By Jack Grimwood (Jon Courtnay Grimwood) http://www.jackgrimwood.com/ @JonCG
Published by Michael Joseph (a division of Penguin UK Books) https://www.penguin.co.uk/ @MichaelJBooks
412 pages ISBN 9780241348338
Publication date 16 November 2023
I was sent a hardback proof copy in exchange for a fair review. I would like to thank Sienna Swire from Penguin Random House for sending me my copy and of course the author.
The Cover
A bleak snowbound collection of huts being approached by inappropriately dressed man. It does the job alright I feel cold just looking at it.
My thoughts
It’s 1987 and secrets are being kept high in the Russian arctic on the Kola peninsula, close to the border with Norway. An accident in a secret Russian development laboratory, hidden under a fake village, results in a devastating explosion. US spy planes and satellites pass over regularly but it is difficult to establish what has happened.
Research zoologist Dr Amelia Blackburn and her Sami assistant Per are nearby investigating the effects on wildlife of the radiation from the Chernobyl melt down and explosion. They come across the ruins of the village and what they discover is shocking. The Russians are desperate to prevent exposure of the accident to the outside world, putting Amelia and Per in grave danger. When British Intelligence get word of their exposure, they realise that Major Tom Fox is the man with the skills and knowledge to rescue Amelia and recover the secrets.
The problem is Tom Fox is ‘out of the game’ and trying to secure custody of son Charlie, following the death of his wife. This custody battle is with her parents and his father-in-law is none other than Lord Charles Eddington, a cabinet minister who has some control over Tom’s destiny. Tom is obliged to go on a fact-finding trip and quickly learns of the seriousness of the situation, which causes him to miss his wife’s funeral.
Charlie is somewhat piggy-in-the-middle of this dispute, there’s a battle over his future but nobody is asking him what he wants. Left to his own devices he unwittingly uncovers secrets of his own and shows finding danger runs in the family.
What a magnificently cold, bleak and desolate piece if espionage fiction this is. The descriptions of the freezing north will have you reaching for the central heating thermostat. The freezing wide open vistas of ice and snow bring home the feeling that one mistake there can end up costing you your life. Make no mistake survival skills and knowledge are essential in an environment every bit a desert as the Sahara.
My description doesn’t just apply to the environment though, the humanity within is equally bleak and desolate, adding to the cold in this Cold War thriller. The jacket quote from Ian Rankin mentions vintage Le Carré and the comparisons are obvious, not so much the prose style but in capturing the empty nihilism at it heart. The absence of morality or even sense of right or wrong, it’s an activity with betrayal at its heart and a sense that will be the fate of all agents, ultimate betrayal. With no honour and little dignity, it is deemed a job that must be done so logically somebody must do it. This brings a hefty dose of realism to balance the action; the glamour of Bond might be something for youngsters to aspire to, but nobody will want to be Tom Fox.
It starts with a funeral, that of Fox’s wife Caro. Bleak enough but Fox’s son Charlie is left bereft and disconsolate at the grave side, Tom doesn’t make it and his grandparents are taking the ultra-dignified stiff upper lip approach. Leaving an eight-year-old surrounded by people but heartbreakingly alone. Charlie is inquisitive and precocious though; he knows his own mind and is determined to do things his way. He can be a little bit too trusting though but proves to be a fabulous character.
Tom is a complex man but a product of his past. Firstly, a damaged childhood without roots and in care. Then recruited to infiltrate and battle the IRA in Ulster at the height of The Troubles, years of living a lie and literally two separate lives proves damaging to his relationships and marriage. This creates a man who instinctively gives nothing away, hardly surprising when one wrong comment could expose his legend in the field, leading to torture and death. One such operation in 1971 in Derry provides a second strand that is both intense, violent and rather visceral, but also provides a link to events of 1987. Truly a viscous, dirty ‘war’ which has a lasting effect on the psyche of those involved, so essential to the plot. It does reinforce one trait of Tom, his trust and friendship, placing his life in the hands of others has made his fiercely loyal.
The timing is ideal, the Soviet Union is showing the cracks before its ultimate disintegration. Ideological madness is starting to make way for ultimate greed. This brings us to KGB officer Dennisov the mad, bad and dangerous to know element the plot needed. A man fuelled on Vodka with the skills of a true survivor in being able to play off both sides at once, he gets the best lines and picks up a ‘cool’ full length white mink coat. A superb counterpoint to the dour troubled Tom.
The plot is straightforward but with some hidden secrets and the odd twist along the way. Thriller fans will get their fill on the regular injection of set piece confrontations and fights before some great chase scenes and a dramatic denouement. At its heart it remains a true thriller.
It may avoid the Bond type gadgets but instead it includes some magnificent Soviet grandiose engineering products. Just as every statue had to be ten times the size it needed to be, these leviathans proved to be overpowered engineering statements of ‘look what we can do.’ A truly inspirational introduction to the regular shoot outs and chases of the genre. If this ever comes to the screen, there is going to be so much fun for the boys’ toys fans of the crew.
Arctic Sun is a reboot of the Cold War thriller, action packed but with an ice cold heart.
Arctic Sun can be purchased via the publisher’s website here
Jack Grimwood, a.k.a Jon Courtenay Grimwood was born in Malta and christened in the upturned bell of a ship. He grew up in the Far East, Britain and Scandinavia. Apart from novels he writes for national newspapers including the Times, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian. Jon is two-time winner of the BSFA Award for Best Novel, with Felaheen, and End of the World Blues. His literary novel, The Last Banquet, as Jonathan Grimwood, was shortlisted for Le Prix Montesquieu 2015. His work is published in fifteen languages. He is married to the journalist and novelist Sam Baker. Moskva is his first thriller.
Source: Goodreads profile
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