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Antarctica is supposed to be under international control, but each of the major countries have staked out claims. Scientists at an isolated US base on the coast, send divers down to try and investigate an anomalous reading over 1000 feet below. There appears to be a large chunk of metal encased in the ice. The divers go in, but they don't come out. So a distress signal is sent to the larger base at McMurdo sound. An elite team of Marines is dispatched. They arrive on 2 large hovercraft, but not before they encounter a crashed snowspeeder with several dead men on board. By the time Lt. Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield and his elite team of men and women arrive at the base, the French has taken control, in the guise of helping the remaining scientists to get back to civilization. In reality, the French want to claim the "spaceship" for themselves. They no sooner defeat the French then an elite corps of British soldiers come rampaging in. There are all sorts of characters here: the 12 year old math wiz, Kirsty, and her pet seal Wendy. The real scientists and the fake ones. The real patriots and the fake ones. The French and English forces, individually trying to take over the station and its secrets. The brave and patriotic Americans, and the brave and super-patriotic Americans. All taking part in a rip-roaring sort of boy's own adventure on and under the ice of the enigmatic continent at the southern tip of the planet. I had the British edition which runs to 689 pages in the paperback edition. I read it on the 6 hour flight to London from Boston, with time out for a meal, a snack and a couple of naps. I recommend this book for a companion on a long flight. It will keep you amused throughout. It is the first of Reilly's novels to be published in the US but I read TEMPLE, the second, about 2 years ago. His first was a self published scifi adventure that may not be available outside his native Australia. Good airplane reading. Just leave your critical senses behind.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, September 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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