Book Review: Beyond the Ice Limit by Preston And Child

Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A much wanted sequel to a story that went full fledged downhill for all important characters.

I was hooked to the first part Ice Limit and its climax was an absolute banger. All important characters were simply tossed into the plot and played about mercilessly.

This sequel was good, well-researched and fast-paced as well.

The first 50 pages of theme setting and introducing some new characters were a dull drag. None of the new characters played a pivotal role to leave imprints in the readers’ minds.

As Gideon Crew became more involved with the story, it felt again like Eli Glinn is the actual protagonist and rest are all supporting characters. Gideon didn’t do anything remarkable or jaw-opening throughout the book.

The Baobab or the alien entity was the only character development intensely researched and put forward. The entity threatened us with every single scene it came into picture. It exuded enigmatic and an eerie presence and the fear of the unknown was always creeping steadily inside our heads.

The worm subplot causing complete mayhem inside the ship was up to a certain level entertaining, but I felt it was bit overdone and simply used to kill off all the supporting characters.

Climax was a complete let-down in the whole novel. The authors simply got tired with the plot that they decided to bring it to an abrupt good end. The nuke idea and the destruction of the Baobab, survival of the important characters like Gideon, Sam, Glinn, Garza was a bit far-fetched. A good read, overall.



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Book Review: Zero Day by David Baldacci

Zero Day by David Baldacci

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Baldacci at it again! Among his different series, I have read reviews on John Puller ones are really good. So, I thought of buying the first one – Zero Day.

How was it? Well, a brilliant narrative first of all. Unlike other Baldacci novels, this one has a plotline that mostly sits on suspense rather than thriller. I loved the way he built the suspense enough to get to the final part.

Yet again an all powerful protagonist John Puller – his character portrayal was really impressive because this novel is mostly about him. He is left all alone to dig and solve a murder case which turns out to be a much bigger issue. Samantha Cole was a realistic character developed as the female lead and Baldacci builds romantic tension at places with very subtle and nuance writings that I adored it.

Coming to the plot – a terrorist tragedy unfolding in the final chapters which also goes for a twist at the end. Well researched and written. Choice of premise and the background of the place added more credibility to the plot. The people at higher echelons in the Pentagon simply dusting Puller away sounded more convincing of the politics in this field.

Suspense was well handled and broken once, twice and then at the last as well. The main culprit behind the whole issue was hated by me when the author revealed and though it was a cinematic showdown, I liked the climax. There is a nail biting sequence which made me hold my breath, only to realise that a beloved character tragically dies. It was heart-breaking arc.

Overall a great read for the year end.



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