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gossamerwingedgazelle's review against another edition
Perhaps exciting, but too unrealistic.
midici's review against another edition
2.0
*2.5 stars
I get that this book is just meant to be an entertaining thriller, but it was still pretty bad. Mostly because it did not know what sort of story it wanted to be.
It's about scientists who accidentally discover a lost city! No, a lost ecosystem and a lost city! Except it's actually about a group of elite soldiers, one of whom is an actual super soldier (though if his treatment is so effective why they don't give every soldier super powers is unexplained). And the soldiers have a grudge match with some other Russian soldiers! There is a subpar romance with the main female scientist and super soldier that is doomed to failure "because she can never truly know him." There's a lot of running away from the giant squid monster. There's several parts about one archeologist managing to determine that this city is the precursor to several ancient civilizations and was more advanced than all of them put together and he can magically read entire histories of their hieroglyphics despite the fact that they're totally new and never previously discovered.
It's a mess. I mean, I enjoyed it, kind of, but it was a mess.
I get that this book is just meant to be an entertaining thriller, but it was still pretty bad. Mostly because it did not know what sort of story it wanted to be.
It's about scientists who accidentally discover a lost city! No, a lost ecosystem and a lost city! Except it's actually about a group of elite soldiers, one of whom is an actual super soldier (though if his treatment is so effective why they don't give every soldier super powers is unexplained). And the soldiers have a grudge match with some other Russian soldiers! There is a subpar romance with the main female scientist and super soldier that is doomed to failure "because she can never truly know him." There's a lot of running away from the giant squid monster. There's several parts about one archeologist managing to determine that this city is the precursor to several ancient civilizations and was more advanced than all of them put together and he can magically read entire histories of their hieroglyphics despite the fact that they're totally new and never previously discovered.
It's a mess. I mean, I enjoyed it, kind of, but it was a mess.
elisra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
alexandrabree's review against another edition
5.0
So I love that, Beck gives a nod to Jules Verne on the very first page, and somewhere at the end of the book, there is a direct mention of lovecraft.
It is Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jurassic Park, The Lost Island, Jason Bourne, and Captain America tossed in a blender. It's absolutely epic!!!
I started book six and got so drawn into Alex Hunter 'super Hawk' that I had to put it down and search out the first few books before resuming (or flat out rereading book 6)
Creepy monster vibes, action-packed super spy mission impossible, romantic ultra sexy mysterious soft hearted strong solider. Dinosaurs and a lost world, Atlantis theory that makes me think of Randall Carlson and Graham Hancock.
Completely recommend
It is Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jurassic Park, The Lost Island, Jason Bourne, and Captain America tossed in a blender. It's absolutely epic!!!
I started book six and got so drawn into Alex Hunter 'super Hawk' that I had to put it down and search out the first few books before resuming (or flat out rereading book 6)
Creepy monster vibes, action-packed super spy mission impossible, romantic ultra sexy mysterious soft hearted strong solider. Dinosaurs and a lost world, Atlantis theory that makes me think of Randall Carlson and Graham Hancock.
Completely recommend
jacqueshol's review against another edition
3.0
I read the prequel (0.5) to this series a while back, and while it was okay, it didn't grab me. After putting off reading the series for some time, I decided to give Beneath the Dark Ice (1.0) a try. It was a fun read, but it tended to drag on a bit in the final 20% of the book. It felt like scenes were repeating themselves, and I felt the book could have been a bit shorter.
Sure, all the cliches are there - the bad doctor scientist, the damsels in distress, the hero that makes Superman look like a wimp, and many characters introduced for the sole purpose of dying, etc. Apologies if the latter is a minor spoiler, but no one reads these books expecting the main characters to die. But still, it provided entertainment, and I will give Dark Rising (book 2 in the series) a chance. Reviewing the ratings for the other books in the series, it does seem that each book rates better than the previous one. It is worth noticing that Beneath the Dark Ice was written in 2009, and Greig Beck's writing has come a long way since then. I believe that Beneath the Dark Ice was his first book published as indicated at https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/greig-beck/. I am therefore confident the series will improve.
Sure, all the cliches are there - the bad doctor scientist, the damsels in distress, the hero that makes Superman look like a wimp, and many characters introduced for the sole purpose of dying, etc. Apologies if the latter is a minor spoiler, but no one reads these books expecting the main characters to die. But still, it provided entertainment, and I will give Dark Rising (book 2 in the series) a chance. Reviewing the ratings for the other books in the series, it does seem that each book rates better than the previous one. It is worth noticing that Beneath the Dark Ice was written in 2009, and Greig Beck's writing has come a long way since then. I believe that Beneath the Dark Ice was his first book published as indicated at https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/greig-beck/. I am therefore confident the series will improve.
guardtristan's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not going into detail, I will just list a few things that really drove me a bit mad while reading:
- repeating things to make it obvious just HOW important those details are: First a character thinks about something, then he repeats it out loud (in the next sentence) to another character.
- not sure if it's a translation error or a author mess-up but I'm pretty positive a anticoagulant won't make your situation any better when you put it on a bleeding wound (to make it stop bleeding...)
- time jumps, time jumps everywhere
- for 100 pages, the batteries in their lamps run out - I can't even remember how many hours that was supposed to cover...
- the unlogical details, the mentioning of things that didn't needed to be said out loud... I really don't want to go into detail too much but like I said, maybe it's just a translation thing...
(It still gets a 3 of 5 because I was happy to get to read ANYTHING that has to do with something not usual)
- repeating things to make it obvious just HOW important those details are: First a character thinks about something, then he repeats it out loud (in the next sentence) to another character.
- not sure if it's a translation error or a author mess-up but I'm pretty positive a anticoagulant won't make your situation any better when you put it on a bleeding wound (to make it stop bleeding...)
- time jumps, time jumps everywhere
- for 100 pages, the batteries in their lamps run out - I can't even remember how many hours that was supposed to cover...
- the unlogical details, the mentioning of things that didn't needed to be said out loud... I really don't want to go into detail too much but like I said, maybe it's just a translation thing...
(It still gets a 3 of 5 because I was happy to get to read ANYTHING that has to do with something not usual)
malreynolds111's review against another edition
4.0
Right up my alley. got a bit of a sci/fi adventure feel. I just wish Australian authors were easier to get in the US. This reminded me a lot of Matt Reilly's books.
ads_1985's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5