Code Name: Judas

Mission: Impossible #2

by Max Walker (Pseudonym), Michael Avallone

Jim Phelps is ruggedly handsome. Cinnamon Carter is coolly beautiful. They make an attractive pair - the Madison Avenue image of sophisticated lovers. They are something else; crucial members of a to-secret espionage team which takes on assignments too dangerous for other agencies to touch.

This time, the IM Force accepts its wildest challenge: find a corpse with a world-destroying secret - and bring him back alive.

Genres: Espionage

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

A pseudonym used by Michael Avallone.

Reviews

[Brad Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book written about Mission: Impossible by someone who has never seen an episode of Mission: Impossible . The characters are sketched a bit accurately but that's where the similarities end. The whole point of the series was that the IMF team would outwit their target in order to achieve their mission goals. Rarely ever was there a big car chase or a gunfight on the show. It was all about watching a con-game unfold in fifty minutes.

None of the tension or planning or psychological games in the show is to be found here. The plot revolves around trying to catch a super-spy named Atlas who is being hunted by the Chinese for some reason. The team goes to Geneva in an attempt to find him. Rollin gets involved in a pointless side story involving his attempts to ascertain whether or not Atlas faked his own death. Cinnamon, Barney, and Willie end up working at a hotel for no apparent reason. Most of the writing is focused on Jim, who is the target of several assassination attempts that he narrowly escapes.

The most galling thing about the whole story is that the team doesn't really "solve" anything. The identity of Atlas is basically narrowed down by another spy and then the team finds Atlas in the dumbest way possible before Jim beats him unconscious. Does any of this sound like Mission: Impossible to you? The identity of Atlas is discovered when the team holds a party with the management of a hotel and sniffs the spy out by seeing which of the guests sweats from their nose. That is literally the stupidest thing I have ever read in my life. This book was so bad, in fact, that I loved every single page of it.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Jim Phelps is ruggedly handsome. Cinnamon Carter is cooly beautiful. They make an attractive pair -- the Madison Avenue of sophisticated lovers. They are something else: crucial members of a top-secret espionage team which takes on assignments too dangerous for other agencies to touch."

This is what it says on the back of the book. This has nothing to do with the plot of the book.

There's a blurb on the inside, that I won't copy word for word. I will merely give you the last paragraph, "Suddenly he felt the cold muzzle of a gun on the back of his neck. The waiting was over..."

This scene... never takes place in the whole book.

That being said... it was a great read! There was action and drama. There were times when it actually felt as though the characters might be in danger. It was well-written and true to those character as they were portrayed on the television show that inspired this book. It read like a real mission from that old program. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, written by this same author.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read, very true to the original series and characters. The action was gripping and the danger felt real.

In the previous book in the series, the narrator said that the mission was a dangerous one. The adversaries were dangerous. Anything could happen. People could be killed. For all the emphasis on how dangerous the mission was, it didn't really seem like it.

This mission actually showed real danger to the characters. People were hurt and arrested and kidnapped. There were fights and tense escapes. It was a lot of fun.

[Philip · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, there's another childhood memory ruined forever. This was just a terrible book. No plot, no character development, abysmal style - just bad on all counts. The title doesn't even make any sense or connect to the "story" in any way. And this by Michael Avallone (writing as Max Walker) - the one author whose name I actually remembered from all those TV spy show tie-ins like "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Girl from U.N..C.L.E.," "Hawaii Five-O," etc. (Of course, they're currently also showing old "Man from U.N.C.L.E." reruns on TV, and the show itself was pretty horrible, too.) Of course, I should have seen this coming; I've read a couple of these things recently from a variety of old shows - including "Secret Agent" and "The Avengers" - and still cannot believe I grew up on these things. Particularly cringeworthy:

Jim had, subconsciously, expected a bunch of funny, mixed-up little Orientals in pigtails running around saying "Mittah Pherps" and "Ah, so!" (Man, that is wrong on so many levels...)

Plus, for no apparent reason other than it being a lazy way to identify him, the bad guy had a fake nose - paving the way for such frequent exclamations as:

"And now, Mr. Olson, you will please remove your nose!" (Page 37)

"Take off your nose - Atlas!" (Page 89)

"Now Mr. Atlas, please show us how your nose comes off." (Page 113)

Okay, we get it - dude has a removable nose. This book should be a creative writing class staple on how not to write a story - just the worst. Think I'll try an "I Spy" next, so I can combine a terrible old spy story with having to imagine Bill Cosby as the hero...

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a weak tie-in novel for the Mission:Imposable series. Walker didn't really get the character's write, especially Rollin and Willy.
If you're a M:I completest find this book and read it, if not stick to the TV series.