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ARCTIC SHOWDOWN by John Ball

ARCTIC SHOWDOWN

By

Pub Date: Feb. 1st, 1966
Publisher: Duell, Sloan & Pearce

It reads like a slightly fictionalized section of the Boy Scout Handbook. Most of the story takes place in the Alaskan wilderness under extreme storm conditions, but there is none of the virile adventure or intrigue that this setting usually promotes. The teenaged hero, Andy Driscoll, had successfully passed the toughening course offered by the military survival school; the state of emergency simply provided the opportunity for him to put his knowledge into practice--with detailed explanations. He and his friend from California had been given special permission to accompany a group of newspapermen on a flight into the Arctic to view some new military installations. When the storm hit, the plane had to make an emergency landing. Since Andy was the only person on board with knowledge of Arctic survival techniques, the others were willing to submit to his leadership after the apparently logical responses had been proven incorrect. Except for one belligerently uncooperative passenger, they all pitch in to building their ice shelter with the enthusiasm of setting up a backyard cookout. Everyone talks about the weather in this book, and they do too much about it to maintain much reader interest.