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    Ice: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Ice: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Ice: A Novel
    Audiobook5 hours

    Ice: A Novel

    Written by Linda Howard

    Narrated by Fred Sanders

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    'Tis the season for mistletoe and holly, Santa . . . and suspense. And the gift that keeps on giving is Ice: premier thriller author Linda Howard's breathless tale of a man, a woman, and a battle for survival against an unforgiving winter-and an unrelenting killer. Oh what fun it is to read.

    Gabriel McQueen has only just arrived home on holiday leave from the service when his county-sheriff father sends him back out again with new marching orders. A brewing ice storm, and a distant neighbor who's fallen out of contact, have the local lawman concerned. So he enlists Gabriel to make the long haul to the middle of nowhere, and make sure Lolly Helton is safe and sound. It's a trip the younger McQueen would rather not make given the bitter winter weather-and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly.

    But there's no talking back when your dad is the town's top cop. And there' s no turning back when night falls just as Gabriel arrives-and discovers that the weather outside isn't the only thing that's frightful. Spotting strangers in Lolly' s home-one of them packing a weapon-is all it takes to kick Gabriel into combat mode. And his stealth training is all he needs to extract Lolly from the house without alerting her captors. But when the escape is discovered, the heat-and the hunt-are on. And the winter woods are nowhere to be once the ice storm touches down, dropping trees, blocking roads, and trapping the fleeing pair in the freezing dark.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 10, 2009
    ISBN9780307577627
    Unavailable
    Ice: A Novel
    Author

    Linda Howard

    Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, and Dying to Please. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

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    Reviews for Ice

    3.5/5

    190 ratings23 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Okay short novel. I thought the h/h fell into bed a bit too quickly though.
    • 3/5
      It wasn't as good as the other books I have read of hers. But it wasn't terrible.
    • 3/5
      Gabriel McQueen was home for a weekend on leave from the military and his father is the Sheriff of a small town in Maine but the minute Gabriele arrives there is trouble. Gabriel is anxious to get to this mother's home to see his young son, Sam, but the Sheriff needs him for an important job first. Young Sam lives with Gabriel's mother after becoming a widower the year before when his wife Marianne died. It's been tough on both of them. Sheriff McQueen wants Gabriel to drive up the mountain to the old Helton place to check on Lolly Helton who is here for the weekend herself to get her deceased father's home ready for sale. However, they believe she is unaware that a huge ice storm is coming and coming fast and there would be no way down off the mountain if someone didn't get to her right away.
      With trepidation, Gabriele agrees to go but first stops at his Mother's house to see his son, collect some warm clothing and boots and a thermos of hot coffee and soup. Quickly saying good-bye to his son, and promising him he'll back in a couple of hours, Gabriele sets off on the rescue.

      I liked that the lead had spunk and wasn't just waiting to be rescued, that the villains although idiots didn't just give up and that the storm made it all that much worse. It moved quickly, had great scenes and you could see the relationship forming between them. All in all it was a good book, short but good. One that I enjoyed reading. It may not be a burn rubber to get book, but it's a definite read when you have a chance.
    • 3/5
      A lot of running around in the snow. I was hoping there would be more character development and less talk of the weather. if you are curious about ice storms this is your book.
    • 5/5
      Loved it! This was a quick and really fun read! I didn't love it as much as Veil of Night but I'm loving Linda Howards books more every day; I'm very happy I have another of her books waiting on my shelf!
    • 4/5
      This was a good quick read. I had it done in a day.
    • 4/5
      Linda Howard has steadily been going downhill with her more recent releases. When Ice was first published I chose not to read it because a) I was disappointed in LH as a whole and b) it was really expensive as a hardcover for the size. Recently it became available at my library, however, so I decided to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised.

      Although light on romance, it seemed more of an early Howard novel. The same tension, suspense and drama from her earlier works were here, along with witty dialogue and an interesting setting. The page count didn't lend itself to much, but Howard made do with what she had. Because of the small page count I think the lack of full HEA at the end (it was more a HFN - let's see where this goes type of thing) worked well.

      No, this isn't the Howard I know and love from the late 90's and early 2000's, but it was a lot better than I expected. Still not worth the exorbitant hardcover price, though.
    • 4/5
      DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: On holiday leave from the service, Gabriel McQueen is sent into a brewing ice storm to make sure that his father’s distant neighbor, Lolly Helton, who has fallen out of contact, is safe and sound. It’s a trip that Gabriel would rather not make, given the bitter winter weather—and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly. Arriving at Lolly’s home, Gabriel spots strangers through the windows—one of them packing a weapon—and kicks into combat mode. But once Lolly is rescued, the heat—and the hunt—are on. Snowbound, unarmed, and literally under the gun, Gabriel and Lolly must depend on each other to endure the merciless forces of nature and evade the ruthless enemy out in the blackness of the silent night—and out for their blood
    • 4/5
      Ice
      4 Stars

      Growing up in a small Maine town, Gabriel McQueen and Lolly Helton couldn’t stand the sight of one another. Now, at home on leave for Christmas, Gabriel is sent out on a stormy evening to convince Lolly to come into town take shelter. Lolly would be only to happy to oblige, however, two desperate strangers have taken her hostage in a home invasion and it will take all of Gabriel’s wits and Lolly’s courage to survive.

      Ice is one of Howard’s earlier and shorter works, but what it lacks in page numbers it more than makes up for with the action.

      Gabriel and Lolly’s character development is actually quite good given the relatively short format. There is sufficient detail on their time as children and teens to get a good feel for their love/hate relationship and once they get together as adults, the chemistry between them is tangible.

      The villains in the story are certainly diabolical enough and there are some very intense and frightening moments, especially during the initial home invasion. The action scenes are well written and exciting, and the climax and resolution are satisfying.

      All in all, a thoroughly entertaining read and my only small nitpick is that the book is in dire need of an epilogue.
    • 3/5
      I never like to give a negative review on a Linda Howard novel. But, this one was released in hardcover, with the price as much as other hardcovers. I wouldn't have purchased this one new for myself since it was so short, but it was given to me for Christmas. The story is alright if you just want a little escape on your lunch break. It shouldn't take you much more than an hour to read it. This certainly not one of Linda Howard's best efforts. I think it should have been released in paperback by Harlequin or something. Consider it a "quickie" and don't pay full price for it. Overall a C-/D+
    • 5/5
      Lolly Helton returns to her hometown to prepare her parent’s house for sale, when a couple of drug using drifters invade the house and hold her hostage. Gabriel McQueen, who grew up at odds with Lolly, drops by at his father’s request to make sure she is prepared for the coming storm. Together they attempt to outwit and evade both the druggies and the storm of the century. Linda Howard keeps the reader turning pages in this quick read, perhaps made scarier because in today’s world, home invasion is a reality. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
    • 1/5
      I generally enjoy reading works by this author but this was not as good as I hoped. The storyline is okay but the action is formulaic at best and expected. There simply aren't any surprises. It reads more like a serial romance book than one I've come to expect from Ms. Howard. Not worth the time IMHO.
    • 3/5
      A fun rainy afternoon read.
    • 3/5
      I loved it, I was shivering from the cold just reading this. The suspense was good and the romance was scary.
    • 3/5
      Printed in a larger font than usual and weighing in at under 200 pages this is a novella or short story more than a fully-fledged novel and there are parts where this compressed story shows it's flaws. Gabriel McQueen is on holiday leave from the service and his father send him out to ensure that Lolly Helton who lives in a remote house is safe from the aproaching ice storm. When he arrives he discovers that all is reallly not well with Lolly, a couple of drug addicts trying to extort money from Lolly which necessitates them escaping the house and making their way in the cold and wet.It's not a bad book, but it didn't really fully engage me, I could have done with more information about the two and about their animosity in the past to add to the story.
    • 3/5
      This novel is really a short story stretched with a large font into a novel. Would have been much better with more character development and plot background. Overall much too skimpy
    • 5/5
      My only gripe with this is that the book is to darn short. I finished it, in one day, and I wanted it to go on longer.  
    • 1/5
      she's finally sadly done it for me... written a book so bad i can't bear to even skim it. ICE was just a tired retread of some of her favorite cliches and had not heat at all. It's wasn't that it wasn't intense or romanctic (it was neither) it was that it wasn't well written either. Was she asleep when she wrote this? This wasn't phoned in, it was tweeted in - in short, disconnected sentences. Not even worth taking out of the library. Very disappointed. Hated ice, just hated it. LH has to write something really spectacular after this, because I don't even know if she's worth getting stuff from the library anymore, letting alone buying it, let alone buying hardcover. If I had bought this book, I really would be throwing it against the wall.Here endeth the rant.
    • 3/5
      Sadly, Linda Howard now seems to write potboilers. The plot was as thin as the characterisations.
    • 4/5
      Ice by Linda Howard is a great escape to start the new year. It's always fun to indulge in one of my mom's "quick read romances." We're passing this book around the family during the holidays.While most of these fiction romances have a standard plot line, I thought this premise was better than most. Two people who didn't connect in high school are thrown together fifteen years later. They're being pursued through an ice storm by drug-crazed meth addicts. It doesn't seem like the best conditions for romance, but a good author can make anything seem possible.After the holidays, I'll be back to young adult and nonfiction reading, but it's been nice to have some "time off" for light fiction. I'd recommend Ice for anyone seeking an escape during the winter. I gave it a four because I couldn't put it down. The fiction might be fluffy, but it's engaging!
    • 4/5
      When a freak winter ice storm strands Lolly Helton in her remote childhood home she's not too concerned. Home on vacation, Gabriel McQueen is less than thrilled to be sent out to rescue an old high school classmate, but he's dealing. Unbeknownst to either Gabe or Lolly, a pair of home invaders is about to up the stakes dramatically.Slightly sappy, this is a fair bit more fluffy than Howard's recent suspense outings, but it's not unreadable. Just feels more Harlequin-esque than I expected.
    • 3/5
      This is a formulaic romantic suspense. A pretty woman is trapped in a remote mountain home by an in-coming winter storm, and by the pair of drug-crazed intruders who are holding her hostage. A handsome widower (her secret high school crush) is sent to rescue her from the storm and (because he is an MP in the army) recognizes at once the danger she is in. Sparks fly.There is nothing at all special about this book - nothing to recommend it. Fine for what it is - quick-reading fluff. Definitely not Howard's best.
    • 4/5
      Ice by Linda HowardFirst read: 10-27-12, Not RatedSecond reading: 1-16-16, Rated 3-1/2*Widower, Gabriel McQueen, relies on his parents to care for his 7yo son, Sam, while he serves in the military, seeing Sam whenever he can get a few days leave. He arrives back in Wilson Creek, Maine, shortly before an ice storm sweeps in. His father is the town sheriff and asks Gabriel to help bring a woman back to town before the storm breaks. Gabriel jumps right in to help, but quietly groans when he learns it is Lolly Helton, someone he always bumped heads with in school. He always teased her and tried to get a rise out of her by calling her "Lollipop" because she irritated him with her rude and arrogant behavior. Lorelei "Lolly" Helton is closing up her parents' home, preparing to sell it, settling their affairs, etc., and is gathering a few of her belongings in order to quickly head back down the mountain to wait out the storm in town when she answers the door to a couple of bedraggled strangers. This is where her nightmare begins. Using her wits, she manages to survive their assault and is preparing to make her escape when she receives unexpected help from Gabriel McQueen. Their time to flee is short. Not only do they have to outrun the two meth addicts who are shooting at them in the forest, but they also have to keep moving in order to survive the harsh elements. Exciting suspense with a realistic spin on the budding romance between the two.