Billion Dollar Brain [Paperback]

Len Deighton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1984

The classic spy thriller of lethal computer-age intrigue and a maniac’s private cold war, featuring the same anonymous narrator and milieu of The IPCRESS File.The fourth of Deighton’s novels to be narrated by the unnamed employee of WOOC(P) is the thrilling story of an anti-communist espionage network owned by a Texan billionaire, General Midwinter, run from a vast computer complex known as the Brain.After having been recruited by Harvey Newbegin, the narrator travels from the bone-freezing winter of Helsinki, Riga and Leningrad, to the stifling heat of Texas, and soon finds himself tangling with enemies on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘Dazzlingly intelligent and subtle’ Sunday Times‘Worthy of Raymond Chandler… intelligent… inventive… constantly entertaining’ Sunday Telegraph‘Such credibility, such accurate line-by-line beaming of a sheer sense of the actual… a glittering, wintry entertainment’ The Guardian‘Deighton is so far in the front of other writers in the field that they are not even in sight’ Sunday Times‘Nobody now seriously doubts that Deighton is the most credible of all the spysmiths’ The Scotsman --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From AudioFile

Len Deighton's latest spy story has a totally implausible plot full of anti-communist fanatics, double agents and a computer which gives the operatives their instructions. It thankfully contains a large measure of wry humor and skepticism which help the listener appreciate the spoof. Paul Daneman takes on the international cast of British, Russian and American characters like old friends. His wide range of accents identify each speaker though the women and children sound a bit silly with squeaky voices. Daneman's pace follows the action and he performs with a polished smoothness and professionalism. R.F.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (February 15, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425073726
• ISBN-13: 978-0425073728
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,395,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars North by Northeast, August 4, 2005

By 

John Dziadecki (Louisville, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billion Dollar Brain (Hardcover)

The man with no name ("Harry Palmer" in the film versions) heads into global trouble in Helsinki, Leningrad, Riga, New York, San Antonio and London. His quary is a deluded, megalomanic nationalist who uses a giant computer and people in an attempt to free the Russian peole of their Soviet oppressors. Len Deighton takes us on a journey to the frozen north and across the pond to the US and back again on a rollercoaster journey filled with his brand of insight and deadpan humor levened with enough intrigue and disbelief to keep you hooked.

This novel is the follow through of Deighton's "The Ipcress File" and "Funeral in Berlin".

Readers either like or dislike the author's prose style and wry humor. Maybe you just need to be in the mood for it. Right now, I am and I like it. Great reading on a hot summer's day.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A planned invasion of Latvia in the 1970s, April 11, 2010

By 

P. A. Doornbos - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billion Dollar Brain (Paperback)

W.O.O.C.(P) is a discretely-located spying agency of the British Ministry of Defence, headed by a Mr. Dawlish. In "Spy Story" he is the owner of a pre-WW II car, in this book an expert on garden weeds. Its premises in Charlotte Street encompass floor after floor of ostensibly unattractive or failing businesses, behind whose doors the agency works, with the Dispatch Section always booming with brass band music. Dawlish is the only staff member with an office with two windows.
A nameless but likable spy tells his story in the I form. He is sent by Dawlish to Scandinavia to find out more about alleged rumours that could be detrimental to the UK, the US, the Soviet Union, even to world peace. His brief: "Find out more. If possible, infiltrate!" His tour includes Helsinki, Leningrad, Riga, New York and San Antonio, Texas. There he is introduced to the Billion Dollar Brain, a series of mainframe computers purported to have been programmed to prevent human error in intelligence operations. The Brain is owned not by the US government, but by a right-wing organisation headed by a naturalised, former Latvian general. If the planned operation targeting Latvia is successful, rows and rows of other primed and linked mainframes will take on the rest of the Soviet Union...
The (somewhat implausible) plot is nevertheless great, and so are the characters and dialogues. KGB Colonel Stok (who earlier appeared in "Spy Story") catches the nameless hero in the Soviet Union, but realizes he needs him to stay alive to find out more and sends him home. But not before proving his admiration for the British WW II war effort by reciting at length from his favourite writer in English, the 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns. The enigmatic, extravert Finnish girl Signe, her American lover Harvey and the spy himself are interesting characters too. Descriptions of the different venues are also authentic.
Len Deighton is also a renowned war historian. The terrible facts included in BDB about Latvian collaboration with Germany during WW II and its eagerness to play the role of executioner on its behalf, is most probably based on fact. Latvians, especially, should read and enjoy this book and provide comments.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great read, November 9, 2005

By 

Highlanderthal "LONE WOLF" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Billion Dollar Brain (Hardcover)

This novel is the follow through of Deighton's "The Ipcress File" and "Funeral in Berlin".A really good read that is good standalone but better if read chronologically.