The Ice Harvest

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Synopsis
It is Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas and snowing steadily. The streets are deserted, traffic is light and most people have returned home for the start of the festivities. But family get-togethers are the last thing on Charlie Arglist's mind, and home is the last place he needs to be. For Charlie has to get out of town. For good. In nine and a half hours, to be precise. But first there are just a few things he has to do . . . The Ice Harvestis a rollercoaster ride of double-cross, black humour and, very possibly, the last twenty-four hours in Charlie Arglist's life . . .
Copyright:
2000

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780345486028
Related ISBNs:
9780330481380, 9780345440198, 9780786185115, 9781599126746, 9780330481373, 9780786135929, 9780330486255, 9788439707349
Publisher:
Ballantine Books
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Scott Phillips
Adult content:
Yes
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

5 out of 5

By on

In a way, this book reminds me of the movie Fargo, but without the charming police chief: for one thing, it's snowing the entire time. But the main thing the two have in common is that both are quietly hilarious and full of great, quotable lines ("You half-assed farthammer! You ain't even got both your shoes on!") Not thigh-slapping, belly-busting funny, but there's a constant snicker going on throughout. Charlie Arglist is a low-rent lawyer who's given up his practice to work full-time for Bill Gerard, the local kingpin who owns a string of strip clubs and massage parlors. So, Charlie's basically a scumbag in a suit and nice car. We follow him through his increasingly drunken wanderings on Christmas Eve, 1979, through snow-swept Wichita, as he embarks on one last nostalgic tour of Gerard's empire. The plan is for him and Gerard to blow town with a whole bunch of money ... that's the plan, anyway. But Charlie gets caught up in a series of minor disasters along the way, along with the nagging question: what DID happen to that one stripper who disappeared a few months ago? The plot keeps twisting and turning until the very end, with none of the characters being particularly likable--just the way I like it. The funny parts are many: Charlie falling on his butt on the ice; Charlie and his former brother-in-law, both drunk, crashing in on their ex-in-laws' Christmas Eve dinner; a riot at one of the strip clubs; Charlie opening somebody else's Christmas presents looking for the money; Charlie and Vic driving around with a former associate stuffed in a footlocker, still alive and squealing; Charlie's unexpected but somehow fitting accidental demise. Through it all, you feel like you're right there in the car, swerving through the night. All around, a great book! There's also a movie, starring Harold Ramus, but don't bother with that: they took serious liberties with the story and gave it a completely different ending.