It is Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas and snowing steadily. The streets are deserted, traffic is light and most people have returned home for the start of the festivities. But family get-togethers are the last thing on Charlie Arglist's mind, and home is the last place he needs to be. For Charlie has to get out of town. For good. In nine and a half hours, to be precise. But first there are just a few things he has to do . . .

The Ice Harvest is a rollercoaster ride of double-cross, black humour and, very possibly, the last twenty-four hours in Charlie Arglist's life . . .