FICTION

The Ice House

Atlantic Monthly. Dec. 2017. 464p. ISBN 9780802127082. $25; ebk. ISBN 9780802189318. F
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Johnny MacKinnon and wife Pauline are in a world of hurt. Their Florida ice-making plant, which has been in Pauline's family for decades, is in the crosshairs of an OSHA investigation, triggered by a lawsuit over an ammonia leak. Johnny suspects that a local meth dealer tampered with the tank, but so far their lawyer has turned up no proof. Johnny's recent collapse at the factory reveals a mass in his brain, requiring urgent surgery. His son Corran, a recovering heroin addict whose endless bouts of rehab financially bled the MacKinnons dry and caused a seemingly irreparable rift between father and son, is back in Scotland raising his baby daughter alone while his ex-wife spends years in prison. Johnny travels to Scotland to make amends with Corran, leaving Pauline in Florida to run the plant alone as her panic at the approach of two colliding deadlines—the lawsuit and Johnny's growing tumor—skyrockets.
VERDICT Smith's (Heart of Palm) gift for irresistibly charming, flawed characters is once again in evidence in this tale of good people and strong marriages tested by life's cruel roadblocks, human nature, and the limits of love. [See Prepub Alert, 7/26/17.]
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