The Hero: James Bond; The Bond Girls: Paula Vacker, Annie Tudeer, Rivke Ingber; The Villain: Count Von Gloda; Supporting Characters: Kolya Mosolov, “Bad” Brad Tirpitz, Trifon; Finland, London, Libya, Madeira Island; First Published: 1983

Icebreaker. In one word? Fantastic. Icebreaker succeeds on three different levels. First, it`s Gardner`s best Bond novel. Second, it`s one of the best 007 novels, and third, it`s one of the best thrillers I`ve ever read.

Icebreaker is a fast paced, rip roaring, non-stop, unrelenting page turner. It provides the reader with a credible plot (and one that is a current issue, even today), realistic villians, the strongest Bond girls in a Gardner novel, multiple shifts of loyalty, and untapped locations. Let`s start with the plot.

Icebreaker starts off with Bond making a quick change in schedule to drop in on an old dalliance, a Nordic bombshell named Paula Vacker. Bond barely had time to tell Paula that he was in Helsinki. Even Bond did`nt anticipate being in Helsinki until about six hours ago. So, how did two thugs end up waiting in Paula`s apartment for Bond?

Bond doesn`t have time to get into all the specifics of who might`ve figured out he was coming to Finland, or why. Instead, “M” has summoned Bond to London, to recruit 007 to be part of an international team conducting operation “Icebreaker”. Agents of the KGB (Kolya Mosolov), CIA (“Bad” Brad Tirpitz), and the Mossad-Israeli Intelligence (Rivke Ingber) are going to conduct a clandestine trip across the Arctic Circle and through the Finnish-Russian border.

Their mission: document, photograph, and verify that arms shipments coming out of a remote bunker deep in Russian Arctic territory are going to a Neo-Nazi Facist group called the National Socialist Action Army. This group has as it`s goal, nothing less than world wide domination under a Nazi fascist state, with a new Fuhrer, the Count Konrad Von Gloda as it`s leader. It has conducted numerous terrorist acts against civilians around the world. The organization is growing, and it`s armaments are getting more sophisticated and more deadly. If possible, Bond and the Icebreaker team are to destroy the bunker, the outgoing shipment, and the pipeline to the NSAA.

That`s easier said than done. The problem with the Icebreaker team is that no one trusts anyone else. Exactly why would the KGB invite British intelligence onto Soviet soil to watch arms being shipped to terrorist groups? What history might the CIA have with the NSAA that they would like to have their agent, Brad Tirpitz, make sure stays buried? What mysterious past could Rivke Ingber possibly have that could jeaporadize the entire mission?

“If Bond had started by trusting nobody, the feeling had now grown into deep suspicion toward anybody connected with Icebreaker. And that included M, who had also been like a clam when it came to detail.”

In this book, Bond is still Bond, but he`s more of a participant than a protaganist. This may cause some concern for Bond purists, who feel 007 should be the driving force in a Bond novel. I agree. Except in this case. There`s a refreshing change of pace and strategy here with Icebreaker. Gardner takes some of the pressure off maintaining the Bond character, and instead creates wonderful villians, and the strongest Bond girls ever.

Ahhh…yes. The Bond girls. In Icebreaker, there are three Bond girls. But there`s a mysterious twist involved there. These Bond girls kicked Bond`s butt, literally, from Maderia Island all the way to Finland. It may not seem cool. It may not seem macho. It doesn`t matter. It was just plain fun watching these women outsmart, outmanipulate, and generally betray Bond all the way through the book. It keeps Bond more alert and more on his toes than ever.

The locations are also a switch from the normal Bond fare. The Caribbean has always been a staple of the Bond stories, from both Fleming and Gardner. With Icebreaker we get a glimpse into a rarely used location in either the books or the films-Finland.

The action sequences are spectacularly devised and written. There are lot`s of snowmobile chases ,and explosions. Bond is treated to a sadistic twist of ice cold Chinese water torture , and there is a knife fight thrown in as well.

Chaper 20, Destiny, contained one plot twist too many. T he story still holds credibility, but it was just more unneccessary than anything else. Still, Icebreaker is Gardner`s best work, one of the best entries into the 007 series, and one of the best thrillers ever.