Operation Napoleon

As the end of the second world war draws near, an American plane crashes into an Icelandic glacier. The U.S. Army sends a team of soldiers, lead by a captain whose brother was on the flight, to uncover the wreckage and search for survivors. Unfortunately, by the time the team arrives, the plane is buried by the ice and is invisible to those searching for it. As treaties are signed and the war officially ends, it seems that this may be one of the last tragedies of the war.

Flash forward to the year 1999. Kristin is working in a legal office and dealing with disgruntled clients who are seemingly involved with the mob. Her brother, Elias, calls from a glacier where he is part of a team of seventy or so people involved with exploration and show more rescue. Kristin warns her brother to be carful and he, like any younger sibling, brushes off the warning as unnecessary. Kristen is startled when she receives a call from her brother a few days later. He tells her that he and a friend went out on snowmobiles when they spotted a plane. The call ends suddenly when mentions a group of soldiers. The events that follow, trust Kristin in the midst of a huge conspiracy that threatens the life of her, loved ones, and the future of US and Iceland national security.

Author Arnaldur Indriðason layers his novel with interesting characters, all motivated by their own personal appetite to either destroy or reveal the secrets held in this buried plane. Action is the driving force of this novel, but Indriðason provides enough emotion in his characters to keep the story from becoming a purely plot driven book. There is also a great exploration of US/Iceland relationship on both a government and person to person level, that gives the story a striking element of realism. Without these touches of reality, the story may have seemed a bit over the top. Through his use of historical accuracy, emotional character connections, a thrilling plot, and an ending that left me reeling, Arnaldur Indriðason has crafted an exciting story that I really enjoyed reading. show less

This was a very exciting read from one of my favourite mystery authors. First published in Icelandic around the turn of the millennium, Operation Napoleon is a thriller with roots in World War 2 and the impact a mysterious plane crash on the Vatnajökull glacier has on life in present-day Iceland, with a resourceful Icelandic woman and her American companion racing against time and the cold-blooded, ruthless US forces to find out the truth, even if it costs them their lives.

For the most part I found this a gripping read, but more so at home than on the bus. The short chapters switch between perspectives fairly quickly, with good cliffhangers to keep you guessing. Sometimes you'd be ahead of the characters simply because the viewpoint in show more the previous chapter gave you insight into the situation that the others didn't have. I also very much liked the technical descriptions of the aircraft, really thought the ending packed quite a punch, and that one character Ratoff was extremely well done, even if he was an evil SOB. At the very least he elicited a reaction.

One thing I did find a bit jarring was the fact that the Americans in the story sometimes talked like Brits, primarily in their use of "whilst". Now there may be some Americans who use that word but in general I would tend to associate it with the UK. Such are the quirks of a British translation. In terms of story, it did get kind of repetitive sometimes when Kristin, the protagonist, met new people in her quest for knowledge and had to tell them her story over and over again. Fortunately as the story progressed Indridason was able to gloss over it with "She filled him in on the events of the past few hours" or variations thereof.

To sum up, I'd recommend this but perhaps start with another Indridason work first, just to get used to how his work feels in translation, then come back to this one, especially if you have an interest in WW2. show less

Just before the end of World War 2 a plane of mysterious origins crashes on the the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland during a fierce blizzard. Although it is thought to be a German plane the search that is mounted some days later is carried out by the American army which has a base in the country. However only a single wheel is discovered and the search is called off. More than 50 years later satellite images of the glacier seem to indicate the plane’s location and a new search is mounted by the US Army which still has a presence in the country. Several local civilians become unwittingly caught up in the search to find the plane and hide its secrets once and for all, the most notable of whom is a young lawyer called Kirstin whose love show more of her brother forces her to stand up to some truly nasty individuals.

This stanadlone novel from the author of the Erlendur police procedurals is at heart a fairly standard thriller. There is a big secret that some people will go to any lengths to hide, a few innocent people stumble across the secret’s existence and are unable to extricate themselves from events and then a race to see which side will overcome the myriad of obstacles to achieving their goal which in this case was permanent cover up for one side or survival and exposé for the other. The story certainly stretches the bounds of credibility at some points, especially with respect to Kirstin’s ability to get out a succession of near-death scrapes while around her the body count mounts, but it is by no means as far-fetched as some I have read and its internal logic is pretty sound. It is also well-paced and, particularly in its second half, is brimming with genuine tension and intrigue. The secret, when revealed, is just this side of plausible and is one of those that makes you wonder ‘what if’.

As with Indriðason’s other fiction however there is more to the book than a simple plot as it explores several themes in some depth. The most obvious of these is the complicated relationship between Iceland and the US Army. The reluctance of the Icelandic people to accept the foreign army in their country informs Kirstin’s behaviour towards a former beau, Steve an American, who she turns to for help when she is caught up in the events taking place on Vatnajökull. At a government level there are economic and popularity considerations which compete to be taken into account before action can be taken. Although it’s fairly clear where Indriðason’s heart lies on this issue it is pleasing that he provides a strong character in the form of Steve to display an alternate view to the ‘Americans are evil’ theme.

A theme that doesn’t crop up terribly often in fiction but one Indriðason does seem to be particularly interested in is the relationships between siblings. Here Kirstin only becomes involved in the story and goes well beyond her comfort zone of physical endurance because she fears for the life of her younger brother and as the book progresses we learn more about why she feels so duty-bound to look out for Elias. In addition, one of the Americans who was involved in the very first search for the lost plane turns out to have had a similar reason for maintaining his interest in the search until the present search. There are glimpses too of other ideas that interest Indriðason such as the military hierarchy’s willingness to accept that torture is a legitimate means to an end as long as they can claim deniability (quite insightful given this novel was written long before newspaper headlines about gruesome torture being sanctioned at Gunatanamo Bay) and a hastily explored crack at privacy.

I knew absolutely nothing about this book when I bought it and found myself a bit skeptical when learning it was a thriller involving war-time secrets. However I found it a thoroughly entertaining yarn with the added bonus of more depth than you usually find in a thriller and far fewer explosions (which for me is a good thing). show less

Operation Napoleon is a great suspense thriller that spans from the waning days of WWII to the present. A plane carrying German and American officers crashes onto a glacier during a blizzard at the end of the second world war and quickly becomes swallowed up by the glacier. A search for the downed plane is unsuccessful, as are successive searches over the years. When satellite photos reveal that the plane is once again emerging from the glacier, a race is on to recover the plane and its secrets before the rest of the world discovers it.

This story is a great action story as well as an intriguing mystery. Comparisons to Alistar MacLean and even Clive Cussler are fitting. The Icelandic setting means plenty of tongue-twisting show more consonant-heavy place names, but aside from that, the translation from Icelandic is nearly perfect.

The story is different from many American thrillers in that while the bad guys have weapons, the protagonists do not and rely on wit, courage and determination. The characters are interesting and complicated and the mystery is equally intriguing and ultimately satisfying. The perspective of an Icelandic protagonist and her views on America add an interesting dimension to the story. The action is steady and builds to a satisfying conclusion.

This was my first exposure to Icelandic author Arnaldur Indriðason but I look forward to reading more of his work. Any fan of action/adventure thrillers will enjoy this book, which I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of. Highly recommended. show less

Reactions to an author taking a detour away from a much loved series, or style (or both for that matter) can vary. Some readers love the chance to head into new territory, others find that departure too much of a step, and long to return to the familiarity of the series, the known characters or the styling. And as with everything, for this reader, it all depends.

OPERATION NAPOLEON is a thriller, set in Iceland, but based around the mystery of a plane that went down at the very end of World War II. To take this that little bit further again from the Erlendur Sveinsson Crime Fiction series, this book also has a central female character. Kristin is pulled into a dangerous world of secrecy and power games when all she is trying to do is show more discover the truth behind her brother's fate - there on that remote glacier.

I suspect that whether or not a departure from the known works is often to do with the quality of the storytelling. OPERATION NAPOLEON is, undoubtedly, a thriller. There are lots of nefarious goings on, there's danger and conflict, there's the unknown of what was in that plane, why there is so much desire to find it, and claim what it is carrying. So whilst there are many of the elements that a thriller requires, and the pace and plot that supports the discovery of those elements, there are some quintessentially "Indridason" elements to the story. There are some wonderful characters that the reader can identify and sympathise with - it always helps to have somebody to be "barracking for".

There is also the way that this author always manages to weave the landscape and the culture of Iceland into his books, and the way that he uses family relationships as a basis for characterisation and exploration. In this case we have Kirstin and her brother, and the two brothers whose farm sits at the base of the glacier. The relationship between both sets of siblings is interesting - perhaps more tantalising in the case of the farmers, but undoubtedly the motivation for Kirstin's involvement.

There is a bit of a twist in the tail of this story though, and fans of alternative history may find the final proposition a little difficult to swallow or even maybe a little confronting. Given that the book declares itself pretty well as a thriller, this reader found OPERATION NAPOLEON less problematic than other stories of the same nature, having said that, alternative histories do make me twitch.

The good thing about OPERATION NAPOLEON is that it has the basic structure, and many of the required elements of a thriller, but with sufficient characterisation, and a great sense of place and culture that would make the book appeal to readers less fond of the pure thriller format, provided that aspect of rewriting history isn't too firmly in your pet hates listing. show less

I didn't enjoy this as much as Indridason's Erlendur novels. I kept wondering if Erlendur would make even a cameo appearance. There was a detective (There have been some funny goings on here,’ observed the scruffily dressed detective in his early fifties ) but his appearances really came to nothing.

OPERATION NAPOLEON reminded me of thrillers that I used to read back in the 70s by writers like Jeffrey Jenkins, Alistair MacLean and Clive Cussler. The difference between those and OPERATION NAPOLEON is the character of Kristin. Those earlier thrillers rarely had capable women.
It reminded me also of another novel I reviewed: THE MASK OF ATREUS by A.J. Hartley, mainly I think because of the idea of a secret cargo.

One interesting element was show more the discussion of Icelandic dependency on US funding and assistance.
Kristin is talking about why her friendship with the American Steve collapsed:

It’s partly political. I oppose the presence of the American army on Midnesheidi. I could understand its strategic significance during the Cold War, but that didn’t mean I agreed with its presence. I’ve always regarded it as a blot on the landscape. It’s as simple as that. The Icelanders shouldn’t have an army and they certainly shouldn’t get into bed with one. Far too many people have prostituted themselves to the Defense Force already – businessmen, particularly. I should never have allowed things to go so far between us but . . .’ show less

An intriguing thriller set in Iceland that keeps the pace up throughout to a great ending.

The US have been searching since WW2 for an aircraft that crashed into a glacier with a dark secret . Satellite shows the wreck had reappeared however the US doesn't want the locals nosing around

I understand that the author also writes detective novels so I might have a try with one of those on the basis of this book.