Out of the Ice in Aussie Readers

Mar 02, 2016 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, net-galley, read-on-kindle, 2016-release, own-read, thriller, arc

Working in the Antarctic was a dream come true for environmental scientist Dr Laura Alvarado – her love of the wild animals; the beauty of the whales; the majesty of the penguins – meant every day was filled with contentment. The peace and serenity which surrounded her meant she didn’t miss her home in Melbourne Australia; her mother rang and emailed Laura often. The day Georgia, her boss, told Laura she had been chosen to do a special report on an abandoned whaling station with the view of allo Working in the Antarctic was a dream come true for environmental scientist Dr Laura Alvarado – her love of the wild animals; the beauty of the whales; the majesty of the penguins – meant every day was filled with contentment. The peace and serenity which surrounded her meant she didn’t miss her home in Melbourne Australia; her mother rang and emailed Laura often. The day Georgia, her boss, told Laura she had been chosen to do a special report on an abandoned whaling station with the view of allowing tourists to the area – even though it was currently a closed zone where only a specific few could visit, was the day her life would change irrevocably…

When Laura began to suspect something was going on that she wouldn’t be privy to, Georgia sent her colleague Kate to work by her side – between the two of them they hoped to finalise the report plus get to the bottom of the mystery. But when they encountered the strange behaviour of the seals and penguins and their aggressive nature, Kate and Laura both knew something was terribly wrong – their behaviour wasn’t normal. The horrors of the machinery at the old whaling station began playing tricks on Laura’s mind – and when she saw the terrified person behind the ice wall under the ocean, she was sure she must have been on the job for too long. Spending too much time in the icy reaches of the Antarctic was known to affect people – maybe that was her problem…

Would heading to Nantucket to find answers be the right thing to do? Or would there end up being many more questions? As Laura unearthed the horrifying secrets of the past, it seemed they were connected to current events. The clock was ticking faster; events were careening out of control – could Laura stop it all before it was too late?

Out of the Ice by Aussie author Ann Turner is another gripping thriller which I literally flew through. A fabulous and unique plot, the backdrop of the freezing Antarctic with the penguins and seals was wonderful – the mystery and suspense surrounding the characters was well crafted and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Great entertainment and a novel I have no hesitation in recommending highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy to read in exchange for my honest review.
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Jun 02, 2016 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, contemporary, aww2016, mystery

When I first heard about this book a few months ago, I absolutely knew I had to read it. I love books set in Antarctica. Doesn’t really matter what they’re about, anything set there immediately goes straight on my wishlist. There’s something so fascinating about it – the isolation, the harsh landscape, the protected wildlife. The fact that really, it’s close to us but utterly foreign. The people that have died, trying to conquer it. It makes for one of the best settings, in my opinion.

Laura is a When I first heard about this book a few months ago, I absolutely knew I had to read it. I love books set in Antarctica. Doesn’t really matter what they’re about, anything set there immediately goes straight on my wishlist. There’s something so fascinating about it – the isolation, the harsh landscape, the protected wildlife. The fact that really, it’s close to us but utterly foreign. The people that have died, trying to conquer it. It makes for one of the best settings, in my opinion.

Laura is an environmental scientist assigned to a station in Antarctica when she is unexpectedly sent to an abandoned whaling station, a forbidden area. Charged with an impact study to see if it could be opened up as a tourist prospect, Laura is alarmed by the strange happenings on the base nearby as well as some signs of life in a place that supposedly hasn’t been touched in fifty years. She’s even more disturbed by the fact that the local protected wildlife, which should be curious about her but not alarmed, are terrified and overprotective, going so far as to attack her. That suggest to Laura that they’ve been given reason to be afraid of humans…..something very strange is going on, Laura is sure of it. However Antarctica has a way of getting to you, of making your mind play tricks so Laura needs someone she can trust. Her colleague Kate and her boss Georgia are two likely candidates. If there’s something sinister going on, they will find out.

This book had me hooked from the very beginning, when Kate and Laura are observing a penguin colony. Penguins are my absolute favourite animals and the idea of doing what Kate and Laura were doing, observing them in their habitat, following them through their mating and breeding cycles sounds so amazing. Especially as the penguins are not particularly frightened of humans – they have no reason to be. Their predators are in the ocean and the scientists have never given them cause for fear. From there the book just escalates as Laura is sent to do the study on the abandoned whaling station, something that weighs heavily on her. Antarctica has a bloody history, slaughtering many species almost to extinction – in some years, the numbers of a particular species killed could be as many as 25,000. Even today the Japanese for example, still attempt whaling in Antarctic waters, ostensibly for “research”, despite numerous actions by other countries such as Australia, and organisations that seek to protect them. In fact according to this article, Japanese whalers killed over 300 minke whales in the 2015-16 season, including 200 pregnant females.

When Laura spots some signs of life at the abandoned whaling community, I was really intrigued – especially after what she thinks she sees behind a wall of ice: a face, begging her for help. I have to admit that I really did not pick the direction in which the book was heading and the more that Laura managed to uncover, the more horrifying the situation became. In order to get the answers she needs, Laura does have to leave Antarctica and for me, I did feel that once the action relocated, I really was just hanging out for the time that it returned down south. I know that she needed to find the answers elsewhere and that included travelling to Nantucket and then Venice before she could return to Antarctica with the knowledge she needed to create the full picture as well as how to go about exposing it.

Out Of The Ice was an unputdownable thriller that took me in unexpected directions with some truly expert twists. The beauty of Antarctica was showcased wonderfully, with a bit of a glimpse into a bloodied past. I wasn’t 100% sure on the ending…for me it did feel really neat and perhaps a little unlikely but I think it attempted to give the reader a sense of satisfaction and closure. All in all, a very good read and one I enjoyed a lot. ...more

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Nov 03, 2016 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, australian-authors, reading-list-2016, owned, 5-stars, bookclub

I was caught up in this one from the very beginning. I loved that it was so fast-paced, but with great descriptions of Antarctica, the penguins, the seals, the blizzards, the ice - I almost felt like I was there! I haven’t read many books set in Antarctica, but it does interest me, although not enough to go there myself, so I will have to make do with reading about it! And it was a clever idea for a story - as I read page after page, I was questioning who was trustworthy and what was really happ ...more

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Jun 04, 2018 Jenny Delandro rated it really liked it

This book has a slow start for me.. But the variety and complexity of subjects dealt with grabbed my attention.
The main story centres around Laura, an environmental scientist (as is my daughter), who specializes in marine biology..whales and penguins, primarily in Antarctica.
She is requested to prepare a report on possible tourist impact on an abandoned whaling village, and her world begins to unravel.
Truely a terrific story! Every emotion is played with by the author, a rare talent, and I will ...more

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