cover image Black Ice

Black Ice

Colin Dunne. St. Martin's Press, $15.95 (219pp) ISBN 978-0-312-00566-5

Penurious Fleet Street freelance ""diurnalist'' Sam Craven is asked by a mysterious British agent to go to Reykjavik and ``keep an eye on'' Solrun, Craven's old flame and a famous model. On Craven's first night in Iceland, Solrun disappears, Craven is knocked unconscious in her flat by an unknown attacker and Solrun's mother dies after being tortured. Craven finds himself in a maze involving a ``gay red'' reporter, an odd Esperantist, a hopelessly Americanized Icelander, a crazed exU.S. Marine, a courtly Icelandic detective, a very fishy Russian trawler and a baby of dubious parentage. Craven narrowly escapes death and at the finale discovers a Russian plot to discredit the American presence in Iceland. At Iceland's Strokkur, a huge geyser,the bodies pile up when a Russian propaganda film turns into Grand Guignol. Most of the time Craven's flippant narration is funny but it jars a bit when describing the bloody ending. Even so, Fleet Streeter Dunne (Ratcatcher and Retrieval spins a yarn with great color and characters. (May 19)