguin. In total, he authored 212 books before his breakthrough success with Blizzard.
"The Great Los Angeles Blizzard," published by Putnam's in 1977, and which was to become the basis for the ratings-breaking "Ice Princess" story on General Hospital (snow on Port Charles), was a best seller at a time when disaster stories were the rage.
In the 19 years between Blizzard and his next novel, Thom gave the world over 4,000 broadcast hours of General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, Another World, Santa Barbara, Generations and Search for Tomorrow, besides writing for the much-acclaimed nighttime series, Family. As head writer for the soaps, he received five Emmy nominations, one specifically for Luke and Laura's wedding on GH, the single highest-rated episode in daytime history. He also worked in Hamburg and Toronto writing Family Passions, a Canadian/German production. In 2012, he served as co-head writer (with his dear friend Susie Bedsow Horgan) of the online reboot of One Life to Live. Of his years writing serials, he says, "It was a treadmill, but so much fun to play God."
Thom has over a million copies of his thrillers in print:
"Snow Angel," published in hardcover in 1996 and in mass market in 1997, has been translated into five languages. Romantic Times called it "a breathtaking read, a devilish treat that will leave you crying for more." It was bought for the movies three times, but never made it to the screen. Thom still has hope.
"Hidden Agenda," a political thriller, was published in hardcover by Dutton in 1998, and was the lead Onyx paperback title for March 1999.
"Secret Weekend," a thriller set in Honolulu and Hong Kong, was published by Penguin/Putnam (NAL) in November 1999.
"The Madman's Diary," a thriller set in Palm Springs and Mexico's Baja Peninsula, was published by Penguin/Putnam (NAL) in the summer of 2000.
"Never Forget," set in Paris, Amsterdam and Hollywood, is Thom Racina's Sidney Sheldon thriller, jet set, bigger than life, older woman, younger man and the girl that comes between them--in other words, passion can kill. Published by NAL in the fall of 2002.
"Deadly Games" published in December 2003 tells the tale of Practice Run, a computer game that's captiva
Thom Racina hails from Kenosha, Wisconsin, went to school in Albuquerque and Chicago, where he got a MFA in Theatre Arts and Directing, lived in Los Angeles for 25 years, but now makes his home in Palm Springs, California. He's an accomplished pianist, loves to cook, and is a travel junkie—he's when he's in Row 3 on any American Airlines plane.
Next to books, theatre and music are Thom's passion, and he's authored several musicals for children: "Allison Wonderland," the Alice story retold as she falls into a television set (with a new version just produced as "Allison Webland"), "The Wizard of Odds," with an anti-bullying theme, "The Marvelous Misadventure of Sherlock Holmes," and a contemporary musical version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." All four plays are published by Samuel French, Inc. and are performed all over the world.
To put himself through college—Thom graduated from Chicago's famed Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute with an MFA in Theatre Arts and Directing—he wrote books he wouldn't put his name on. Westerns, romances, porn, whatever the publisher needed that weekend (he wrote over 200 of them in about 3 years). He graduated to mainstream publishing with a take-off on The Happy Hooker called "The Happy Hustler" (Warner Books), which he invented in a weekend, and sold three million copies, spawning three sequels. He then ghost-wrote seven books for Xaviera Hollander (The Happy Hooker), made up life stories for Ivory Soap girl-turned-porn-star Marilyn Chambers and Fanne Fox (Wilbur Mills and the Tidal Basin), and turned out 25 novelizations of TV shows and major motion pictures. He has been published by Warner, Dell, NAL, Berkeley, Ace, Putnam and Penguin. In total, he authored 212 books before his breakthrough success with Blizzard.
"The Great Los Angeles Blizzard," published by Putnam's in 1977, and which was to become the basis for the ratings-breaking "Ice Princess" story on General Hospital (snow on Port Charles), was a best seller at a time when disaster stories were the rage.
In the 19 years between Blizzard and his next novel, Thom gave the world over 4,000 broadcast hours of General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, Another World, Santa Barbara, Generations and Search for Tomorrow, besides writing for the much-acclaimed nighttime series, Family. As head writer for the soaps, he received five Emmy nominations, one specifically for Luke and Laura's wedding on GH, the single highest-rated episode in daytime history. He also worked in Hamburg and Toronto writing Family Passions, a Canadian/German production. In 2012, he served as co-head writer (with his dear friend Susie Bedsow Horgan) of the online reboot of One Life to Live. Of his years writing serials, he says, "It was a treadmill, but so much fun to play God."
Thom has over a million copies of his thrillers in print:
"Snow Angel," published in hardcover in 1996 and in mass market in 1997, has been translated into five languages. Romantic Times called it "a breathtaking read, a devilish treat that will leave you crying for more." It was bought for the movies three times, but never made it to the screen. Thom still has hope.
"Hidden Agenda," a political thriller, was published in hardcover by Dutton in 1998, and was the lead Onyx paperback title for March 1999.
"Secret Weekend," a thriller set in Honolulu and Hong Kong, was published by Penguin/Putnam (NAL) in November 1999.
"The Madman's Diary," a thriller set in Palm Springs and Mexico's Baja Peninsula, was published by Penguin/Putnam (NAL) in the summer of 2000.
"Never Forget," set in Paris, Amsterdam and Hollywood, is Thom Racina's Sidney Sheldon thriller, jet set, bigger than life, older woman, younger man and the girl that comes between them--in other words, passion can kill. Published by NAL in the fall of 2002.
"Deadly Games" published in December 2003 tells the tale of Practice Run, a computer game that's captiva
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 20, 2022
Ugh. I couldn't even get to page 25 without feeling nauseated by the shallowness of the characters. I knew that I wouldn't care about what happened to any of them so why carry on with the book. This, not to mention it all seemed a bit convoluted. This book has been relegated to the free give away pile.
April 29, 2016
Could not get in to this one at all. Made it about 100 pages and was not keeping my attention at all.
October 31, 2017
Author Thom Racina delivers a story strong on suspense and thrills, but lacking critical character development. This equals out to a fairly average book. Had he been able to elevate at least one major character to a degree we would care about would have made this a much stronger offering. As it is, story is a bit outrageous but fun to speculate about. It was over 100 degrees when I read it, so that was cool, lol! A good beach or pool read but that is about all!
May 13, 2020
This book is an insult to the reader's intelligence! Poorly written, all over the place, way too many insignificant characters, etc. And living in a area getting a whole lot of snow myself, the story sounded even more ridiculous because totally impossible (roofs caving in because of 3 inches of wet snow.... Yeah, sure. And don't get me started on the "it's the end of the world" dramatic effects) worst book I read so far this year!
December 28, 2023
Good Book
April 27, 2025
Underwhelming
January 29, 2014
I thought this would be an appropriate book for January of 2014, with all the crazy weather we're having.
Deep Freeze is basically a disaster book. Extremely cold weather falls onto California. It starts with snow and ice storms and carries through with relentless cold, below zero Fahrenheit temperatures. The Californians are underprepared for this sudden chill. There is a dearth of warm winter clothes, snow plows, snow tires, ice scrapers, long underwear. Things that northern dwellers take for granted.
Life basically shuts down. Supplies are cut off. Fires erupt from overtaxed heaters and many buildings in the city (Los Angeles) burn down. Panic descends over the residents. Looting becomes widespread as they plunder for necessary items like food and clothes. To add to the chaos, a radical religious cult is declaring the end times.
The plot centers around one family: parents, their grown children and one infant grandchild, and their spouses. They have their thorny issues, their grudges and resentments as well as their desire to endure this disaster with everyone intact.
Deep Freeze is basically a disaster book. Extremely cold weather falls onto California. It starts with snow and ice storms and carries through with relentless cold, below zero Fahrenheit temperatures. The Californians are underprepared for this sudden chill. There is a dearth of warm winter clothes, snow plows, snow tires, ice scrapers, long underwear. Things that northern dwellers take for granted.
Life basically shuts down. Supplies are cut off. Fires erupt from overtaxed heaters and many buildings in the city (Los Angeles) burn down. Panic descends over the residents. Looting becomes widespread as they plunder for necessary items like food and clothes. To add to the chaos, a radical religious cult is declaring the end times.
The plot centers around one family: parents, their grown children and one infant grandchild, and their spouses. They have their thorny issues, their grudges and resentments as well as their desire to endure this disaster with everyone intact.
April 22, 2012
Hmm. Racina isn't a bad author. This is my first book of his so I've no idea whether his earlier or later stuff is any good, assuming that either exists!
Deep Freeze is interesting. Of necessity Racina really has to focus on one family surviving the snowstorm which really doesn't become clear until far into the novel. That family is interesting but shallowly drawn, you never really get to like anyone as there is no main character that becomes the protagonist. I suspect Racina knew early on that the subject was far too vast for a beach blanket novel and in the hands of all but a few authors this type of story could falter quite easily. He gave it his best and in doing so, gets an honourable mention for the attempt. However, up on the shelf where I keep the best EOW stories, Racinas novel will not find a home. While Deep Freeze is only about California, the premise is firmly intact here and he addresses it globally, oh so lightly. Even in much more capable hands this story would have needed 300 more pages.
Deep Freeze is interesting. Of necessity Racina really has to focus on one family surviving the snowstorm which really doesn't become clear until far into the novel. That family is interesting but shallowly drawn, you never really get to like anyone as there is no main character that becomes the protagonist. I suspect Racina knew early on that the subject was far too vast for a beach blanket novel and in the hands of all but a few authors this type of story could falter quite easily. He gave it his best and in doing so, gets an honourable mention for the attempt. However, up on the shelf where I keep the best EOW stories, Racinas novel will not find a home. While Deep Freeze is only about California, the premise is firmly intact here and he addresses it globally, oh so lightly. Even in much more capable hands this story would have needed 300 more pages.
October 21, 2007
Starts slow, the writing isn't great, but it actually grows on you and turns out to be a fairly good story.
November 27, 2011
This novel served its purpose of providing a quick holiday read...
May 31, 2016
Decent read.
Catastrophic event action story.
A little light on material action.
Worth the $3.20 in the used bin.
Read it at the beach and leave it behind.
Catastrophic event action story.
A little light on material action.
Worth the $3.20 in the used bin.
Read it at the beach and leave it behind.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews