The Ice Limit by Douglas Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fun thriller concerned with the recovery of a meteorite on the frozen islands off Cape Horn. There's a good deal of nonsense: engineering that would take months or years is done in a matter of days (to the point of being confusing: "What? Where did a road come from?"), the crazy career-ruining theory that just happens to be redeemed, and an epilogue that takes the over-the-top ending to a new level. But, y'know, not every twist is telegraphed, the character's fates are somewhat surprising, and the story plays itself out within the rules it lays out for itself. The action is paced well and builds to a series of fun and increasingly implausible climaxes, which is I think exactly what you want in this kind of book. The next time I take a 6-hour flight, I'd read another book by these authors.