The Cold War produced some of the great classics of British spy fiction. From the gadgets and babes with exotic Eastern European accents of the James Bond books, to the non-stop action of Alistair MacLean or the dark treachery of John Le Carré and the intricate office politics of Len Deighton, it served as the perfect vehicle for just about every type of story a writer could imagine. More scenes were set in the few yards around Checkpoint Charlie than anyone could keep track of.
But now there is a new type of cold war — one that is more literal than metaphorical. The Arctic is perhaps the most compelling region in the world to set a thriller in 2012 — which is why I chose to set my new novel Ice Force in the frozen wastelands around the North Pole.
What makes a great location for a thriller? Well, there needs to be intrigue, of course.
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