One day I was browsing the bargain shelves of our local Big Chain bookstore and came across a book called Temple by some guy named Matthew Reilly. The cover art had the flavor of South American jungle ruins, a favorite topic of mine. It was a hardcover, first American edition, discounted to five bucks so what did I have to lose? I grabbed it up.

Thus began my introduction to one of the most entertaining action/thriller authors I have read in a long time. His books are pure adventure, a roller coaster ride that is nonstop from first page to last. Reilly’s books read like a Clive Cussler book on steroids! and Cussler isn’t exactly known for stodgy, slow paced writing. If you are looking for deep character studies, Reilly is not the author for you. One wit has remarked that there is so little character development in Reilly’s books because no-one lives long enough for that to happen - a critique that Reilly freely admits to himself. Yet he has the knack of giving each player in his stories just enough individuality that they do come across as living, breathing people, and as a result, you do care what happens to them.

Ice Station is Reilly’s first professionally published book, and is my favorite of the four books he has written up to the time of this review. It is actually his second book, as he self published a book called Contest in his native Australia. Contest was later reworked and republished as his fourth book. Yeah, this gets a bit complicated. Temple was his second professionally published book, followed by a book called Area 7.

Contest is more of a science fiction/thriller and is his only book with a heavy SF element. The other three books are the action/adventure thrillers, more in the vein of Michael Crichton or John Grisham. Ice Station introduces Reilly’s best character, lieutenant Shane Schofield, leader of a United States Marine Corps Recon unit. Schofield is better known by his nickname, Scarecrow, a moniker that no-one really knows how he got, but may have something to do with the fact that no-one has ever seen his eyes, they’re being perpetually hidden behind a pair of reflective silver antiflash sunglasses.

The book opens at a remote Antarctic American research facility, Wilkes Ice Station. There scientists find something buried deep beneath the coastal ice shelf, something made of metal, even though it is buried beneath a 100 million year old layer of ice. It is potentially the greatest discovery in the history of exploration. A team of divers is sent down to investigate only to be butchered by some unknown, unseen force. A frantic distress signal is broadcast on an open frequency, then only silence. Schofield and his marines are sent in to find out what the scientists found and why they are no longer responding to repeated radio calls for further details.

Upon arrival, Schofield is surprised to find there are survivors among the Americans, including a scientist named Sarah, her twelve year old daughter Kirsty, and the young girl’s pet seal, Wendy. Also at the station are a group of French scientists, from an equally remote Antarctic outpost, but one closest to the American station. The French came at the initial call for assistance. But are they really there to help, or do they have an agenda of their own?

Schofield barely has time to assess the situation when All Hell Breaks Loose. The battle for possession of Wilkes Ice Station has begun. Who is friend and who is foe? And what sinister force awaits them down in the depths of the ice? Schofield must try to stay alive long enough to find out the answers.