Customer Reviews

Icebreaker (James Bond)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John Gardner's Bond books, if "Icebreaker" is any indication, aim for a compromise between the classiness of Ian Fleming's stories and the bombast of the film series. The plot is relatively straightforward, as 007 travels to the Finland/Soviet border to track down an international neo-Nazi conspiracy, without any of the tired, obligatory globetrotting of the latter-day films. "Icebreaker's" cartoon-like villain, however, seems reminiscent more of the movies than the Fleming novels, and the story climaxes with the big explosions required of the films as well. Gardner's own contribution to this mix is the conflicting loyalties among the characters. Agents turn out to be double-agents, then triple-agents, as someone turns traitor in almost every chapter. The novel as a whole, thus, is an uneasy combination of these three elements that reads quickly and enjoyably, but it's kind of hard to recognize James Bond in there.

As John Gardner's third Bond novel, Icebreaker shows an increasing understanding of the character. The novel shows a good deal of creativity as far as situations and the Neo-Nazi villains are concerned, and keeps the reader guessing as to who on Bond's team are actually on his side, especially as the book progresses. All in all, a nice adventure for Bond, and a nice time for any Bond fan.

This was by far the best Gardner 007 novel. This had all the gadgets and women that make James Bond James Bond. This would have made a great movie if we were still dealing with the Cold War 007. Also The N.S.A.A. was a great villian for Bond.

Icebreaker was one of the fist Bond novels I read & I enjoyed it so much I might consider re-reading it. In fact it is a shame Hollywood has not turned this into a movie. What I liked most about the book was the "combined forces" (Britian,Israel,Russia)that made for unusual tactics against unusal villians. I would like to read more Bond books that pair up Bond with a temp partner much like For Your Eyes Only and Tommorrow Never Dies. An easy to follow plot some cool gadgets and good typical ending. There is nothing like a good book.

With his first two novels in the series, Gardner stuck to the standard Bond formula. But with his third novel, Icebreaker, he stayed outside the formula and established all the key elements that would comprise his 007 series: Bond actually involved heavily in intelligence and espionage and a plot with a real-life political or historical background, instead of a big adventure with the fate of the world in the balance and an evil multimillionaire. I don't understand why this bothers so many people. There's dozens of Bond stories following the same routine, formula -the same story with different characters and locations- and Gardner at least tried to do something original and different with the character.

In Icebreaker, Bond is assigned to a team also consisting of American, Israeli, and Russian agents. Their mission in the arctic is to monitor a convoy of stolen high-grade military equipment from a Russian army outpost to a WWII-era bunker serving as the headquarters of the National Socialist Action Army, a well-organized neo-Nazi paramilitary group responsible for a number of terrorist attacks and assassinations. Bond quickly learns that the mission has been compromised. The team has been infiltrated by enemy agents. Additionally, the KGB is using the operation as a scheme to capture and deliver Bond to Moscow.

The story is extremely fast-paced. The action is tense and well-written. It's fun watching Bond put the pieces together and doubt who he can trust. The locations are an original and fresh change of pace for Bond and really enhances the story's atmosphere and suspense, as there is nothing glamorous or ritzy about Bond struggling to survive in the frozen forests of Finland and Russia.

There's a couple minor problems. If the Soviet Union was having problems with their weapons ending up in the hands of a terrorist faction, would they really go to the UK and US for help? And it would seem that a NATO or Russian special ops team would be more suited to carry out a reconnaissance of the enemy base in the middle of the arctic than a team of intelligence agents. But then, this is a Bond story, so I don't expect realism to get in the way of entertainment.

Overall, one of Gardner's best Bond novels and just a really great Cold War adventure for 007.

Though a bit dated in its technology and political descriptions, this Bond story still holds up pretty well. A new Nazi organization is attacking communist interests around the world with well organized terrorist attacks, and Bond finds himself working with agents from the Soviet Union, the United States and Isreal to try and bring down these Nazis before they can consolidate their power. This unhappy alliance of agents is ocmplicated by deceptions and crossed agendas, leaving Bond on his own to try and bring down the elusive Count von Glöda. This story includes a number of interesting twists and provides a sufficiently thrilling ride to qualify as a successful Bond novel.

In his 3rd book, John Gardner pits 007 with agents from the CIA, KGB and MOSSAD working against a Neo-Nazi force. Another masterpice thanks to John Gardner. Not as good as the first two, but is absolutely stunning anyway!

This is John Gardner's best James Bond novel. It's not Fleming, but it doesn't have to be. It stands on its own.

This was very enjoyable reading. It actually read more like a script to a Bond motion picture than a novel. There was one interrogation scene in the frozen ice that was very original yet retained the descriptive flavor that Fleming had created for Bond's perseverance. Perhaps that style is Gardener's forte.

In this, my favorite James Bond 007 continuation novel Gardner pits his character against a Neo Nazi force inside the Arctic Circle. Intricate plot twists, interesting locations and tense, suspenseful action highlight this novel which also proves to be a fan favorite among a number of people in the 007 fan community. Definately recommended.

Grab a seat and enjoy this best seller! I sure did! Loved it all! Bond stays irristible! Great storytelling by the late Gardner! Never give up on three famous numbers! 007! great action at its best! Fast and Furious! Lively Imaginative.