Ice Station Zebra: A pulse-pounding suspense thriller set in the Arctic

Wow, I love this book, I devoured it like a drowning man reading instructions to inflate a life raft! The first person point-of-view, perfect for this story, gave me an immediate sense of being on ship and part of the action. It’s quickly established that the main character is hiding something, which I found incredibly compelling, and once I started mistrusting the narrator I had no idea what was about to happen. This is the first book I’ve read from Alistair MacLean, but this story is so well done that he has gone from vaguely famous to grand master as far as I’m concerned. I’ve already tracked down copies of his two Guns of Navarone novels which I plan to read with all haste. This guy really knows his stuff and is very skilled at spinning an interesting tale. I especially enjoyed the parts in the sub where they’re poking around looking for thin enough ice to surface through. I loved this book so much I rented the classic film and watched it. I had remembered the movie being fantastic, but now I’m a little spoiled by the book, which is now one of my favorites.

I really enjoyed this book, it's well researched and well written...believable. Intriguing and exciting at times, though there were times when it was a little long winded, I enjoyed it.

Whenever I read a spy story today, I inevitably compare it to those who I consider to be masters of the genre. Alistair MacLean is one of those authors, and “Ice Station Zebra” is a great example of his work. This book is a gripping suspense tale, with all the excitement one could ask for. No, there are no car chases and no amazing shootouts, but somehow Mr. MacLean can easily keep a reader captivated for hours on end. What he does offer is good storytelling, mixing the spy genre with the whodunit feel of a great detective novel. In fact, the killer is revealed during the course of the book, as the author does drop a clue that would reveal the guilty party. The clue, however, was so subtle that I missed it, and I believe most folks would miss it also. To me, this is the beauty of a successful plotline, when the author can leave a clue in plain sight and have readers overlook it. Exciting story, engaging characters, unexpected twists. You can’t go wrong with this one. Five stars.

I fell in love with MacLean's books when I was about 9, and this is one of my all-time faves of his. The settings --in the sub and at the Arctic camp-- provide a tight, suspenseful framework for the story, which is itself tight & suspenseful; this is MacLean at his best. I think his most effective books are in nearly claustrophobic settings --this, the ship in "HMS Ulysses" (my vote for #1), the eponymous Bear Island, the harsh sea & barren islands in "When Eight Bells Toll." As is often the case in MacLean's work, the protagonist is more than he appears, and is a person dealing with a deep, personal pain. The captain and crew of the sub are likeable, 3-D characters. It's been so many decades since I first read this I really am no judge of how likely it is that a new reader will be able to figure out who the bad guy(s) is/are, but I think MacLean does a good job of concealing his/their identity/identities without cheating. The fire under the ice is one of the more exciting, truly knuckle-biting episodes in fiction. And as always, MacLean sprinkles bits of wry humor throughout.

Ice Station Zebra had a bit of a slow start for me, but it quickly picked up steam. Dr. Carpenter is a physician, or so he says, and his mission is to reach a meteorological station in the Arctic called Drift Ice Station Zebra which has had a catastrophic fire. To do this he enlists the help of a nuclear submarine called the Dolphin which can survive under the solid ice of the polar ice cap. The accident is soon revealed to not have been an accident at all, but a cover for murder. Someone at Ice Station Zebra is hiding a secret, and he's not the only one. Dr. Carpenter is also extremely secretive, and is withholding vital information from the crew of the Dolphin about his true intentions. I found the book extremely hard to put down. There is a lot of time in this book devoted to detailed technical descriptions of how submarines work, which might be a drag to other people, but not to me. I absolutely loved this aspect of it. I am looking forward to read other books by this author!

These Days, I think more people are familiar with the 1968 feature film than MacLean's 1963 novel. If you have seen the film, you should still find the novel enjoyable as it departs significantly from the later screenplay. Released just months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Ice Station Zebra borrows its premise from a real life incident involving early spy satelites, and sets its story mainly on board a submarine at the time when arctic undersea exploration was in the news. Don't expect a warm and fuzzy ride. Ice Station Zebra is as chilly as its Arctic setting. I found it tense and exciting, even if the characters were never well defined. Maclean's fans will find familar reading. A cool central protagonist embarks on a desparate mission, beset by a host of vague characters, not all of whom are trustworthy. With aspects of Arctic survival stories and Hollywood submarine movies, Ice Station Zebra, is more whodunnit than cold war spy novel, but a good read just the same.

This is NOT an exaggeration...... I have read this book - and pretty much all of Maclean's books at least a dozen times. And they never get old. This is a story about an attempt to rescue some workers from a research facility in the Arctic Circle, using a US Naval nuclear submarine. Full of intrigue, twists and action. Highly recommended.

The genre and the suspense is simply Wonder ful. Very good reading for those who like the wilderness of the ice cap .

Ice Station Zebra – Cold war, Cold water, Cold hearts A thrilling novel that takes the reader under the polar ice cap, out into the wasteland of the drift ice, and from end to end of submarine. This novel satisfied me on two levels: the thriller-adventure level, with the right level of confusion to keep me thinking and just the right tension to keep me reading almost without a break, from cover to cover. MacLean conveys the chill of the Arctic perfectly, and you can almost feel your own skin peeling away as you read. The other aspect that was so well portrayed was the whole aspect of the submarine; the life the spaces... By the end of the novel I felt I had been living in the sub. along with all the others. MacLean presents us with some extreme characters, but always with his powerfully convincing pen, that carves out their features on the right side of stereotype. I believe them. That's what this literature is about, too. Needless to say that the plot is clever and MacLean keeps the suspense to the last page. If some of the technical aspects of the novel seem outdated (film, old-batteries etc) the atmosphere of cold water and cold war are ever-present.

This is one of my top 5 Alistair MacLean novels, perhaps top 3. This is at least my fourth time through it, and remembering most of the plot twists doesn't lessen the enjoyment at all. Writing styles have changed since Ice Station Zebra was originally written, and if you're used to the current thrillers there'll be an adjustment, but sit back and watch a master at work. In this Kindle version, there are some conversion errors in the formatting: spaces or quote marks missing, etc. Or maybe they're in this version of the paperback too? [Language warning: contains mild profanity.]

My husband's favourite author. Gripping, fast moving story. Well written, great read. Will buy his books again.

One of the best thriller by Alistair MacLean. You cannot stop reading until you reach the end. A lot of information about the life aboard a submarine, detailed description of the living conditions around the North pole and many surprises! You don't need more.