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The Greenland Breach

Bernard BESSON

285 pages
113,000 words

Release date: October 30, 2013
by Le French Book

Isbn: 978-1-939474-94-0 (Kindle)
978-1-939474-95-7 (epub)

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This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

When I was a teen in France, it was fairly common to hear about Bernard Besson, a top-level chief of staff of the French intelligence services. I was totally thrilled when I discovered he was also a writer, and that his spy thriller The Greenland Breach had just been translated in English! With that type of career background, I could imagine how good his thriller would be.

And indeed it is! I believe actually only someone with that sort of stature could have written such a complex and intricate thriller.

I treat spy thrillers as historical novels, in the sense that I start reading with a pen and a paper to write down all the names, trying to put them in different camps, the good, the bad, who is friend/enemy with, etc. You definitely need to do this with this thriller, as you meet many characters, in different milieus. And when you think you know who is with whom, well, something happens and you need to reconsider; actually it may take you the whole book to figure it all out, and that’s the beauty of spy stories. If it’s too easy to guess, what fun is that!

The book starts with a mysterious Lars Jensen in a very disturbing scene in Greenland: the global warming has gradually so much hurt the planet that it seems to be going through its last pangs, as the Arctic ice caps are breaking up.
Then you are quickly sent to Paris, where you meet John Spencer Larivière: he just received an unknown mission, but sure to bring him a very nice amount of money.
And finally you find yourself in the company of Le Guévenec on his boat the Bouc-Bel-Air, between Le Havre, France, and Greenland, surrounded by icebergs.

Little by little, you discover big companies behind these people, companies that could be ready to do anything to secure the few reminding natural resources on earth. And it gets more and more nasty, more and more mysterious and intriguing, and you can’t just stop reading, until you discover the truth of what’s really going between a few super powers.

It was fascinating to read a story set on the background of global warming and cyber conflicts, with all the ugly intrigues and fights such a situation could easily lead to in a not too distant future.

I really liked the descriptions of the characters, the almost innocent ones caught in something so much bigger than they could ever expect, the mean ones, the women – yes, there are a few tough ones in here. I also enjoyed Luc, the internet geek and pirate, who is really good and creative at what he is doing!

I really enjoyed how the story broadened up and staged countries in death and survival situations, including the Inuits. The whole plot is really breath taking in its width and astute intricacy.

And the descriptions of the landscape are incredible: they are really apocalyptic like in several examples, and so beautiful at the same time, on the ice and in the sea. I felt there, caught in fear and ecstatic beauty in the same minute.

If you feel bored in your little corner of the Earth and are eager for adventure, read this smart book now!

And I hope Le French Book will translate more books by Bernard Besson!

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

A stylish, fast-paced spy thriller about the intrigue, economic warfare and struggles for natural resources promised by global warming. The Arctic ice caps are breaking up. Europe and the East Coast of the Unites States brace for a tidal wave. Meanwhile, former French intelligence officer John Spencer Larivière, his karate-trained, steamy Eurasian partner, Victoire, and their bisexual computer-genius sidekick, Luc, pick up an ordinary freelance assignment that quickly leads them into the glacial silence of the great north, where a merciless war is being waged for control of discoveries that will change the future of humanity. [provided by the publisher]

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE TRANSLATOR

Award-winning thriller writer Bernard Besson, who was born in Lyon, France, in 1949, is a former top-level chief of staff of the French intelligence services, an eminent specialist in economic intelligence and Honorary General Controller of the French National Police. He was involved in dismantling Soviet spy rings in France and Western Europe when the USSR fell and has real inside knowledge from his work auditing intelligence services and the police. He has also written a number of prize-winning thrillers and several works of nonfiction. He currently lives in the fourteenth arrondissement of Paris, right down the street from his heroes.

Julie Rose is a prize-winning, world-renowned translator of major French thinkers, known for, among other works, her acclaimed translation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, which was published by Random House in 2008. She has translated twenty-eight books, including many French classics, and writes on the side. She lives in her hometown of Sydney, Australia, with her husband, dog and two cats.

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