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Operation Napoleon
From the CWA Gold Dagger-winning author of the Reykjavík Murder Mystery series comes an international thriller sweeping from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. 1945: A German bomber flies over Iceland in a blizzard; the crew have lost their way and eventually crash on the Vatnajökull glacier, the largest in Europe. Puzzlingly, there are...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
August 4th 2011
by Vintage
(first published 1999)
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Community Reviews
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Sep 23, 2011
Eric
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of action-packed thrillers
Recommended to Eric by:
Goodreads First Reads
Shelves:
first-reads,
action-adventure-thriller
I won a copy of this from Goodreads First Reads, and was quite excited, as I never win anything. Then I received my copy of Operation Napoleon, a glossy soft-cover with sharp cover art, and flipped it over and saw the dreaded kiss-of-death on the back cover -- it was compared to Clive Cussler. Noooo!
However, there was still some hope, as it said it was "in the vein of Clive Cussler and Alistair MacLean." And since, unlike Cussler, MacLean is an excellent writer (even if he only wrote military "...more
However, there was still some hope, as it said it was "in the vein of Clive Cussler and Alistair MacLean." And since, unlike Cussler, MacLean is an excellent writer (even if he only wrote military "...more
Sep 25, 2011
Bill Sullivan
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
nobody
Recommended to Bill by:
goodreads winner
I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads. If I had been browsing a bookstore or library I probably would have purchased it just based on the description. There is a mystery from WWII and secrert agencies willing to kill to protect a buried secret. Just what is usually needed to keep my interest and make for a goodread.
Unfortunately this did not happen.
I found that I was never able to connect with the people n the novel. They were one sided and drew little sympathy. The villans were evl but it...more
Unfortunately this did not happen.
I found that I was never able to connect with the people n the novel. They were one sided and drew little sympathy. The villans were evl but it...more
Long before there were Erlender and Sigurdur Oll, Arnaldur Indridason wrote this imaginative novel. In fact, it was copyrighted a decade ago, and only now has been published in Great Britain and Canada. [The next Reykjavic Murder Mystery, “Outrage,” was recently published in the UK) It is a pity we have had to wait this long for an English translation of this work, but all the more reason to be grateful that that has now been done.
Just before the end of World War II a German bomber crashes on a...more
Just before the end of World War II a German bomber crashes on a...more
First, a small alert: Indridason fans should know that this is not the latest Erlendur tale, but a translation of a book originally published in 1999 (judging from the copyright page). Spare yourself that bit of disappointment.
If anything, Operation Napoleon is evidence of how Indridason has matured as a writer: it's a serviceable thriller with an improbably plucky heroine and an even more improbable plot, centered on a World War II conspiracy, a German plane buried in a glacier, and the machin...more
If anything, Operation Napoleon is evidence of how Indridason has matured as a writer: it's a serviceable thriller with an improbably plucky heroine and an even more improbable plot, centered on a World War II conspiracy, a German plane buried in a glacier, and the machin...more
Kristin finds herself unwittingly caught up in a covert US military intelligence (if that's not too much of an oxymoron)operation on an Icelandic glacier. The US military base on Iceland has long been a source of disquiet to many Icelanders and Kristin is no exception, but now this operation has not only compromised her country's sovereignty, but endangered the life of her brother and herself as ruthless military goons are sent to supress the truth about their covert activities.
Feb 02, 2013
Inga
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
thriller,
northern-stars
Arnaldur Indridason hat einige Kriminalromane ohne seinen beliebten Protagonisten Erlendur geschreiben. In "Gletschergrab" geht es um ein Flugzeug, dass gegen Ende des zweiten Weltkriegs mit brisanter Fracht über dem größten Gletscher Europas, dem Vatnajökull, abgestürzt ist und nun in den neunziger Jahren langsam von diesem wieder ausgespuckt wird.
Die Amerikaner, sowieso noch auf Island stationiert, wollen das Flugzeug um jeden Preis bergen, ohne dass jemand davon etwas mitbekommt.
So werden die...more
Die Amerikaner, sowieso noch auf Island stationiert, wollen das Flugzeug um jeden Preis bergen, ohne dass jemand davon etwas mitbekommt.
So werden die...more
Apr 24, 2013
Stein
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
novels-thriller,
novels-suspense
Not having read any of Indridason's detective mystery books, this action/thriller/mystery novel with a WWII theme made me wonder about his acclaimed success. To his credit, he manages to keep readers' attention so that, in spite of its faults, the book is a page-turner. But suspensefulness--although very important--isn't the only criteria on which to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel of this genre.
The plot lacks credibility and seems half-cooked. It assumes way too much. The reasoning behind...more
The plot lacks credibility and seems half-cooked. It assumes way too much. The reasoning behind...more
I love this author and wish I could read Icelandic so I could read them before they are translated. It takes years to get one of his books because of the speed of the translation. My husband discovered this author before our trip to visit my parents in Iceland a few years back. They were serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Selfoss Iceland and we took our two oldest with us to visit them.
We read Jar City and Secrets of the Grave before going and it gave you a...more
We read Jar City and Secrets of the Grave before going and it gave you a...more
Operation Napoleon was originally published in Icelandic in 1999, Indridason’s third book after the first two, as yet untranslated, Detective Erlendur novels. Unlike his police procedural novels, Operation Napoleon is a thriller. The strengths of the book are the characterisation and the pace. Kristin is well penned and her back story well elaborated, and the other characters have sufficient depth to be memorable and credible. Indridason keeps the pace high throughout, with sufficient tension to...more
I felt a great surge of relief when I read that this book was actually written a decade or so ago and was translated because of the popularity of Arnaldur Indriðason’s Inspector Erlendur series, of which I’m a devoted fan. If so, how much he has improved as writer since this turkey was produced. Operation Napoleon is a fever dream of anti-American Icelanders encountering a posse of (totally dethpicable) comic-opera American villains as the latter try to secure and remove from an Icelandic glaci...more
Es ist mein zweites von diesem isländischen Schriftsteller und es hat mir ebenso wie das erste sehr gut gefallen. Ich mag einerseits diese interessante Mischung, die sich aus einer offensichtlich den isländischen Leuten innewohnende Depressivität mit der ebenfalls offensichtlich gegebenen Hartnäckigkeit und Sturheit ebendieser.
und ich mag die Geschichte dieses Thrillers: Nach 60 Jahren wird durch eine Gletscherschmelze ein Flugzeug der deutschen Wehrmacht, abgestürzt noch vor Ende des zweiten W...more
und ich mag die Geschichte dieses Thrillers: Nach 60 Jahren wird durch eine Gletscherschmelze ein Flugzeug der deutschen Wehrmacht, abgestürzt noch vor Ende des zweiten W...more
It doesn't take one long to be drawn into Arnaldur Indridason's fast paced novels. This Icelandic author catches me every time in just the first few pages. After that, it is an internal battle to have to put down the book or go do something that requires my attention.
It is the end of World War II when a German Junkers aircraft crashes in the ice fields of Iceland. One survivor attempts to walk for help but he fails. The plane seems to have been carrying both German and American officers.....and...more
It is the end of World War II when a German Junkers aircraft crashes in the ice fields of Iceland. One survivor attempts to walk for help but he fails. The plane seems to have been carrying both German and American officers.....and...more
Operation Napoleon, by Arnaldur Indridason, B-plus, Narrated by George Guidall, Produced by Recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.
This is a stand-alone. Christeen, a government lawyer in Iceland, gets an alarming call from her brother early in the morning. He is out on the glacier on his cell phone and seems to have run into trouble. While Christeen is trying to determine what to do, men invade her house. Apparently Christeen’s brother and a friend were snowmobiling in a remote place on th...more
This is a stand-alone. Christeen, a government lawyer in Iceland, gets an alarming call from her brother early in the morning. He is out on the glacier on his cell phone and seems to have run into trouble. While Christeen is trying to determine what to do, men invade her house. Apparently Christeen’s brother and a friend were snowmobiling in a remote place on th...more
Apr 20, 2013
Andrew
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audio-book,
mystery-scandanavia
I stumbled onto Arnaldur Indridason's "Erlader" detective series a few years ago, and have found the books to be an enjoyable read. Recently, I saw his first thriller, "Operation napoleon", in our library's audio section, and decided to take a chance. Indridason's standalone novel is better than any of his detective works that I have read to date, and that is quite an accomplishment!
What could be so incredible about an old nazi German aircraft wreckage on an Icelandic glacier that would cause th...more
What could be so incredible about an old nazi German aircraft wreckage on an Icelandic glacier that would cause th...more
Another solid thriller by this author, and I enjoyed it very much. This is not one of his usual Inspector Erlendur novels - it was published back in 1999 but has just recently been translated into English. I admit that I missed the presence of Erlendur and gang, and was wondering how the author would 'anchor' the pieces of the story without the detectives, but it was carried out nicely. The anchor character of Kristin wasn't my favorite, but she sufficed. I suppose it just seemed a bit realistic...more
Entertaining enough, but definitely not as good as the detective Erlunder series.
SPOILER ALERT
the premise revolves around a secret plan hatched in the final days of WWII to spirit away Hitler to a deserted island off the coast of Argentina. This ploy is so secret, and so sensitive that people have to die over the course of 50 years to protect it.
I don't buy it. Especially by the time of the narrative moment. I just can't see it being such a huge conspiracy. I mean, sure, it would've been a big d...more
SPOILER ALERT
the premise revolves around a secret plan hatched in the final days of WWII to spirit away Hitler to a deserted island off the coast of Argentina. This ploy is so secret, and so sensitive that people have to die over the course of 50 years to protect it.
I don't buy it. Especially by the time of the narrative moment. I just can't see it being such a huge conspiracy. I mean, sure, it would've been a big d...more
The Erlendur police procedurals by Arnaldur Indridason are among the best mystery fiction available. OPERATION NAPOLEON is a stand-alone that is complete departure from the series.
The action begins in the winter of 1945. A blizzard rages on a glacier in Iceland. A plane loses its way, dropping from the sky, and skimming over the surface of the glacier. When the plane skids to a stop, one man, with a briefcase chained to his wrist, decides to take his chances against the elements and leaves the p...more
This book was outrageously mediocre. The premise was very interesting, just not well executed. The final climax where you find out just what Operation Napoleon is was fifteen pages from the end of the book. It could have been milked, made more exciting, rather than the anticlimactic "now that we know, forget about it." Even worse, I couldn't have given a rat's a** about the characters. I felt like they weren't people, merely automotons going through the motions of the story. Their motives seemed...more
rule of thumb, If the cover of a book looks like a cover of a Clive Cussler novel there is a decent chance it will read like one too. This goes extra if there is a swastika anywhere.
Now it is true that I read this in one night, so at least it is a page turner, but bad crack is just as addictive as good crack so that is not saying much. Having read a number of Arnaldur Indrioson's novels I was thinking this might of been similar - a sort of high drama crime solving with a Nazi twist, but it was p...more
Now it is true that I read this in one night, so at least it is a page turner, but bad crack is just as addictive as good crack so that is not saying much. Having read a number of Arnaldur Indrioson's novels I was thinking this might of been similar - a sort of high drama crime solving with a Nazi twist, but it was p...more
This is a sweeping suspenseful thriller with an historical flavor. Towards the end of WWII, an airplane crashes on a remote glacier in Iceland. Witnessed by two brothers, the plane goes down during a particularly wicked blizzard. The brothers wonder why a plane would even be airborne on such a night. Soon the U.S. military is knocking on the brothers’ door asking for assistance in locating the plane. All that could be found of it was a rim of the tail wheel, with the German word “Kruppstahl” eng...more
This is a sweeping suspenseful thriller with an historical flavor. Towards the end of WWII, an airplane crashes on a remote glacier in Iceland. Witnessed by two brothers, the plane goes down during a particularly wicked blizzard. The brothers wonder why a plane would even be airborne on such a night. Soon the U.S. military is knocking on the brothers’ door asking for assistance in locating the plane. All that could be found of it was a rim of the tail wheel, with the German word “Kruppstahl” eng...more
Oct 07, 2011
Paul Steele
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
first-reads,
thrillers
It is worth noting that this was originally written in Icelandic and the translation occasionally mixes in something that I wouldn't expect to find in a thriller such as this. There was nothing incorrect in the translation, perhaps more just the opposite where the word choices are technically spot on, but not normally used in this context.
The strengths of the book are the character development and the tempo. The lead character, Kristin, is well written and her back story is well developed so tha...more
The strengths of the book are the character development and the tempo. The lead character, Kristin, is well written and her back story is well developed so tha...more
I won Operation Napoleon(ARC) in a first reads giveaway (This is a really awesome way to acquire books!), and although I don't usually enjoy historical/political fiction, I was really looking forward to this one. I wasn't extremely disappointed in this book, but I didn't find it at all unusual or brilliant.
Operation Napoleon was the story of Kristian, a young lady whose brother was heavily injured by soldiers after he sees a secret service organization extracting a plane from ice on an Icelan...more
Operation Napoleon was the story of Kristian, a young lady whose brother was heavily injured by soldiers after he sees a secret service organization extracting a plane from ice on an Icelan...more
Sep 19, 2011
Ronald Roseborough
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
action-adventure
This story has a lot of action in a smooth flowing storyline. A World War II plane trapped for decades under the ice of a glacier in Iceland, has risen to the surface. The secrets frozen inside the German Fokker trimotor plane are thawing out and threatening to heat up the political world. The heat is already felt in Washington D. C. where spy satellites have recorded the emergence of the plane thousands of miles away. Clandestine forces are ordered to swing into action, letting nothing stand in...more
I won this book through the Goodreads giveaways. Boy, am I glad! This book was fantastic! I could barely put it down.
It was wonderful to see a strong woman lead with a brain who knew how to use it! I would love to see this made into a movie.
There was a quick pace with lots of action and an unpredictable storyline. There was a little violence but was mainly at the beginning and end. The first violence really turned me off and I was not sure I wanted to continue reading. Again, I am glad I did bec...more
It was wonderful to see a strong woman lead with a brain who knew how to use it! I would love to see this made into a movie.
There was a quick pace with lots of action and an unpredictable storyline. There was a little violence but was mainly at the beginning and end. The first violence really turned me off and I was not sure I wanted to continue reading. Again, I am glad I did bec...more
This is the first Nordic novel I have read that it more an historical thriller than a mystery. Thriller's are usually not my genre yet the historical storyline was so enticing that I had to read it. Read it and really enjoyed it. Towards the end of World War II, as Russia is advancing on Berlin, a mysterious plane goes down in an Icelandic glacier. It is a German plane but camouflaged in US colors.
Witnessed by two Icelandic farmers, a search is mounted but the airplane disappears into the glacie...more
Witnessed by two Icelandic farmers, a search is mounted but the airplane disappears into the glacie...more
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...more
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Indridason's Operation Napoleon through Goodreads, and I was so glad that I did. This is actually the second book from Indridason that I have read although I hadn't realized it until later having read Silence of the Grave for a book club read. I enjoyed Operation Napoleon much more than the other book largely because it is a stand alone thriller that I was able to follow much more easily. Indridason does an excellent job at developing his main character, K...more
Thank you for giving me the chance to read and review this book as a first reads giveaway.
This is the kind of book that should be made into a movie. I was hooked from the very first. It's so action packed and really suspenceful. I don't know anything about Iceland and not much about WWII but I was still able to keep up with the story. This is very well written. The author made me feel like I was the one freezing out in the cold and running for my life. Brrr. I liked that it's a common sense typ...more
This is the kind of book that should be made into a movie. I was hooked from the very first. It's so action packed and really suspenceful. I don't know anything about Iceland and not much about WWII but I was still able to keep up with the story. This is very well written. The author made me feel like I was the one freezing out in the cold and running for my life. Brrr. I liked that it's a common sense typ...more
Mar 28, 2013
Helen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
from-public-library
This is a stand-alone thriller, not one of the author's detective series. Very frightening (what happens when the people who are supposed to be guarding us go "off message" - or do they?) I feel quite uncomfortable with the idea that security services could be acting outside the accepted parameters (and we possibly have some examples closer to home). Interesting theory about the end of the war (without revealing too much, this revolves around a possible outcome which has been mentioned before el...more
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| Believability | 1 | 6 | Sep 16, 2012 09:54am |
Arnaldur was born in Reykjavík on 28 January 1961, the son of writer Indriði G. Þorsteinsson. He graduated with a degree in history from the University of Iceland in 1996. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper Morgunblaðið from 1981 to 1982, and later as a freelance writer. From 1986 to 2001, he was a film critic for Morgunblaðið.
His first book, Synir duftsins (Sons of Dust) came out in 1997...more
More about Arnaldur Indriðason...
His first book, Synir duftsins (Sons of Dust) came out in 1997...more
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Nov 18, 2011 05:21am