cover image The Icemen

The Icemen

M. E. Morris. Presidio Press, $17.95 (330pp) ISBN 978-0-89141-281-6

Subtitled ``A Novel of Antarctica,'' the only ice this tepid thriller will produce is glaze over the reader's eyes. When Navy Commander Marc Bradford leads his air squadron to Antarctica on what he thinks is routine support of our scientific stations there, little does he imagine that he is about to stumble into an amazing plot to revive the Third Reich. Weary of supporting a remnant of Hitler's regime, the Argentines have decided to exile the war criminals to a base in the Antarctic peninsula. The unrepentent Nazis agree to this scheme because they are developing a biological wonder weapon that kills everyone who isn't vaccinated against it, and they see antipodal privacy as useful cover. They have arranged with an Arab terrorist group to demonstrate the weapon against the Israelis, in exchange for money and the United Arab Republic's formal recognition of a reconstituted Third Reich. The leader of the German gang is none other than Martin Bormann, who would be approaching his 100th birthday by now. The main problem with this thriller is not its somewhat creaky scenario, but its slow pace. The action finally does pick up and there's a rousing battle scene at the conclusion, but only persistent readers will get that far. Morris wrote Alpha Bug. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo. (September)