John Gardner (2) (1926–2007)

The first in the John Gardner era of James Bond continuation novels. With the double oh section in obsolete semi retirement, is once again called upon safe day. It’s an interesting premise and an unusual bond villain. Unfortunately get slightly wasted in this somewhat mediocre offering. It feels more like fanfiction rather than a legitimates character, art for bond and indeed Even an acceptance of a new version of James Bond. I think there might be some mileage in looking at this. If you’re interested in running the James Bond role-playing game just to give yourself some more ideas but otherwise unless you’re a completist this is something that if you miss it, it won’t matter.… (altro)

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Icebreaker by John Garnder is the third James Bond novel the author wrote, and published in 1983. Mr. Gardner was an English novelist, known for his Bond Books, as well as books featuring Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

James Bond, agent 007, finds himself in the unenviable position of blindly going on a mission with agents from the CIA, Mossad, and KGB, together dubbed “Icebreaker”. The mission is to investigate the National Socialist Action Army (NSAA), a Neo-Nazi organization, assassinating diplomats and hoarding weapons in Finland.

The head of the NSAA is Count Konrad von Glöda, a former SS officer who thinks is the new Hitler. The goal is to bring on a new wave of fascism around the world.

This book, I think, is the best Bond book by John Gardner (this is the third one, and the third I’ve read by him). The action is exciting, Bond joins a multi-national black-ops team and is called upon to stop a Neo-Nazi organization with plenty of resources to worry even the strongest governments.

I found the theme of the solitary Bond trying to be a team player to be an interesting exploration of the character. Of course, the team is a bunch of spies and telling the truth is a foreign concept to them whether they’d like to or not.

Icebreaker contains betrayals upon betrayals which keeps the narrative fresh and exciting. Even the current girlfriend, Paula Vacker, is not who she seems, over and over again.

You can feel Bond’s frustration as he’s being thrown into the field with no one to trust. Except, maybe, Eric Carlsson who trains him how to drive in the Arctic.

The torture scene was very well done and powerful, Ian Fleming would have approved. Unlike other Bond books, this one only has two locations, and not too exotic –no location which Fleming would have liked to vacation at.
Even though, I’d love to go to Lapland one of these days.

Mr. Gardner wrote a book with a plot that is more subtle than anything Ian Fleming ever did, and it works. I’m sure he never thought that this book, whose plot is the rise of fascism, is more relevant today than its original release date.… (altro)