City of Ice

This novel is much more stylish than the usual police/crime book. The main character is thoughtful and complex, and the prose is elegant. If you like thrillers, don't let the idea that this is a literary work deter you from reading it. The hero is so intriguing that you'd like to meet him. I hope Farrow/Ferguson writes more books starring Cinq-Mars.

This is one classy cop novel. Farrow delivers a complex thriller of the highest order. The intricate plotting, complex characterizations and beautifully evoked sense of place, reveal a consumate craftsman at work.As a born and bred Montrealer, I can only applaud Farrow's considerable achievement in his gritty realization of the city at its bone-chilling bleakest. The material for City of Ice has been culled from to-day's headlines, with some prophecies about tomorrow's. Montrealers are only too aware of the deadly biker turf wars that are raging in this city, and which form the backdrop to City of Ice.Fans of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse, will find Farrow's hero detective, Emile Cinq-Mars, equally appealing, as he struggles against the forces of corruption.City of Ice not only satisfies as a thriller, but manages to transcend the genre with its exquisite writing and psychological insights, as Farrow examines the dilemma of the moral individual in an increasingly amoral society. ---And hang on to your hats, the second half of the novel is one heck of a rollercoaster ride.