ICE TRAP
Ice Trap has been translated into 15 languages, and sold in over 20 countries.
Short-listed for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award
Short-listed for the Hay Festival Wales Book of the Year
Winner of the “People’s Choice” BBC Radio Wales Prize
Bertelsmann Book Clubs - International Book of the Month
Ottakar Wales - Book of the Month
Literary Guild Main Selection, US
Young Welsh surgeon, Dafydd Woodruff, finds his confidence shattered after a disastrously botched operation on a child. Searching for the remotest possible place on earth in which to soothe his wounds and hide his shame, he seeks refuge in Moose Creek, a bleak community in the Canadian sub-Arctic.
Many years later, with Moose Creek a distant memory, the delicate equilibrium of Dafydd’s childless marriage is upset by a letter from Canada. A 13-year-old girl and her twin brother claim he is their father. Dafydd knows beyond doubt that he never slept with the twins’ mother, yet the letter stirs something in him.
To make sense of the impossible, Dafydd has no choice but to return to the Canadian wilderness, to the frozen outpost where no rules and few laws apply. Dark secrets and mistakes which he had all but forgotten reveal themselves, and he finds that the truth is more complex and sinister than he could ever have imagined.
REVIEWS
“Brilliant debut… a fine novel of psychological suspense that takes hold and doesn’t let go.” Globe and Mail, Canada
“Compulsively readable.” Publishers Weekly, USA
"Every page quivers with exquisite tension. Erotic and deeply haunting, Ice Trap is a stunningly beautiful debut that you will not soon forget." Tess Gerritsen, author of The Bone Garden
“Ice Trap is a gripping thriller set in a fascinating and exotic locale. You won’t want to put this one down as you follow the compelling characters across an icy Arctic landscape towards a powerful and extraordinarily moving conclusion.” Peter Robinson, author of Friend of the Devil
“Dark and erotic.” Mail on Sunday, UK
“The story is intriguing, intelligent and enticing… I was reminded of Snow Falling On Cedars by the way in which Sewell marries what is essentially a whodunnit (or whodunn-who?) with a wonderfully evocative sense of place.” Scott Pack, Waterstone, UK
“An involving narrative, a sharply observed cast, an atmospherically evoked and unusual setting.” The Guardian, UK
“A highly imaginative and unique story line… the book is memorable for its descriptive power of the frozen Arctic regions and the scruffy towns that lie up there, baking hot and midge-ridden in high summer and fatally cold in winter. The author writes from first hand experience of the region and the result is well worth reading.”
Bernard Knight - ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series. UK
“Sewell’s narrative powers are immense. She balances description and dialogue, past and present, Wales and Canada, the exotic and the familiar, with engaging skill. Ice Trap is one of the most enjoyable books I have read recently. 'Page-turner' is a cliché, but it describes this thriller perfectly.” Shots Magazine, UK
“A dark and intriguing first novel about a young doctor whose tragic mistake during a child’s surgery leads him to run to a far corner of the world… Compelling fiction from a newcomer.” Kirkus Reviews, USA
