Beneath the Dark Ice

By: Greig Beck

Narrated by: Sean Mangan

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

When a plane crashes into the Antarctic ice, exposing a massive cave beneath, a rescue and research team is dispatched. Twenty-four hours later, all contact is lost. Captain Alex Hunter and his highly trained squad of commandos are fast tracked to the hot zone to find out what went wrong - and to follow up the detection of a vast underground reservoir. Accompanying the team is an assortment of researchers, including petrobiologist Aimee Weir. If the unidentified substance proves to be an energy source, every country in the world will want to know about it - some would even kill for it. Once inserted into the cave system, they don't find any survivors - not even a trace of their bodies. Primeval hieroglyphs hint at an ancient civilisation, and an ancient danger. Spectres of the dead haunt the tunnels. Within hours, one of the party will die. To bring his team out alive, Alex will need every one of his mysterious abilities beneath the dark ice.

©2009 Greig Beck (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Yay! A new favorite author!

Alex Hunter is the perfect superhero. I fell in love right along with Amy. I hope to read many more of these books!

Great Struggle to Survive

Would you listen to Beneath the Dark Ice again? Why?

I will listen to Beneath the Dark Ice to have the thrill ride again and see if I missed anything from the first time.

Fun and entertaining

It is exactly what you expect. Easy to listen to, keeps you entertained! Will definitely check out more from this author.

Epic and suspenseful! Must read!

This book book was masterfully written with exceptional characters, plot developments, and suspense. If you love science fiction, suspense, and great descriptive writing, then this book is for you!

Not bad, but not original.

I know I'm cheesy but I'm always up for a good monster book and this one was full of them, including the human variety. The book itself wasn't bad, I would rate it at 3.5. There are lots of characters that are really only fodder for mayhem, but what confused me was that the story had so many points of views it was a bit overwhelming at first, especially since most of them died off anyway. Ok I can suspend disbelief and say there's an unknown eco system underneath the ice, and I can also suspend my disbelief that Alex Hunter was changed with his brain damage after being shot in the head. What I had a hard time believing was the fact that the brain damage made him stronger. Why? I could have believed that he was psychic, super smart or super senses but to actually be able to lift up 1200 lbs. was a bit of a stretch. I think the main characters could have had a bit more depth infused into them, but I did like them. This book reminds me of a strange mix of Lincoln Childs and Clive Cussler writings (only not as good) and the movies AVP/Evolution. Narrator was okay, he was a bit drawl for my taste but I got use to him.

I wanted to love this but....

This was a 20,000 Leagues, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Tremors, The Thing, and The Blob all mixed in one story. I really really wanted to love this as I love chilly Arctic stories. First there isn't a lot of Arctic or Antarctic in this story other than it being the setting, its all underground where it's warm.


MINOR SPOILERS:

I didn't hate it but I did find myself struggling to finish and at a few points wondering how the heck there was still 4+ hours left. A little slow and unrealistic at points that shouldn't be unrealistic, like the soldiers being very "meh" at the death of a fellow comrade as well as the "chain of command", no way the military would allow civilian scientist to run the show, especially when it hits the fan. Additionally, how the one "bad guy" managed to make it out when the main group struggled for hours kind of blows my mind.

The prologue with the Roanoke colony was pretty cool though, along with the storyline in the caverns. However again unrealistic as no scientist I can think of would disturb a historic grave without proper preservation equipment. Also, I'm kind of annoyed about the last character that was killed off.

Overall, wasn't the worst book ever, but certainly not my favorite.
I do like the main character and his super powers and will consider the other books in the series.

Guilty pleasure action novel

Would you listen to Beneath the Dark Ice again? Why?

Yep. Interesting story with interesting characters. It is a relatively straightforward plot line with good guys and bad guys put in almost implausibly precarious situations. The main character - Alex Hunter - is the protagonist of the series and is introduced in this book. He starts as a normal soldier and as the result of (trying to avoid spoilers), he becomes a super soldier. What I enjoyed about this premise is that he isn't just a Superman super soldier and we also encounter the downsides to his new situation. This becomes a recurring theme in the books and one I particularly enjoy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beneath the Dark Ice?

The backstory behind the monster (human and otherwise). It really added dimension to the book and engaged me as a listener.

What about Sean Mangan’s performance did you like?

Overall, good pace and cadence. Every once in a while I was irked by pronunciation, but nothing that was too awful.

Any additional comments?

I listened to it while running and it made it easy to literally go the extra mile. It is action-laden and easy to follow. Not a deep, thought-provoking book but a very fun escape.

Death and more death

Great writing style, and wonder terrifying adventure. Death is a natural part of these tales and I understood that going in, but the author takes it too far reducing the novel to a slasher flick. don't get attached to anyone and I mean anyone in this book. I may never forgive the author for his last major character kill off. Grieg Beck is the monster of this tale.

Could no put it down!

I have not read any books by this author before, but I will look for more now. Great story line. Interesting caricatures and great suspense.

narrator incorrectly pronounced words

Would have given 5 stats except for being driven mad by this narrator not knowing how to properly pronounce some words, especially debris which he continously pronounce "deb ree"