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The Ice Curtain [Hardcover]

Robin White (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 29, 2002
A thriller that explodes with taut suspense and raw emotion, The Ice Curtain pulls us into a murder mystery that is at once compelling and deeply moving. With the skill of a master storyteller, the bestselling author of Siberian Light breathes life into a haunting and unforgettable landscape, weaving a dazzlingly original story of murder, deceit...and diamonds.

The Ice Curtain

The Iron Curtain is down, and Russia has become a smuggler’s paradise. Hidden behind a curtain of ice in Siberia’s far north is the richest diamond mine on earth, a motherlode of treasure so vast it could break the back of the world’s oldest–and wealthiest–cartel. A cartel that will buy the enemies it can...and eliminate the ones it cannot.

Against this turbulent backdrop, Gregori Nowek searches for the truth behind the murder of his best friend–shot in cold blood on a dark Moscow street. In a violent land where a twenty-dollar bill can buy or end a life, half a billion dollars in rough diamonds have vanished, lost between Siberia’s mines and Moscow’s vaults. The brutal murder of his best friend tests everything Nowek believes as a Russian, and as a man.

In a dark realm of glittering diamonds, corrupt politicians, biznessmen, and cops caught up in the chaos of modern Russia, Nowek must find the missing diamonds before the world finds out they’re gone. At stake is the future of Russia itself.

Nowek’s search will take him back to the place he knows best...Siberia, where the reason for his friend’s murder is buried inside a gem-filled chasm beneath eternal ice and snow. It is a secret guarded by the vastness of Siberia, the diamond cartel, and a beautiful young woman who, like the dazzling gems, is trapped in a grim city walled off from the world behind a curtain of ice.

Dangerously stubborn and committed to the truth, Nowek risks his life to vindicate a friend, to secure Russia’s future, and to bring an astounding act of deception into the light of day.

With haunting images and a powerful sense of character and place, The Ice Curtain is riveting entertainment. Deeply atmospheric and unfailingly gripping, it delivers top-notch suspense from its opening scene to its unforgettable climax.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This bone-chilling thriller set in the waning days of Yeltsin's tenure pits a low-ranking Siberian politico and a Moscow-based FSB (the new KGB) major against the world's most powerful diamond cartel in the best Russian shocker since Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park. When diamond miners in the frozen Siberian town of Mirny are killed for protesting months of unpaid wages, Russian Federation delegate Arkady Volsky and his assistant Gregori Nowek travel to Moscow to confront Yevgeny Petrov, director of the State Diamond Committee, and to collect the miners' money. But Petrov doesn't care about the miners he's sparring with the London-based diamond cartel, threatening to flood the market if they don't meet his price. Volsky's interference gets him shot and Nowak knicked in a hit and run; Volsky gasps "go to the horizon" and expires, and the militia arrests Nowek for his boss's murder. Enter FSB major Izrail Levin, who soon learns from Petrov that the diamonds needed for collateral on an IMF loan review are missing. Levin clears Nowek, recruits him to replace Volsky and sends him back to Mirny to track the diamonds. Danger abounds in the icebound town. Nowek's local ally is killed and Nowek himself is trapped deep in the diamond mines as the hero tries to get to the bottom of a vast conspiracy, clear Volsky's name and find his killer. White (Siberian Light) keeps the reader on a diamond-sharp edge while lacing his fast-paced prose with black humor, engrossing gem lore and plenty of spilled blood. Surprising plot twists, stoic Russian survivors and a dash of romance add to the heady mix, as do the hints of another Nowek tale to come.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

White's second thriller (after Siberian Light) is another vivid depiction of the corruption at the heart of the new capitalist Russia. Geologist-by-training Gregori Nowek travels with his boss from Siberia to Moscow, where they are investigating the loss of a half-billion dollars in rough gemstones and asking for the money owed to the miners who work in the harsh taiga. When his boss is murdered, Nowek is appointed his successor and sets out to track down those responsible. At the same time, he has only two weeks to recover the lost gemstones, which are needed as collateral for a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Failure means the collapse of Russia's economy. Nowek's investigation carries him to Irkutsk and the mining town of Mirny in Siberia and into a world of corruption, theft, and murder. As brilliantly evocative as White's previous books, this thriller will be compared to Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park for its atmospheric portrayal of Moscow's environs and the Siberian outback. Equally impressive is the author's knowledge of the diamond trade and mining. Highly recommended for all public libraries. Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (January 29, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385333161
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385333160
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,672,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars First-class, March 2, 2002
By 
Andrew Gross (Purchase, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Ice Curtain (Hardcover)
Why are there some authors and books that seem to be admired by writers, yet have not found a wider audience, even with two solid books. Robin White is such a writer. No fancy review here...just the promise that no one who enjoys intelligent thrillers would be disappointed with Ice Curtain. Belongs in a class of Robert Wilson (Small Death in Lisbon, Company of Strangers) Craig Shelton (River Sorrow) who are turning out first class thrillers but to my knowledge have fallen short of the top 15.

This book is excellent-- tight,intelligent, warm-hearted, cynical yet hopeful, smart, yet tragic. Not the Demille thrill a minute, but a compelling, readable pace. Russia is the true character here. Read it. You'll pass it along. You'll be putting your imprimatuer here next.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Russian thriller, February 5, 2002
This review is from: The Ice Curtain (Hardcover)
In 1999 Irkutsk, Siberia, Siberian Delegate Arkady Volsky persuades his friend, former geologist Gregori Nowek to accompany him to Moscow. Arkady plans to demand that the Chairman of the State Diamond Committee Petrov pays the Mirny miners for their work. In Moscow, Gregori is late for the meeting in which Petrov tells Gregori he has not sold any diamonds recently due to a feud with the western cartel. Arkady threatens to ruin Petrov through his connection to Yeltsin.

Gregori arrives in time to see Arkady assassinated. He is arrested for his friend's murder. FSB major Izrail Levin has evidence proving Gregori's innocence, but instead cuts a deal. In order to remain free, Gregori must cooperate on the homicide investigation that soon takes them to an icy conspiracy involving diamonds and potentially cold deaths.

In spite of the climate, Robin White's latest Russian thriller, THE ICE CURTAIN, is a heated tale that never slows down. The story succeeds because the key characters feel genuine and make the conspiracy appear so matter of fact real. Anyone who enjoys a conspiracy tale or a solid police procedural will gain immense pleasure from this novel and want to read Mr. White's previous Russian story, SIBERIAN LIGHT.

Harriet Klausner

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Craftsman, February 27, 2006
This is a well paced, well crafted book about diamonds and deceit. This is the second book by Robin White that I have read, it will not be the last.

Briefly, the IMF is coming to inspect 4 millon carats of diamonds that are pledged for a loan. The problem is the diamonds have been leaking out of Russia for over a year and the supposed diamond cache is missing. Now the bodies start dropping over dead.

Mr. White writes from a vast knowledge of Russia and sets his story against an authentic background. The tone and texture of the novel captures the Siberian cold, the heartless Gulag and the great warmth of the Russian heart.

This is a fabulous book.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
IN SIBERIA, the seasons are colors, though not the ones you'd expect in a land the imagination keeps buried under eternal ice and endless snows. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
four million carats, militia jeep, liquor kiosk, ore skip, ore plant, dog skinner, ore truck, mine director, diamond line, gem diamonds, eternal ice, pit boss, diamond world
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mirny Deep, Siberian Delegate, Golden Autumn, Delegate Nowek, Delegate Volsky, Eban Hock, Lake Baikal, Ninth Horizon, State Diamond Committee, Chairman Petrov, General Goloshev, Land Cruiser, Major Levin, Boris Yeltsin, Angara Three, Larisa Arkova, Arkady Volsky, Dead Zone, General Stepanov, Miss Arkova, Mister President, Prince of Diamonds, Angara River, Cayman Islands, Gregori Nowek
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