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The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #21
The Thinking Machine Affair
Czech scientist Karel Novak invents a machine capable of controlling men's minds for peaceful ends. But T.H.R.U.S.H. has a different use for it...
The first step in their plan is to seize control of U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. In turn, agents Napoloeon Solo and Illya Kuryakin penetrate to the heart of THRUSH's European network in an attempt to defeat the fiendish scheme.
But who will act fastest? The U.N.C.L.E. agents? T.H.R.U.S.H.? Or-perhaps the machine itself?
The first step in their plan is to seize control of U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. In turn, agents Napoloeon Solo and Illya Kuryakin penetrate to the heart of THRUSH's European network in an attempt to defeat the fiendish scheme.
But who will act fastest? The U.N.C.L.E. agents? T.H.R.U.S.H.? Or-perhaps the machine itself?
155 pages, mass market paperback
First published January 1, 1967
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 21, 2025
Books in The Man From UNCLE book series were written by various authors, so quality would also vary. This one doesn't read smoothly till about the halfway point; descriptions seem like overdescribing/oversimplifying, maybe aimed for a younger audience? Once you got to the actual action, it picked up the pace.
July 6, 2024
From the heights of Book #20, "The Corfu Affair"--easily one of the best of the 23 Man From U.N.C.L.E. novels--the Ace series plummets precipitously in Book #21, "The Thinking Machine Affair," which is surely the weakest offering thus far. Here, Joel Bernard, in his only published U.N.C.L.E. novel, gives his readers a rather poorly written and inadequately fleshed-out affair; one that reveals more than a whiff of the amateurish about it. The plot this time concerns Czech scientist Karel Novak, whose ingenious thought-transference device is, he feels, the key to future world peace. Once its effective radius can be increased, the kindly professor hopes to broadcast his feelings of goodwill and positive vibrations to all the world's people, thus ushering in a new era of universal brotherhood. Or something like that, anyway; I really wasn't too clear on that part. Of course, when Thrush gets wind of the professor's gizmo, he, his daughter Vlasta, and the invention itself are forcefully brought to the evil organization's hidden European Center E in Prague. Thrush, of course, purposes to use the device to first take over U.N.C.L.E. HQ in NYC, and then...the world!
Okay, let's start with the good news, little enough of it as there is. Bernard seems to have done his homework here as regards the beautiful city of Prague, either via firsthand experience or by perusing travel books on the subject. And so, a good many of the city's most famous landmarks are name-checked, and the AXA Hotel where Napoleon Solo stays, and the Paris Hotel where Illya Kuryakin stops, actually do exist to this day. Curiously, the city's Wenceslas Square features prominently in the novel, just as it had in Book #18, "The Unfair Fare Affair"! We get to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes planning at Thrush HQ, so much so that the early section of the book might remind some readers of SMERSH's lengthy planning discussions that comprise the first third of the James Bond thriller "From Russia, With Love" (1957); granted, comparing Joel Bernard with the great Ian Fleming is a patently ridiculous exercise. The book is another one of the U.N.C.L.E. novels that leans heavily toward sci-fi, and besides Professor Novak's device, we are given a Thrush listening beam and death-ray screen (whatever that is), as well as Napoleon's handkerchief bombs. Supposed action highlights include Solo eliminating two Thrushes in his Prague hotel room; Illya placing a listening device in the NYC apartment of another Thrush goon (not nearly as suspenseful as the similar scene in Book #15, "The Utopia Affair," however); Napoleon's infiltration of Thrush's hidden HQ on the Moldau River; and the big finale, in which U.N.C.L.E. agents and Czech State Security commandos raid that same HQ.
Unfortunately, nothing here is very credibly presented, and the book lacks the convincing details that might have helped put it over. Again, this is a distinctly amateurish effort, and it is hard to believe that a better choice could not have been made from all the U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction out there. I scarcely know where to begin. The professor's plan for world peace seems half-baked, and even smacks of mental coercion/hypnosis. Napoleon and Illya don't really get into gear until the book is half over! The novel itself, what with its large-print typeface in this Ace edition, easily has a smaller word count than its 20 predecessors, and the reader does feel that skimpiness in terms of the plotting, characterizations and descriptions. Bernard, sorry to say, is not a very good writer (at least, he wasn't here). Besides any number of instances of faulty grammar ("pen and paper was brought to her"), his book shows every sign of being hastily and indifferently written ("He was alarmed that this entrance door was operated by electronic eyes, knowing this could set off an alarm."). Indeed, Bernard's descriptions of Thrush HQ are so sketchy that I could not even tell if we were aboveground or below much of the time. Perhaps most egregiously, he even gets some of the basic facts about U.N.C.L.E. incorrect. Alexander Waverly, we are told, is a "man in his early fifties," whereas anyone who has read the previous books or watched the classic television program knows that Waverly was a good 20 years older than that. (Leo G. Carroll, who played Waverly, was pushing 78 when the series debuted in 1964!) But perhaps worst of all, Bernard even gets the U.N.C.L.E. acronym wrong! He tells us that it stands for "United Network Command of Law and Enforcement," instead of "for Law and Enforcement." In a word, oy! As I say, this is a decidedly nonprofessional effort; a slapdash outlier in a series that had been surprisingly well written up to this point. If there were one U.N.C.L.E. book that you had to skip, I would say that it's this one. No Thrush Ultimate Computer or Czech thinking machine needed...this is a no-brainer: "The Thinking Machine Affair" is one for U.N.C.L.E. completists only!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ....)
Okay, let's start with the good news, little enough of it as there is. Bernard seems to have done his homework here as regards the beautiful city of Prague, either via firsthand experience or by perusing travel books on the subject. And so, a good many of the city's most famous landmarks are name-checked, and the AXA Hotel where Napoleon Solo stays, and the Paris Hotel where Illya Kuryakin stops, actually do exist to this day. Curiously, the city's Wenceslas Square features prominently in the novel, just as it had in Book #18, "The Unfair Fare Affair"! We get to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes planning at Thrush HQ, so much so that the early section of the book might remind some readers of SMERSH's lengthy planning discussions that comprise the first third of the James Bond thriller "From Russia, With Love" (1957); granted, comparing Joel Bernard with the great Ian Fleming is a patently ridiculous exercise. The book is another one of the U.N.C.L.E. novels that leans heavily toward sci-fi, and besides Professor Novak's device, we are given a Thrush listening beam and death-ray screen (whatever that is), as well as Napoleon's handkerchief bombs. Supposed action highlights include Solo eliminating two Thrushes in his Prague hotel room; Illya placing a listening device in the NYC apartment of another Thrush goon (not nearly as suspenseful as the similar scene in Book #15, "The Utopia Affair," however); Napoleon's infiltration of Thrush's hidden HQ on the Moldau River; and the big finale, in which U.N.C.L.E. agents and Czech State Security commandos raid that same HQ.
Unfortunately, nothing here is very credibly presented, and the book lacks the convincing details that might have helped put it over. Again, this is a distinctly amateurish effort, and it is hard to believe that a better choice could not have been made from all the U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction out there. I scarcely know where to begin. The professor's plan for world peace seems half-baked, and even smacks of mental coercion/hypnosis. Napoleon and Illya don't really get into gear until the book is half over! The novel itself, what with its large-print typeface in this Ace edition, easily has a smaller word count than its 20 predecessors, and the reader does feel that skimpiness in terms of the plotting, characterizations and descriptions. Bernard, sorry to say, is not a very good writer (at least, he wasn't here). Besides any number of instances of faulty grammar ("pen and paper was brought to her"), his book shows every sign of being hastily and indifferently written ("He was alarmed that this entrance door was operated by electronic eyes, knowing this could set off an alarm."). Indeed, Bernard's descriptions of Thrush HQ are so sketchy that I could not even tell if we were aboveground or below much of the time. Perhaps most egregiously, he even gets some of the basic facts about U.N.C.L.E. incorrect. Alexander Waverly, we are told, is a "man in his early fifties," whereas anyone who has read the previous books or watched the classic television program knows that Waverly was a good 20 years older than that. (Leo G. Carroll, who played Waverly, was pushing 78 when the series debuted in 1964!) But perhaps worst of all, Bernard even gets the U.N.C.L.E. acronym wrong! He tells us that it stands for "United Network Command of Law and Enforcement," instead of "for Law and Enforcement." In a word, oy! As I say, this is a decidedly nonprofessional effort; a slapdash outlier in a series that had been surprisingly well written up to this point. If there were one U.N.C.L.E. book that you had to skip, I would say that it's this one. No Thrush Ultimate Computer or Czech thinking machine needed...this is a no-brainer: "The Thinking Machine Affair" is one for U.N.C.L.E. completists only!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ....)
February 19, 2019
This is not fine literature but it is fun. If you liked the TV series and its tongue-in-cheek depiction of espionage you will enjoy this episode. Is it the best in this series of books, no. It is a fun escape for a couple of hours absolutely!
December 13, 2020
A typical "the scientist, his daughter, and his invention kidnapped by the bad guys" story. Not up to par with other good story lines in this series.
July 12, 2016
An extremely lacklustre book. It's not so much that it's badly written as that it's barely written at all. You get the feeling that the author worked out the plot then couldn't be bothered to put any meat on the bones. This is borne out by the fact that it's so much shorter than other Uncle novels. An utter waste of a story.
April 29, 2015
Excellent book adaptation of the TV series. Great spy adventure book. This is how the CIA and FBI should operate. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews