Book Review: "Ice Bound" by Dean Koontz

This book is a thrill a second. I think Dean Koontz may have written the perfect thriller here with "Ice Bound." First you have scientists adrift on an iceberg during a harsh storm with no rescue. Next he throws in that at midnight the iceberg will blow up due to explosives planted deep within the ice. And then as if that weren't enough there is someone among the scientific team that is out to kill another member, and no one knows who. To paraphrase Chandler from TV's "Friends," "Could you put any more suspense in this story?"

Scientists have figured a possible way to bring water to parts of the world that are prone to droughts, Bring them an Ice Berg. Sure, when it melts there's some pure water, but how do you get the berg to the people? A team of scientists are trying to develop that answer by tracking an ice berg's natural path and how much work the berg will do on it's own. The problem is you need an ice berg.

A team of scientists decide to plant a radio tracking device on the ice shelf and then explode a chunk of the shelf making their own iceberg. The problems start when earthquakes in the area create a tsunami and cause a chunk of the ice shelf to break off, while the scientists are putting on the finishing touches of the explosives. Yes, it is the same chunk the scientists have set camp on and this chunk includes their explosives. So now they have to get off the berg before midnight. But wait, there's a huge storm that prevents any form of rescue from arriving for about 3 days. Also this is a temporary camp so they were not prepared to spend more than a day on the ice in sub-zero temperatures.

So the alternative is to try to get rid of the bombs...they are buried under 60 feet of ice and the equipment breaks after the 3rd (of 10) bomb. While this creates a "safer" zone, the iceberg will still blow and could topple so no safe zone really exists. At this time one of the members of the team is attacked and left to freeze to death, thus it is discovered that a murderer is now amongst them. But only 3 team members know about the attempt and all others are under suspicion.

Dean Koontz actually wrote this book back in 1976 under his then pseudonym of David Axton and it was originally titled "Prison of Ice." In 1995, he massively rewrote and revised this book to create this masterpiece thriller, "Ice Bound."