Book review - Ice Cold

Continuing the espionage theme, Ice Cold is a new anthology of fresh short stories written by twenty members of the organisation Mystery Writers of America. It may even be considered timely to have written tales of intrigue around the Cold War; the prospect of a new version of that clandestine conflict seems imminent. As you’d anticipate, these stories deal with psychological warfare, the paranoia of the times, sleeper agents, sabotage, honey traps, and the usual paraphernalia and venues familiar to readers of espionage thrillers over the last fifty-odd years. (More or less what my Tana Standish series is attempting to do, beginning with The Prague Papers; end of plug - and plug at end).

Jeffery Deaver (co-editor) starts the ball rolling with ‘Comrade 35’, a neat exposé about the Kennedy assassination; it’s in his inimitable style, well researched, believable and with a neat twist, as you’d expect.

None of the stories are duds, though for me some resonate more than others. The writing team of Lynds and Sheldon heartbreakingly evoke a grim image of East Germany under the brutal heel of the dreaded Stasi in ‘A Card for Mother’. Sara Paretsky’s ‘Miss Bianca’ is a little girl’s perspective on research into germ warfare, cleverly told.

In ‘Crush Depth’ Brendan Dubois brings a fresh insight into the loss of the Thresher submarine, while T. Jefferson Parker exposes in ‘Side Effects’ the dangers of mind-altering drugs that were often used to subborn individuals.

Other authors included are: Gary Alexander, Raymond Benson (co-editor), Alan Cook, Vicki Doudera, Joseph Finder, JA Jance, John Lescroart, Katia Lief, Laura Lippman, Robert Mangeot, Katherine Neville, Jonathan Stone, Gigi Vernon, Bev Vincent and Joseph Wallace.

The uprising in Hungary is dealt with, and its repercussions, as is the fall-out of the Vietnam War. Religion, patriotism and romance are all affected by the looming shadow of the Cold War and brilliantly conveyed within the pages of this selection.

If you’re interested in good short story writing, this is worth reading. If you’re into Cold War fiction, you won’t be disappointed, though I think they could have found a better book title and cover design.
 

Please purchase from

Amazon UK here

Amazon COM here

  

Iwan Morelius 14 Nov 1931-21 June 2012

My wife Jen and I were saddened to learn that Iwan died suddenly last month, leaving his wife Margareta.


I only knew Iwan for the last four years of his life when I discovered by chance that he lived a half-hour’s drive away from me here in Spain.

Iwan was a consummate bibliophile. Margareta loves reading too – and music. Indeed, Iwan and Margareta’s home is a bibliophile’s heaven, with so many signed copies.

Born in Stockholm, Iwan and his family moved some eleven times in fourteen years. His parents owned a private library of about 400 books and Iwan caught the reading bug early. He devoured the translations of English and American authors and finally began collecting the Dennis Wheatley novels. In 1961 he wrote to Wheatley and struck up a lifelong correspondence. In 1971 Iwan was invited for dinner at Wheatley’s London home in Cadogan Square.

Iwan with Dennis Wheatley
Rather than wait for a Swedish translation of his favourite authors, Iwan bought the English versions and read those. He began writing to many of his favourites – Alistair MacLean, Helen Macinnes, Ian Fleming, Desmond Bagley, Hammond Innes, Leon Uris, Joe Poyer, James Hadley Chase, James Leasor, Edmund Crispin, Georges Simenon among others. Almost all of them answered his letters and several continued to keep in touch over the years.

In 1968 Iwan brought out the first issue of DAST magazine – (Detective, Agent, Science Fiction and Thriller). In 1974 Iwan was commissioned by Lindqvist Publishing to acquire a strong list of thrillers and mysteries – Hedman Thrillers, publishing many Swedish translations of Iwan’s favourite authors, among them Jack Higgins.

Iwan became a good friend of Geoffrey Boothroyd – Ian Fleming’s and Bond’s armourer – and they visited each other’s home regularly. Indeed, he visited a number of authors in their homes in the US, including Joe Poyer and Raymond Benson. He interviewed Ray Bradbury at the time of Bradbury’s first mystery being published and kept in touch. Bradbury is one of Margareta's favourite authors.

Margareta with Ray Bradbury, 1988
The list of authors Iwan has met, interviewed and kept in touch with over the years is quite remarkable: Mickey Spillane, Brian Garfield, Isaac Asimov, Colin Forbes, Duncan Kyle, John Gardner, Tony Hillerman, Frederick Forsyth, Michael Avallone, Elmore Leonard and Ed McBain, to name but a few. He taped some interviews, for example with Jack Higins and Leslie Charteris, and I have copies.

In 2009 I wrote an article about Iwan for the Levante Journal: ‘The Bond Connection’, one of a planned series that didn’t get taken up. For some time Iwan had badgered Raymond Benson to set one of his James Bond books in Spain; Raymond duly obliged with his thriller Doubleshot, written in 2000, which is partly set here. It also features a number of acknowledgements, not least Iwan. And to top that, on p233 there is a ‘Dr Iwan Morelius, a Swedish plastic surgeon’ who works for the villainous organisation! (As an aside, I’ve included Iwan as a Swedish chef in my novel The $300 Man (Hale Black Horse Western, as by Ross Morton). I also dedicated my crime novel A Sudden Vengeance Waits to him.

Geoffrey Boothroyd
Iwan was a generous host and virtually ran a private lending library for his friends. He had so many fascinating tales to tell, often with that distinctive twinkle in his eye. He will be missed.