Icebreaker Audiobook By John Gardner cover art

Icebreaker

James Bond (Original Series)

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Icebreaker

By: John Gardner
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Bond reluctantly finds himself recruited into a dangerous mission involving an equally dangerous and treacherous alliance of agents from the CIA, the KGB, and Israel's Mossad. The team dubbed "Icebreaker" waste no time double crossing each other, as they try to root out the leader of the murderous National Socialist Action Army, Count Konrad von Gloda, a one time SS officer, who now perceives himself as the New Adolf Hitler.

©2013 John Gardner (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, Inc. Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense
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An overcomplicated plot, occasionally baffling depiction of Bond, almost too many characters, but it clips along at a delightful pace & is ultimately more than the sum of its disjointed parts. In some moments, Gardner writes the hyper-competent 007 we generally expect, at others our man misses some startlingly obvious clues and makes a number of (narratively convenient) mistakes that become increasingly hilarious as they compound. In a story stuffed with secret agents, Bond at times feels like the least savvy of the bunch—his main power seems to be that women can’t help but throw themselves at him no matter what he does or says. But the story is a zany treat, with twist piled on (occasionally confusing or improbable) twist. It’s a whole different animal than Fleming, but in a way I found totally refreshing. Don’t expect a masterpiece, but I’ll say that this was my first Gardner novel & instantly made me want to read more. It’s just plain fun, in a way that I’m not sure a more realistic spy novel could manage.

Inconsistent & a bit silly, but undeniably fun

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Good James Bond novel. There is a James Bond special coming soon look for it.

Good

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I felt like I was listening to a classic James Bond story. John Gardner gets into more Spycraft than you would get from a typical bond movie which I think is really important to get out the spy aspect of the character.

In the tradition of Sean Connery’s Bond

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This is an entertaining, complex, and compelling Bond novel by John Gardner. Simon Vance gives another masterful performance with a wide ensemble of characters. Vance is smooth, maintaining the suspense, creating a satisfying experience.

Simon Vance performs another Bond novel masterfully

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The first 1/4 is slowish but the end is good and worth the wait. James is James.

Gets better

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Any additional comments?

Bravo to Brilliance Audio and Audible for bringing a set of the John Gardner 007 series to audiobook. I greatly enjoyed revisiting “Icebreaker” and Simon Vance’s narration was (as always) first-rate. The plot that sees James Bond tackle a former SS officer neo-Nazi with dreams of a new Reich takes 007 to Finland and includes a thrilling encounter with a snowplow (villains are always searching for a new and inventive way to dispatch our hero) and a particularly brutal ice torture. “Icebreaker” also includes one of my favorite of the literary heroines in Paula Vacker, and a complete set of rounded secondary characters.
As regards the series, many of these have already appeared in audiobook form such as “Nobody Lives Forever,” “Scorpius”, “Never Send Flowers”, “Death is Forever”, “SeaFire” and “Cold” (most in an abridged form, though “Cold” has appeared in both abridged and unabridged) but to my knowledge this is the first time that “Icebreaker” has appeared in the format. Of course Gardner’s first two “Licence Renewed” and “For Special Services” were handled capably by Jeremy Northam a few years back (both excellent I might add if you see them for sale I would recommend them), and the two novelizations (“Licence to Kill” and “Goldeneye” both received capable releases previously), but the realization that I had an opportunity to own the complete set led me to quickly add all of them to my cart or wish list.

Recommend without reservation

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This was another enjoyable story. The narration is great as it has been in other stories.

Another enjoyable story

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Simon Vance was excellent as always, but the story was less than great. Try Forever And a Day.

Not Fleming.

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