The Ice
An electrifying story of friendship, power and betrayal by the bestselling, Baileys-prize shortlisted author of The Bees.
It’s the day after tomorrow and the Arctic sea ice has melted. While global business carves up the new frontier, cruise ships race each other to ever-rarer wildlife sightings. The passengers of the Vanir have come seeking a polar bear. What they find is even more astonishing: a dead body.
It is Tom Harding, lost in an accident three years ago and now revealed by the melting ice of Midgard glacier. Tom had come to Midgard to help launch the new venture of his best friend of thirty years, Sean Cawson, a man whose business relies on discretion and powerful connections – and who was the last person to see him alive.
Their friendship had been forged by a shared obsession with Arctic exploration. And although Tom’s need to save the world often clashed with Sean’s desire to conquer it, Sean has always believed that underneath it all, they shared the same goals.
But as the inquest into Tom’s death begins, the choices made by both men – in love and in life – are put on the stand. And when cracks appear in the foundations of Sean’s glamorous world, he is forced to question what price he has really paid for a seat at the establishment’s table.
Just how deep do the lies go?
”'An important and powerful novel… strikingly prescient” - Independent
”'No other recent novel I’ve read has such fully realised female characters, even ones who shout their feminist credentials from the rooftops…This is a world of arms dealers, heroic arctic adventurers and power crazed captains of industry. And that’s just the ladies. It’s a business thriller with an eco-edge… Could The Ice be the surprise hit of summer 2017? Thanks to just the right amount of aspirational scene-setting and more holiday porn than a year’s worth of Conde Nast Traveller, this memorable eco-chiller allows you to dream about luxury wood cabins while cursing the evils of capitalism” - The Times
'A chilling tale for our times … Fascinating. The chilly environment adds a strange, magical quality - and it will not be lost on readers that, as with her first book, Paull makes some interesting and urgent arguments about the way we treat our planet' The National -
'By embedding a mystery in layers of melting Arctic ice, Paull brings narrative tension to a phenomenon readers typically encounter only in environmental or scientific reporting … the final pages are a triumph' Guardian -
”'It’s just gripping … It’s great. The cover is beautiful and the inside is beautiful” - Marianne Keyes
'It is a rare treat to find oneself reading a new book with real delight, admiring the prose style and getting caught up in the story. I experienced all of this while reading this fascinating novel set in the near future … what makes The Ice unforgettable is Laline Paull’s well-informed description of the setting and, above all, her outstandingly good writing' Literary Review -
”'A gripping, brilliantly textured climate thriller. Its timeliness is chilling. A stunning read” - Liz Jensen, author of The Rapture
”'This is a real page turner” - Observer
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