Frozen in Time: Murder at the Bottom of the World Book Review
- Paperback: 236 pages
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1452002703
- ISBN-13: 978-1452002705
- Theodore Jerome Cohen has written a fictionalized memoir based on facts from his actual experiences in Antartica. Gary and Carolyn Wilhelm share their thoughts on the book in this post.
Originally appeared on Goodreads
I knew the National Science Foundation sponsored many far-reaching and worthwhile academic opportunities and learning for bright science and math students after Sputnik, but I had no idea of the adventure that some participants had until reading this book. I learned so much about Antarctica, penguins, active volcanoes as well as the great difficulty of not knowing when a deep crevice might open up presenting real dangers. Just the constant wind blowing would have been difficult to endure, but how did the graduate students manage to gather geology samples and take measurements regarding gravity in so many of the spots in the area amid such conditions? And during all this there were murders, mystery, and untrustworthy people to deal with --- amazing story and gripping read. As an engineer, I appreciated the detail and interesting information about how the people lived and met challenges. This story is fiction based on fact, my favorite genre.
Gary Wilhelm
The Frugal Engineer
View all my reviews
Frozen in Time: Murder at the Bottom of the World by Theodore Jerome Cohen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Originally posted on Amazon
From the picturesque language and vivid details such as:
"Seen from the mountain to the south, the base had all the appearance of a small, abandoned mining town on a planet at the outreaches of the galaxy."
The base was painted bright orange (for visibility, I assume) each year as the winter wind, ice pellets, and snow hit it with speeds of up to 150 miles per hour which removed the paint. How would a person survive in such conditions? Not me as the indoor daytime temperatures were in the 40's when I think 60's are too cold. There were 23 hours a day of sunlight which sounds nice until remembering this was in Antarctica, decades ago, and sunscreen then didn't help much at all.
This is the real story of the author's experience as a National Science Foundation researcher and scientist and is based on real facts. Who would think murders and intrigue would happen in such a remote location with few inhabitants?
When a radio is submerged in salt water, a description of what the repair entailed is given, yet that radio did help save a man's life later. Sailors shooting seals caused an avalanche. The glacier calved by itself anyway, and deep crevices would open up with no warning. Since this happened decades ago and would be dangerous today, it was quite the adventure (if a scientific adventure).
The ending is quite philosophical and considers how precarious life can be. It also ends with a mystery and leaving me anxious to read book two in this trilogy.
Carolyn Wilhelm
The Wise Owl Factory
