Title: Inside The Cold War
Author: Norman L. Miller
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1728302126
Pages: 298
Genre: Fiction / Thriller / Adventure
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop

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Between the pages of Norman L. Miller’s novel, Inside The Cold War, you’ll find a deep dive into trickery, treachery, mayhem, and murder that’s just about as cold as it gets. Ice is in the air, on the ground, and in the veins of a number of characters that are often motivated by greed, or revenge, or both. Fortunately, there are also some admirably motivated individuals around to offset an abundance of malevolence with a degree of courage and patriotism. The question is—which side will ultimately win?

Set in 1990, a number of years before the Soviet Union came apart and the Berlin Wall came down, the author captures the feeling of geopolitical angst that was rampant from Washington D. C. to Moscow. Miller overlays that international tension with crosscurrents of Mafia chicanery that spawns embezzlement, skimming, revenge, and retribution on a particularly lethal level.

The story begins with Lester, a middle-aged, overweight mobster who’s intent on getting even. He and his cronies had wormed their way into positions of authority with the U. S. Bobsled Association and were doing quite nicely siphoning off money for themselves that was meant for American athletes. Of course, enough is never actually enough, so Lester saw fit to skim from the skimmers. Others find out about it and Lester begins a series of hits to kill the guys who turned on him even as he’s on the run from the big mob boss’s deadly retribution.

Simultaneously, readers are swept into a tale of international intrigue as a plot is hatched to recover a secret alloy formula that will give America an important competitive advantage over the Soviets. Shawn, an Air Force officer, is assigned to the Central Intelligence Agency to take on a covert operation to retrieve the vital formula. Action springs back and forth between the European continent—where assets assigned to help are being compromised by double agents—and CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where plans are being drawn up to infiltrate Soviet territory. Eventually, the two story lines intertwine and the pages begin to be filled with spies, hit men, prostitutes, and femme fatales – all spiraling toward a climactic intersection.

Author Miller does a commendable job of building suspense around meticulous assassinations, as well as heightening intensity during dramatic scenes of airborne operations. His character development is precise without being overdone. One knows quickly who the good guys and the bad guys are, not only when they’re facing off but also within their own ranks. His attention to detail relating to strategy, tactics, and equipment is impressive. A slight tendency to repeat information already covered sometimes slows pace, but not to the point where it lessons engagement. And like the best of adventure writers, he saves a twist for the end that you likely won’t see coming.

If you’ve got a yen for the good old days of American/Soviet moves, counter moves, and competition, pull on your parka and take a thrill ride Inside The Cold War.