Reviews

Ice Hunt by James Rollins

leahreadsalot's review against another edition

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2.0

My first Rollins was The Doomsday Key, which fast-paced--really lame passages in parts, but fast-paced nonetheless. Ice Hunt moved more slowly, contained more lame passages: "...the assassin smiled, feral. Perfect white teeth. Whoever the man worked for, they had a good dental plan." Wtf?! Who cares about his teeth? He's an ASSASSIN, ready to kill the bizarrely observant victim. And there was a baffling extended metaphor about a football right in the middle of a passage about explosives and scary walking-whales. BUTTTT honestly--that's not why I read the "thrillers" as they are called by the library. I like the action, the twisty plot, and all that jazz.

Overall, Ice Hunt addressed the idea of the US government experimenting on people (in this case, freezing people to awaken them years later), scary ice monsters, and had an ending that gave me the willies! Ice Hunt offered an aspect of the X-Files. I just couldn't give it 4 stars. Not as exciting as the other one I read.

tasteepig's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Decent read with a twist towards the last act.

gbdill's review against another edition

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3.0

This story started out to be one of the best Rollins books I have ever read. A lot of adventure, scientific thriller, intrigue, and cool chase scenes and manhunts. But, the story dragged on way too long. I soon got lost with all the different groups that got separated on the arctic ice cap with all the different gunfights and chase scenes. It became a big blur to me. I can't count how many times submarines surfaced and then submerged. I can't count how many times gunfights broke out between the Russians and the Omega team. The story became too fragmented and disjointed that I had totally lost interest in the book. The ending wasn't too spectacular either. This would have been an excellent story if at least a dozen chase/fight scenes were deleted and 100 pages cut. But, because it dragged on way too long and all the fragmented adventure scenes became too blurry, I give this a 3-star rating.

rie23233323's review against another edition

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1.0

This one was a struggle to get through. I wanted to stop multiple times but i hate leaving a book without knowing what happens. The ice whales were ridiculous there was way too much happening in the book. I loved Map of Bones and was excited to read more by this author. Ill try one more book but this one was not entertaining.

liberrydude's review against another edition

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3.0

An intriguing and interesting idea that is marred by over the top reveals and outrageous tactical decisions and employment. You are left wondering who the good guys are in this arctic showdown that covers climate change, nuclear Armageddon, immortality, and the Grendel from Beowulf.

ruthiemacgregor's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

spiderkitten's review against another edition

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3.0

I found this novel a bit hard to get through. The story wasn't bad and there was certainly plenty of action however I found it a slow read, and it really felt like it was dragging in parts, particularly in the latter half.

There was a large range of interesting characters but I thought the story jumped between different groupings of people so often that I started to lose any sense of who was where and when, who was alive and who was injured or dead. And I don't feel like any of the characters was really used to their full potential. I was left wondering why some of the characters needed to be there in the first place.

On reflection, it almost feels like there was just too much going on in this novel. Too many locations, too many characters, too much going back and forth between locations. A simpler, less cluttered storyline would have made for a better read in my opinion.

As an action thriller it paled in comparison to other novels with similar premises and settings, but on the whole it wasn't a terrible read.

novelesque_life's review against another edition

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4.0

I will be doing a reread and will write the review at that time.

hquin's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

zenithharpink's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 starts. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read! I am usually a little stressed when animals are included in books like this, but I was glad to read Rollins has a background as a vet - and I'm glad to say he didn't disappoint me.

The story was fascinating, it was multi-faceted, and just believable enough to be grounded. I liked the characters and the international as well as "cold" angle. Ultimately, I wanted a little more from the epilogue but it was just barely enough to be satisfying.

I recommend this book to all fans of strong stories. As thrillers go, this is good entry in the genre!