Whiteout: Melt by Greg Rucka & Steve Lieber

Sequel to the Graphic Novel Whiteout.

U.S. Deputy Marshal Carrie Stetko is on much needed vacation in New Zealand, but still stuck in professional exile in McMurdo Station in the South Pole. When a Russian base blows up suspiciously, her bosses promise to bring her back to civilization if she'll cut her vacation short to go poke around the debris.

Although Article I of the Antarctic Treaty prohibits any military use of the continent, the Russians are suspected of using their base as a weapons cache and her bosses want her to see if she can find anything out. Soon, Stetko finds herself pursing a team of elite Spetznaz troops gone mercenary who are fleeing across the ice with stolen nukes. Upping the ante, Stetko teams up with a Russian GRU agent to track the rogue Spetznaz and recover the nukes.

There's even some sexual action about midway through the story that helps connect Carrie with the Russian agent and of course complicates the story. Carrie has to decide what is right for the overall good and what is just right for her. It's always a dilemma.

This story wasn't as complicated as most of it took place on the chase across the ice to catch the Spetznaz troops. But as always the black and white illustrations are haunting as we see the desolation of Antarctica and the people who live there.