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Iced
For Megan, home is a place to come back to when there’s nowhere left to go. Her last home was a cosy cell at a woman’s prison in New Mexico - she’d stabbed a man, though most would say he’d deserved it. She gets a job repossessing cars whose owners have defaulted on their payments. When local pilot Clayton Bennett is stabbed to death, a Native American couple he’d got drunk with take the rap. His Cherokee Jeep was due for repo and Megan grabs it, but the moment she gets her hands on the vehicle the spiral of violence that began with Bennett’s murder escalates. A gang of criminally minded Russian immigrants and a woman with a red dragon tattoo, apparently working alone, seem to have a pressing interest in the Jeep. Or in something that’s hidden inside it - and nothing and no one will stop them finding it. Jenny Siler has done it again with an intensely vivid piece of writing. Megan’s voice draws the reader immediately to a dark, soulful world of appealing loners, sad misfits, and extremely nasty villains. Freezing, bleak Montana in the dead of winter is bought frigidly to life in her wonderful, evocative prose, and Megan’s questing character, dark past and rich inner life make her a mesmerising companion. Unputdownable.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 11, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 21, 2019
Meg Gardner is in her middle thirties and recently released from prison in New Mexico where she served time for stabbing her boyfriend. Now free, she returns home to Missoula, Montana, and takes a job as a repo woman for GMAC. During a bitterly cold Christmas season, she's told to repossess the Jeep belonging to a pilot named Clayton Bennett. She arrives at the fleabag motel where Bennett is in residence only to discover that he had just been knifed to death. The cops are swarming all over the place but, not to be deterred, Meg locates the victim's Jeep and drives off with it. On arriving home en route to turning in the Jeep, Meg notices that Bennett has left his briefcase in the backseat.
Well, crap.
Any reader of crime fiction understands that when a guy's just been murdered and his briefcase turns up in the backseat of the car you're driving, you're probably all of a sudden in deep, deep trouble, and such is the case here. Practically before she can draw a breath, a vicious woman and a couple of Russian gangsters are at Meg's door, demanding the briefcase. She surrenders it, but whatever the bad guys and girl are looking for isn't in it. They naturally assume that Meg has removed it and demand it back.
This all turns out to be a very complicated situation which seems to turn on the fact that the murdered Mr. Bennett had years earlier crashed a plane into the Montana wilderness in the dead of winter. Bennett miraculously survived and had spent the bulk of his time in the intervening years attempting to find the crash site and the remains of his plane. Meg has no idea what might have been in the plane, but an awful lot of nasty people are interested in finding out.
Meg Gardner is certainly not Miss Marple or anyone like her. She's her own woman, a hard-drinking loner with a very complicated family background, and she doesn't take crap from anyone. In order to survive, she's got to dig her way down to the bottom of this sordid mess and it won't be easy or pretty. This is a dark, gritty novel, reminiscent of James Crumley, another Missoula author. Siler writes beautifully and is particularly adept at conveying the dark underside of this small university town and the brutal weather that can assault it during the winter. Readers will want to bundle up; it's goddamn cold out there in the still-wild West.
Well, crap.
Any reader of crime fiction understands that when a guy's just been murdered and his briefcase turns up in the backseat of the car you're driving, you're probably all of a sudden in deep, deep trouble, and such is the case here. Practically before she can draw a breath, a vicious woman and a couple of Russian gangsters are at Meg's door, demanding the briefcase. She surrenders it, but whatever the bad guys and girl are looking for isn't in it. They naturally assume that Meg has removed it and demand it back.
This all turns out to be a very complicated situation which seems to turn on the fact that the murdered Mr. Bennett had years earlier crashed a plane into the Montana wilderness in the dead of winter. Bennett miraculously survived and had spent the bulk of his time in the intervening years attempting to find the crash site and the remains of his plane. Meg has no idea what might have been in the plane, but an awful lot of nasty people are interested in finding out.
Meg Gardner is certainly not Miss Marple or anyone like her. She's her own woman, a hard-drinking loner with a very complicated family background, and she doesn't take crap from anyone. In order to survive, she's got to dig her way down to the bottom of this sordid mess and it won't be easy or pretty. This is a dark, gritty novel, reminiscent of James Crumley, another Missoula author. Siler writes beautifully and is particularly adept at conveying the dark underside of this small university town and the brutal weather that can assault it during the winter. Readers will want to bundle up; it's goddamn cold out there in the still-wild West.
July 18, 2009
As readers of my reviews may know, I'm working my way through Jenny Siler's backlist (the books she wrote before she started writing spy novels under the name Alex Carr). I recently read ICED and found it to be everything I've come to expect from a Jenny Siler novel, a highly-readable combination of hardboiled mystery, a likable (if flawed) protagonist and (in this case) finely detailed description that will make you feel like you're right in Missoula, Montana in winter.
The protagonist, Meg Gardner, is a repo woman. She repossesses cars for GMAC. One night, when she comes to collect aviator Clay Bennett's Jeep, her task is made easier (or so she thinks) when the unfortunate Bennett is discovered dead from multiple stab wounds, left out on an island in the middle of a frozen river. So she nabs the Jeep and takes off. Job done, right? Of course not.
Naturally, there's something in the Jeep. A briefcase that people are trying to get their hands on. Mean people. People who would kill for it. Apparently, the same people who killed Bennett.
Siler displays substantial writer chops, by taking this simple premise and turning it into more than just another whodunit/thriller. Meg is a complex character with a past that haunts her. She's done time in prison and her parents--well, let's just say they have their issues. Meg has a boyfriend (named Kristof) who she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge as such. Yet, she takes great comfort in being with him. And when she's threatened by people seeking what's in the briefcase, she wants to run to Kristof, even as she tries to avoid him (in order to protect him).
For my own part, I love a tough gal protagonist. Meg Gardner would have to qualify as being among the toughest ones I've ever loved. She rejects all middle-class values and is cussedly independent. To give you an example, at one point, she says, "Missoula has always been the kind of town where neighbors wave and people stroll the streets on summer nights eating ice cream. This good cheer can bring a person down. Luckily there's enough sleaze under Missoula's veneer to make the place tolerable." (I LOVE that!)
Though sometimes you see her yearning (ever so slightly) for a quieter, more "normal" life, she rejects such yearnings as poppycock (though that's not the word Meg would use). In point of fact, Meg seems to suffer from overwhelming self-loathing. She denies herself any chance at a so-called normal life by consistently derailing her prospects for one, since she figures she doesn't deserve it.
I did say she was complex, right?
The entire review is online on my blog The Book Grrl at http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2009/...
The protagonist, Meg Gardner, is a repo woman. She repossesses cars for GMAC. One night, when she comes to collect aviator Clay Bennett's Jeep, her task is made easier (or so she thinks) when the unfortunate Bennett is discovered dead from multiple stab wounds, left out on an island in the middle of a frozen river. So she nabs the Jeep and takes off. Job done, right? Of course not.
Naturally, there's something in the Jeep. A briefcase that people are trying to get their hands on. Mean people. People who would kill for it. Apparently, the same people who killed Bennett.
Siler displays substantial writer chops, by taking this simple premise and turning it into more than just another whodunit/thriller. Meg is a complex character with a past that haunts her. She's done time in prison and her parents--well, let's just say they have their issues. Meg has a boyfriend (named Kristof) who she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge as such. Yet, she takes great comfort in being with him. And when she's threatened by people seeking what's in the briefcase, she wants to run to Kristof, even as she tries to avoid him (in order to protect him).
For my own part, I love a tough gal protagonist. Meg Gardner would have to qualify as being among the toughest ones I've ever loved. She rejects all middle-class values and is cussedly independent. To give you an example, at one point, she says, "Missoula has always been the kind of town where neighbors wave and people stroll the streets on summer nights eating ice cream. This good cheer can bring a person down. Luckily there's enough sleaze under Missoula's veneer to make the place tolerable." (I LOVE that!)
Though sometimes you see her yearning (ever so slightly) for a quieter, more "normal" life, she rejects such yearnings as poppycock (though that's not the word Meg would use). In point of fact, Meg seems to suffer from overwhelming self-loathing. She denies herself any chance at a so-called normal life by consistently derailing her prospects for one, since she figures she doesn't deserve it.
I did say she was complex, right?
The entire review is online on my blog The Book Grrl at http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2009/...
June 15, 2019
Siler takes a fascinating approach here. There is a mystery, well, multiple mysteries tied together, of only a person can figure out the connections. Not a police procedural. And definitely not a cozy!
Megan has a repo to do. And she has to do it quickly. The man who hasn't paid his bills has been murdered and she want to grab the car before the police do. Why work repos? Well, there aren't many jobs open in Missoula, Montana for a woman recently released from prison. She manages to grab the car, and suddenly has multiple people after her, wielding guns, knives and vile threats. They want something from that car, but she has no idea what it might be.
There are plenty of bad guys (some of whom are definitely bad, but with some sense of a moral code) and low-lives to go around, as well as people who are just scraping by as best they can. Siler has written some great characters on both sides of the good-guys/bad-guys line and through that murky gray area that divides them.
This book gives one a whole new sense of Montana along the way. You can just forget those wide-open spaces, cow-boys and campfires--there are few pastoral scenes here. And, to top it off, it's winter. It gets damned cold in Montana in the winter.
Enjoy!
Megan has a repo to do. And she has to do it quickly. The man who hasn't paid his bills has been murdered and she want to grab the car before the police do. Why work repos? Well, there aren't many jobs open in Missoula, Montana for a woman recently released from prison. She manages to grab the car, and suddenly has multiple people after her, wielding guns, knives and vile threats. They want something from that car, but she has no idea what it might be.
There are plenty of bad guys (some of whom are definitely bad, but with some sense of a moral code) and low-lives to go around, as well as people who are just scraping by as best they can. Siler has written some great characters on both sides of the good-guys/bad-guys line and through that murky gray area that divides them.
This book gives one a whole new sense of Montana along the way. You can just forget those wide-open spaces, cow-boys and campfires--there are few pastoral scenes here. And, to top it off, it's winter. It gets damned cold in Montana in the winter.
Enjoy!
September 27, 2014
RATING: 4.25
Have you ever been going about your daily business and had something happen that at the time seems inconsequential but subsequently turns out to be of great import, even life changing? That's what happens to Meg Gardner. Originally from Missoula, Montana, Meg screwed up and ended up in jail in New Mexico for petty criminal activities. On returning home, she's lucky to get a job where her background doesn't matter. She repossesses cars. And in the course of repossessing a Jeep owned by a guy named Clayton Bennett, she sees his body being retrieved from a ditch by the police. A native American by the name of Tina Red Deer is somehow implicated; this sets off little alarms in Meg's heads because she recalls an incident involving a "Red Deer" family from her childhood.
Thinking that it's best to take the Jeep before things get too complicated, she drives the vehicle home. It's only then that she finds a briefcase in the back seat. And everyone in the world is interested in the contents of that briefcase. Before she even gets to open it, she is robbed of it and subsequently threatened by a second person who wants it as well. And that's how Meg becomes involved in a situation that offers her nothing but reclamation of her life and maybe someone that she cares about in her own damaged way.
So Meg begins to try to find out about Bennett's death. She gets involved with some Russian crooks, a scary tattooed knife-wielding woman and a hunt for an airplane that crashed 40 years ago. "Iced" is an apt name for the book because of the 2 meanings of the word: one being the slang for being killed and the other relating to the weather. The sub-arctic setting is depicted on such a way that your knees will knock and you'll be grabbing for a sweater.
Siler has an extraordinary writing style, very descriptive and nuanced, almost literary and poetic in a noir kind of way. It's as if Siler were creating a written Oriental carpet—beautiful, deeply textured, intricate and complex. On the other hand, however, the preponderance of descriptive passages sometimes slows down the narrative and has a negative impact on the book's pacing.
Meg is a damaged character, made so by a combination of bad genes and events within her family that have an impact to the present day. Her mother shot her father. He lived but is more or less a vegetable. And although she seems to be his caretaker, the truth is that she's really more his cruel jailer. These events have served to make Meg someone who cannot commit to a relationship, in spite of the fact that she is involved with someone who cares about her deeply.
The writing may be gorgeous but what holds the reader in this book is the flawed character of Meg. In spite of her imperfections, she's an honest person and someone the reader roots for. Siler is a fine writer, although the plot is not an exceptional one and didn't quite come together for me. However, I do recommend this book for its wonderfully rendered characterization, prose and setting and its dark overtones.
Have you ever been going about your daily business and had something happen that at the time seems inconsequential but subsequently turns out to be of great import, even life changing? That's what happens to Meg Gardner. Originally from Missoula, Montana, Meg screwed up and ended up in jail in New Mexico for petty criminal activities. On returning home, she's lucky to get a job where her background doesn't matter. She repossesses cars. And in the course of repossessing a Jeep owned by a guy named Clayton Bennett, she sees his body being retrieved from a ditch by the police. A native American by the name of Tina Red Deer is somehow implicated; this sets off little alarms in Meg's heads because she recalls an incident involving a "Red Deer" family from her childhood.
Thinking that it's best to take the Jeep before things get too complicated, she drives the vehicle home. It's only then that she finds a briefcase in the back seat. And everyone in the world is interested in the contents of that briefcase. Before she even gets to open it, she is robbed of it and subsequently threatened by a second person who wants it as well. And that's how Meg becomes involved in a situation that offers her nothing but reclamation of her life and maybe someone that she cares about in her own damaged way.
So Meg begins to try to find out about Bennett's death. She gets involved with some Russian crooks, a scary tattooed knife-wielding woman and a hunt for an airplane that crashed 40 years ago. "Iced" is an apt name for the book because of the 2 meanings of the word: one being the slang for being killed and the other relating to the weather. The sub-arctic setting is depicted on such a way that your knees will knock and you'll be grabbing for a sweater.
Siler has an extraordinary writing style, very descriptive and nuanced, almost literary and poetic in a noir kind of way. It's as if Siler were creating a written Oriental carpet—beautiful, deeply textured, intricate and complex. On the other hand, however, the preponderance of descriptive passages sometimes slows down the narrative and has a negative impact on the book's pacing.
Meg is a damaged character, made so by a combination of bad genes and events within her family that have an impact to the present day. Her mother shot her father. He lived but is more or less a vegetable. And although she seems to be his caretaker, the truth is that she's really more his cruel jailer. These events have served to make Meg someone who cannot commit to a relationship, in spite of the fact that she is involved with someone who cares about her deeply.
The writing may be gorgeous but what holds the reader in this book is the flawed character of Meg. In spite of her imperfections, she's an honest person and someone the reader roots for. Siler is a fine writer, although the plot is not an exceptional one and didn't quite come together for me. However, I do recommend this book for its wonderfully rendered characterization, prose and setting and its dark overtones.
July 11, 2010
My favourite of the Siler novels. Scary, thought provoking, strong female character in the lead.
October 3, 2019
It’s cold in Montana, which is where protagonist Megan does most of her work repossessing cars for a client. It’s not a great job, but it’s better than the 29-year-old woman’s last home — a prison in New Mexico. So sure, she’s content with the job she found in Missoula, Montana. Well, she was content enough until a Jeep she repossessed concealed something that Very Bad People very badly sought. There were three of them, burly men entirely unconcerned when Megan saw them and approached with a .22 caliber gun. She might as well have tried to threaten them with a popsicle. The Very Bad People easily won, and found what they were looking for. Megan never did know what was inside it. And so, the chase is on.
Siler knows how to write characters very well, which is always instrumental to me when I’m reading fiction. Megan, of course, is flawed, but trying to put that behind her. Others who emerge in the book are likewise flawed, though in different ways. Most, though, are likable in their own ways — and they feel very real. (Montana might as well be a character, too; Siler nails the setting perfectly.)
If you’re looking for a great story with an unpredictable plot, terrific characters, and what sure seemed to me like reality, this is a book you’ll want to get.
Siler knows how to write characters very well, which is always instrumental to me when I’m reading fiction. Megan, of course, is flawed, but trying to put that behind her. Others who emerge in the book are likewise flawed, though in different ways. Most, though, are likable in their own ways — and they feel very real. (Montana might as well be a character, too; Siler nails the setting perfectly.)
If you’re looking for a great story with an unpredictable plot, terrific characters, and what sure seemed to me like reality, this is a book you’ll want to get.
March 18, 2016
This was an audio book. Good story but what made it better was the reader as she had a Kathy Bates style and it kept me listening.
January 22, 2023
Combination murder mystery and search for lost treasure adventure but fails to live up to potential. Meg is not a damsel in distress; she is tough, self-confident and unafraid to take risks, but unfortunately saddled with a bad childhood and inability to develop close relationships. In the end the murder is solved but the "treasure" is not identified and exact whereabouts unknown. Climactic scene where Meg fights the female assassin falls flat when the assassin cannot handle her own weapon, and Meg easily disarms her. Strange ending when Meg finds her long lost half-sister only to back away without telling her. Too many loose ends and unclear plot resolutions.
December 20, 2020
If you have been in western Montana, for even a short 3 day vacation, then you might know the scenery in and around Missoula is interesting and at times beautiful. And in winter, Montana is also remarkably cold, windy and often frozen. Jenny Siler is an easy to read story teller, and describes the people and places of Montana with authenticity. Reading her mystery, Iced, was worth while if only to revisit Montana.
February 10, 2022
Sort of a mystery/thriller, but not very thrilling and not much of a mystery. The only thing that saved it for 2 stars is that it was set in Missoula, MT. I spent a week in the town a few years ago and recognize the landmarks.
March 28, 2021
Easy read. Well developed characters. Gritty, small town feel. Very descriptive landscape.
August 13, 2021
Story about a woman who ends up with criminals wanting something they think she has. So she decides to do some investigating herself
December 23, 2021
Read in 2001. Montana mystery.
March 23, 2017
The foul language was a major turnoff.
January 17, 2022
I read this book because my nana gave it to me. It was excruciating. Do not recommend, spare yourself.
August 8, 2013
Nearly didn't read "Iced" after forcing my way through Siler's first book. This one was marginally better. 50% of the text consists of flashbacks, which are supposed to explain why Gardner is so screwed up. Again Siler takes an interesting plot and makes it so dark, you just don't care about most of her characters. Gardner is supposed to be so tough, but makes no effort to defend herself at all. Constantly getting pounded on, but never learns. I enjoy strong female protagonists, but Siler's women never seem to develop any "character" or learn from their travails. There is pretty much no development through the entire text. I was left feeling this could have been really good, but wasn't.
October 18, 2012
This was not one of my favourite books. I can't fault the plot and the characters are true to themselves. But the book left me somewhat cold.
I didn't like the excessive smoking of the characters who hardly ever ate, but drank way too much and drove vehicles after ward. Not a good model for heros. The main character was the anti-romantic woman, who was smart enough to solve a murder, but not smart enough to improve her life and work through her stuff.
It didn't help that I listened to an audio version and the reader's voice is not on my hit list.
Either way, someone remind me never to travel to Montana. It's way too cold there.
I didn't like the excessive smoking of the characters who hardly ever ate, but drank way too much and drove vehicles after ward. Not a good model for heros. The main character was the anti-romantic woman, who was smart enough to solve a murder, but not smart enough to improve her life and work through her stuff.
It didn't help that I listened to an audio version and the reader's voice is not on my hit list.
Either way, someone remind me never to travel to Montana. It's way too cold there.
Read
December 7, 2010this book from the beach is set in manitoba at a constant temperature of about 20 below; i presume that's fahrenheit but whatever units it's in i'd class it as pretty damned cold. i loved siler's first book easy money and i don't think this one was quite as good as that first effort. the story isn't as multi faceted and the narrator is more reliable and the overall experience wasn't as engaging or as mind twisting. it was still an interesting book but i found it a bit of a disappointment.
June 25, 2012
Interesting book. I read the ARC (not sure where I got it!) so there were a few typos throughout. I was a little disturbed by the break in the relationship of the major characters, and that the main character wasn't able to resolve anything with her parents either. But I suppose that is more like real life, right? Overall the snarky tone of the narrator/main character had me laughing out loud in places.
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August 12, 2011I was shivering every time I picked up this book - the author describes winter in Missoula, Montana in every chapter. I've decided I never want to live there! (at least in the winter). Not a bad book - liked the character of Meg - she was a little rough around the edges but her repo job kind of made that a necessity. A different sort of book than my normal cozy mysteries.
September 15, 2012
Twenty-nine year old Megan Gardner is a loner and an ex-con. She spent 18-months in a New Mexico prison and when released she buys a bus ticket to Missoula, Montana. She chose her hometown partially because she felt she had nowhere else left to go and partially driven by a nostalgic remorse for her family....
My review:
http://mostlyfiction.com/mystery/sile...
My review:
http://mostlyfiction.com/mystery/sile...
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May 29, 2009Jenny Siler is an unexpected find! Montana setting, tough female protagonist, fluid and poetic writing. I'm really getting into this story of an ex-con turned repo worker who stumbles into a series of violent murders.
November 8, 2013
Just not much to it. If it wasn't for the plot's proximity to where I live, I would stop reading after 20 pages. Instead, I stopped reading after 70 pages. Just a boring author without talent. Don't waste your time.
January 18, 2016
Not sure why I gave it two stars. It was not a page turner, even though It was an audio book. Unfortunately I have decided that I do not like Betty Bobbitt's style of reading, which is disappointing as I enjoy her work all those year ago on television.
December 22, 2024
Compelling read. I listened to the audio book and the only problem was that the reader didn't take the time to find the correct pronunciation of many of the places in and around Missoula. I enjoyed the story and the fast pace of Iced. Perfect summer read for fans of murder mysteries.
April 11, 2009
I would have given this book a higher rating except for all the unnecessary descriptions. Waste of words in my opinion.
July 30, 2008
Another terrific mystery that I'd love to read again.
January 11, 2011
Odd characters, sort of low lifes but interesting mystery Would read more by this author
May 21, 2012
I guess the book was OK, tho the story didn't seem to have much continuity, and not really much of a point, either. Not a book I really liked much, tho it wasn't so bad I had to put it down.
November 6, 2013
Very fast-paced and quick read. Great for a car ride or lazy afternoon reading. Great story that leaves you wanting a little more at the end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews