Summary- The NSAA, National Socialist Action Army, have started a spate of killings. All of the victims were communists. It turns out this group is headed by a man known as von Gloda, who sees himself as the next fuehrer destined to create the Fourth Reich, with the Nazi party in control of the world. James Bond is sent to stop him, along with three other members of a specially created group known as Icebreaker. Bond represents the British Secret Service, Brad Tirpitz represents the CIA, Kolya Mosolov represents the KGB, and Rivke Ingber represents Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service. Bond is soon at the Russo-Finnish border with the team members to locate von Gloda's secret base. A whole bunch of double crosses occur. Rivke appears to have been attacked with a bomb, but she is later revealed to be von Gloda's daughter, who is working with him. Koyla turns out to be from Department 5, formerly known as SMERSH. He plans on taking out von Gloda himself, and taking Bond to Moscow as a prisoner. Brad Tirpits appears to have been replaced by one of von Gloda's men before any of the other team members arrived. This leaves Bond without any allies. Bond ends up prisoner in von Gloda's secret base, being tortured. However, another double cross occurs, this time in Bond's favor. Paula Vacker, who was pretending to work for von Gloda turns out to really be working with the Finnish Secret Service. With her help, they escape. However, before Bond can attempt to stop von Gloda, a large group of Russians led by Koyla level his base. The mission appears over, but Koyla shows up at the hotel Bond is staying at and tries to take him prisoner. Bond kills Koyla, but not before learning that von Gloda is alive, and that he is at the airport. Bond goes to the airport, and kills von Gloda. He is shot twice, but not in vital areas. Brad Tirpitz also shows up at the airport. It turns out he was a triple agent. He was from the CIA pretending to be one of von Gloda's henchmen pretending to be Brad Tirpitz. After all that, Bond gets a well deserved, month-long vacation. My Grade- C As you can probably tell from the summary, the plot of this novel is slightly hard to follow. There are no less than three double crosses and a triple cross. I liked the idea of Bond being part of an elite team, but Gardner didn't work it well. Also, the main villain, von Gloda, is very forgettable. Best Moment- The best moment is the ice torture scene, where Bond is repeatedly dipped into sub-zero water. His body breaks. He even has to be given CPR so he won't die. However, he never gave in, and von Gloda didn't get the information he wanted.
