Ice Reich
by William Dietrich
Published October 1998
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It begins with a light plane caught in a murderous snowstorm with a body
strapped to its underside. It spans a world war, three continents, and is
infused with an extraordinary love affair. This first novel by a Pulitzer-Prize
winning journalist is a gripping tale of scientific intrigue set against the
eerie, silent white landscape of Antarctica -- and the bloody, violent backdrop
of history itself.
Owen Hart is a Montana cowboy turned bush pilot who is recruited in 1938 by a
fanatic new government in Germany that calls itself the Third Reich. Traveling
to Berlin, a brown city awash in red, white and black banners, Hart is ushered
into the inner sanctum of Hermann Goering and to a lavish soiree attended by the
players recruited for a Nazi-backed exploration of Antarctica. Though he is wary
of his fellow adventurers and impervious to their politics, Hart sees the chance
to do what he does best -- fly. And he sees something else, a beautiful German
biologist who will accompany the expedition.
On a small seaplane tender the Nazi expedition reaches Antarctica: a vision
of unspoiled crystalline white looming up out of a cobalt sea. Then, on a small
island on the edge of the continent they have come to claim, the Germans
discover horror: a Norwegian whaling vessel blanketed by some mysterious and
horrible pestilence. Exploring the island, Hart and biologist Greta Heinz
discover a warm volcanic spring deep inside the ice, while their shipmates begin
to die from the same disease that struck the Norwegians.
Suddenly, Goering's expedition is coming violently undone. But for Hart,
Greta, and the Germans, the unraveling of the mystery has just begun. It will
take years, separation from Greta, and a harrowing return to war-torn Germany
before the American pilot has the chance to wrest the secret hidden deep in the
Antarctic ice � through a journey of courage, terror, and the power of passion
itself.
Reviews
"A riveting tale, vividly realistic in its description of an
ice-strewn wilderness that is both deadly and hauntingly beautiful. It is a
tribute to Dietrich's storytelling ability that against this frozen landscape so
much passionate heat is kindled."
--David Campbell, author of The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica.
"An exciting and dramatic tale -- a John Buchan adventure story on ice. Ice
Reich is the proverbial page-turner."
--Alan Gurney, author of Below the Convergence
"A speed-read action adventure . . . cinematically layered."
--Publisher's Weekly
"Rousing, Indian Jones-style debut thriller . . . rivals the page-turners of
Alistair MacLean."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The first two sentence of Ice Reich will grab you by the throat. And
you'll have trouble putting the book down until the adventure's over."
--Salem Statesman-Journal
hardcover / $25.00 / Time Warner / 0446523399 / October 1998
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