Ice claw
(Book)
Description
Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Elmwood Park Public Library - Teen Fiction | T FICTION GILMAN, D. | On Shelf |
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Level 5.7, 18 Points
Notes
Published Reviews
Booklist Review
If you're looking for pulse-pounding adventure, it's tough to do better than Gilman's Danger Zone series. The story follows the same model as The Devil's Breath (2008): a maniacal evildoer's catastrophic plans are thwarted by the ingenuity and tenacity of 15-year-old daredevil Max Gordon. This time out, an extreme sports competition leads to a chance rescuing of Sophie, a (maybe) teen femme fatale who ensnares Max in a plot involving endangered animals, astronomy, and a mysterious pendant that a monk hands over seconds before plummeting to a snowy doom. The omniscient point of view doesn't win Gilman many style points, yet does a lot for clarity, which is his strong suit few authors are able to depict action scenes so lucidly. And that's a good thing, because they are literally nonstop: with the clock ticking, Max dashes from France to Switzerland to Morocco via speedboat, snowboard, paraglider, and even tiger. But it's Max's humanity not only are injuries frequent, but in one scene he even cries from fear that makes Gilman's research and storytelling come alive.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Gilman's adrenaline-packed follow-up to The Devil's Breath (2007), teenage extreme sports enthusiast Max Gordon once again encounters dangerous killers and political conspiracies. This time, the action begins in the French Pyrenees, where Max, while competing in the Junior Xtreme competition, saves Sophie, a young environmental activist and parkour runner, from a beating at the hands of a motorcycle gang. Shortly thereafter, Max witnesses the assassination of a Basque monk and gets drawn into a conspiracy-along with Sophie, American student Bobby, and Max's best friend Sayid-that involves ancient prophecies, global warming, and disappearing animals. The pace is nonstop, combining sports action and combat, and the mystical additions to the adventure-mostly revolving around Max's ability to occasionally channel the power of animals-never overwhelm the fight scenes. The villains-especially the grotesque Tishenko and a street tough nicknamed Sharkface-are appropriately menacing and move the plot along nicely. Gilman writes a solid, occasionally thrilling action tale that manages to impart political, scientific, and geographic information without ever feeling like the dreaded "message" book. Ages 11-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10-Extreme sport meets The Da Vinci Code as British 15-year-old Max Gordon witnesses the shooting of Brother Zabala, a Basque monk, while snowboarding in the French Pyrenees. Before the monk dies, he gives Max a pendant and entrusts him with a cryptic message about an impending disaster. Thwarted in the Junior Xtreme competition by a teen thug he calls "Sharkface," Max and his injured friend, Sayid, focus their efforts on investigating the monk's mystical prediction. Plot twists abound, as Max rescues a girl named Sophie who is stalked by mystery men who may have something to do with her father, an endangered-animal protector. Someone is framing Max for Zabala's murder and he retreats to a chateau occupied by his American competitor Bobby Morrell's grandmother. Sayid helps Max decipher some of the magic square numbers in the monk's secret code, but the pair is separated when Sayid and Bobby are kidnapped. Another clue leads Max to Morocco, where he is bitten by a monkey and convalesces at Sophie's father's animal park. When it is learned that an evil Russian physicist named Tishenko is the mastermind of an environmental cataclysm and is after Zabala's code, it is a race against the clock for Max to save his friends and avert a large-scale disaster. Reluctant readers will live moment to moment in scenes describing extreme sport action and harrowing encounters with wild animals and assassins, undeterred by the convoluted plot and underdeveloped characters. Backstory about Max's parents, including his explorer father's slow recovery from an incident in Africa, refers to The Devil's Breath (Delacorte, 2008) and the door remains open for further episodes.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Book Review
Gilman introduced Max Gordon in The Devil's Breath (2007), which sent this adventurous teen across Africa in pursuit of his missing father. This equally exciting sequel finds Max high in the Pyrenees Mountains, participating in an Xtreme sports event while his father is recuperating in England. But life is never as simple as Max might like, and it isn't long before he's once again caught up in murder and intrigue, with just a touch of the supernatural to make it interesting. Entrusted with a cryptic clue by a strange monk whom he couldn't save from plummeting off a mountain trail, Max needs to find answers before he is tracked down by the police for the monk's murder. Max's friends try to help but are brutally pushed aside by evil henchmen of a megalomaniacal James Bondesque villain. This is action-packed adventure at its best, with lots of relevant references for today's teens, who will gobble it down. Look for a third book in the Danger Zone series to followMax still has questions at the end of this one. (Thriller. 11 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Citations
Gilman, D. (. w. (2008). Ice claw (First U.S. edition.). Delacorte Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Gilman, David (Fiction writer). 2008. Ice Claw. New York: Delacorte Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Gilman, David (Fiction writer). Ice Claw New York: Delacorte Press, 2008.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Gilman, D. (. w. (2008). Ice claw. First U.S. edn. New York: Delacorte Press.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Gilman, David (Fiction writer). Ice Claw First U.S. edition., Delacorte Press, 2008.