David Jarvis - The Tip of The Iceberg

David Jarvis - The Tip of The Iceberg 

4⭐

Genre: Thriller, Espionage, Fiction, Contemporary Fiction 

Pages: 313

Format: Paperback 

Publisher:  Troubador/Matador

Date Published: 28th October 2022

Huge thank you to the Author, David Jarvis, for sending me a copy of The Tip of the Iceberg in exchange for an honest review.  

Book Blurb: 

Charles Yelland was leading the perfect life until a faked photograph appeared in a newspaper on the morning of his oil company’s AGM showing an exploration rig in Antarctica. After this he didn’t think that his world could get any worse … he was seriously wrong.

Within hours Presidents and Prime Ministers were telephoning each other to find out whether oil had actually been discovered and whether the 60 year old Antarctic Treaty with its suspension of territorial claims was now dead.

What would countries and companies do to gain access to an area one and a half times the size of the USA with 11% of the Earth’s land mass and minerals?
The Tip of the Iceberg is a thought-provoking and gripping story of kidnap and intrigue.

My Review: 

Yet another amazing thriller/mystery from David Jarvis. The tip of the Iceberg has it all, suspense, mystery, humour, witty conversations and it also discusses important societal issues and geopolitics (and as a geographer I love geopolitics). What’s not to like? Oh, and don’t forget the writing that just captures you from the beginning. Such an interesting, captivating, funny and compelling book.

One picture in a newspaper and everyone is panicking…Has oil been discovered in Antarctica, and if it was, who does that oil belong to? Politicians from the UK, the USA, Norway and other Antarctic Treaty countries are all lining up to be the first ones to get the oil. That said, there is an issue of how to address it during the Climate Conference where conditions of the Antarctic Treaty will also be discussed. At the same time, the biggest oil company in the UK owner’s daughter is kidnapped, and a spy turned detective Mike Kingdom is called in to help find the missing girl.

Although this book has a lot, the way the author portrays everything and develops the plot, all of those scattered pieces just come together perfectly. Also, I loved Mike’s character as she is one strong female protagonist. I adored the ins and outs of geopolitics and, the Antarctic Treaty, especially the way the author presents quite complicated issues and politics in a simple, entertaining, interesting and funny way. Place descriptions were brilliant too, especially when I knew most of them quite well and whilst reading, I imagined myself there with the characters.

What I love the most about this book is that is it a ‘What If?’ story, and although it is fiction, part of me did start to wonder What If the Antarctic Treaty didn’t exist or what if we changed it? So definitely this book gave me a lot of food for thought, whilst being entertaining and captivating too.

Overall: Love the writing, love the characters, love the topic…Can’t recommend it enough and can’t wait to see what Mike Kingdom is up to in the next book, This Is Not A Pipe. 

About the Author:

After going to Art College in the 1970s David Jarvis set up an international planning practice which he ran for 40 years. His canvases just got bigger and bigger. He has now retired to Wiltshire. The Collation Unit is his debut novel. 

https://www.whisperingstories.com/the-writing-life-of-david-jarvis/