A review by paul_cornelius
Billion Dollar Brain by Len Deighton

4.0

Not a bad entry at all into the Len Deighton series of 1960s Cold War spy novels. Things don't quite hold together as well as in preceding novels, but that is primarily the fault of the last quarter to a third of the book, which jumps around. The passages detailing the trip to and into Helsinki are tightly plotted and fascinating in their atmosphere and the suspense they create. The trip to Texas is handled nicely enough, too. Not many cliches, although not much action either. Going back to the UK, the novel begins a bit of a downward trajectory, which is in full form by the time things get the USSR. One thing: Colonel Stok is becoming more and more likable to me. But I can't get Oskar Homolka image from the film version of Funeral in Berlin out of my mind.

Finally, just a mention of the comparison of the novel to the film. There is no comparison. The novel is enjoyable, albeit workmanlike. The film is a mess. All I can remember is snow and ice. It flopped. It should have done. The book is much better.