Icespy

Miller's first novel, a plodder of a thriller about Olympic bobsledding, suffers from numerous flaws. Some manifest themselves in the opening pages: indiscriminate narration; stilted dialogue; painfully evident exposition. Others become evident in short order--above all, that this is as much polemic as fiction, apparently designed to skewer the hierarchy of the U.S. Bobsled Federation and its alleged Mafia connections and misuse of funds. Nor does it take long to realize that Miller, a former U.S. Olympic bobsled coach who reputedly was once the object of a KGB kidnapping attempt in Latvia, seems intent on settling some old scores. Several characters who make life difficult for former CIA operative Shawn Murphy (the novel's putative hero, whose career bears a strong similarity to Miller's) have little to nothing to do with the main story, yet reappear periodically, apparently only to look foolish and inept. The primary story line involves the defection of a Russian bobsled coach who has access to metallurgy technology relating to the reduction of friction between metals and water or ice. After numerous odd turns, the narrative winds up with an improbable escape via submarine under the polar ice cap, leaving many side issues and subplots unresolved: a Cold War Cool Runnings, this isn't. (Nov.)