On Ice: A Thriller - Hardcover

Ramus, David

3.38

52 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671041843 ISBN 13: 9780671041847

Publisher: Atria, 2000

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The glittering high-stakes world of super-wealthy horse breeders in America's Deep South forms the backdrop to the story of Ben Hemmings, a much-lauded stable builder who is wrongfully convicted of a heinous crime and sentenced to ten years in federal prison

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Review:

An innocent man convicted of a crime he didn't commit finds a way out of prison just before his whole world--wife, kids, and business--goes to hell. But the way out has its own heavy price: it puts Ben Hemmings between ruthless federal agent Dan Patrone, who framed him in the first place, and Rollie Shore, an Atlanta mobster who Patrone wants Ben to bring down.

Before he went to prison, Ben built state-of-the-art barns for wealthy Georgia horse breeders and gentlemen farmers. Now Patrone wants Ben to use his knowledge and contacts to retrieve the extremely valuable horse semen presumably stolen from one of Ben's former clients before Shore gets his hands on it. But Shore, who's just been released from the same prison as Ben, is a very dangerous man to cross, as Ben well knows. Ben's fears for his family's safety--and Patrone's promise to send him back to prison for the rest of his life if he refuses--make the gamble a bet he can't afford not to make.

Much of the book takes place in the Alabama facility where Ben, Shore, and Ben's gentle cellmate, Black, are incarcerated. While David Ramus's characterization of Ben Hemmings, a decent man trapped by forces bigger than he is, is outstanding, the scenes of prison life are among the best in the book. That may be due to Ramus's firsthand knowledge of the world behind bars: he was a high-stakes art dealer in the '80s who got involved in drugs, corruption, and federal investigations. Having rehabilitated himself with two other solid thrillers (The Gravity of Shadows and Thief of Light), Ramus scores a bull's-eye with this one. --Jane Adams

From the Publisher:

OUTSTANDING BLURBS FOR DAVID RAMUS’S ON ICE!

(from book jacket)

NELSON DEMILLE:
"The opening pages of ON ICE are absolutely engrossing -- an innocent man winds up in a Federal prison, and the reader is there with him every step of the way. David Ramus' description of life on the inside makes you look up from the pages to assure yourself that you're not in the pen. Ramus' writing is as good as it gets -- economical yet descriptive, fast-paced yet rich. His dialogue is superb, and his narrative is totally engaging. ON ICE is one of the better novels you'll read this year."

JAMES PATTERSON:
“David Ramus knows how to tell a story and keep you glued to your chair. Read ON ICE before they make the movie!”

TESS GERRITSEN:
"It's every man's nightmare: to be convicted of a crime you didn't commit. And then, to hear the sound of the prison gates clanging shut. With gripping prose, David Ramus writes about just such a nightmare -- and about one man's fight to extricate himself from a dangerous web of intrigue."

DONALD WESTLAKE:
"Ben Hemmings, the hero of David Ramus's gripping new ON ICE, travels from deep inside a federal penitentiary to the horsy-set on the lush landscapes of Georgia -- never have I seen a novel move with such authority over such polar landscapes. Clever and twisty, suspenseful as a broken elevator, you're never sure where you're headed or how you'll get there, but you sure do enjoy the ride."

LES STANDIFORD:
“ON ICE is a gripping, absolutely irresistible thriller that starts off at full throttle and never backs off. But what’s even more compelling is the interplay of relationships and the emotional depth that elevate ON ICE to a rarefied plane indeed. The treatment of prison life is absolutely convincing, the behind the scenes look at thoroughbred breeding fascinating, and the treatment of a decent man’s willingness to risk everything to save his family is deeply moving. David Ramus is a gifted writer and ON ICE is a knockout piece of work.”

JAMES HALL:
“In tough, lean prose David Ramus takes us on a heart-racing thrill ride of deceit and high tech chicanery. Moving from the perilous confines of an Alabama prison to the fancy horse farms of Atlanta, ON ICE is a tensely suspenseful tale of a man falsely accused of murder, who must risk his own life, and the woman he loves above all else, to win his freedom. This is a wild, often funny, heart-wrenching story, one that should move Ramus squarely into the front ranks of our best thriller writers.”

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