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Mission: Impossible #4
Code Name: Little Ivan
Vintage TV Tie-in
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
38 people want to read
About the author
Walter Wager
57 books21 followersWager was best known as an author of mystery and spy fiction; his works included 58 Minutes (1987), whose story was used as the basis of the action film Die Hard 2 in 1990. Two of his other novels became major motion pictures in 1977: Viper Three (1972), which was released as Twilight's Last Gleaming, and Telefon (1975). Wager wrote a number of original novels in the 1960s under the pseudonym "John Tiger" that were based on the TV series I Spy and Mission: Impossible.
Born Walter Herman Wager in the Bronx, NY, he was the son of Russian immigrants, and he attended Columbia College at Columbia University. He graduated in 1944 and later earned a law degree from Harvard; the practice of law interested him less than aviation, however, and Wager subsequently entered a fellowship program at Northwestern University through which he earned a degree in aviation law. He attended the Sorbonne for a year under a Fulbright scholarship at the end of the 1940s, and then turned his attention to earning a living. Wager spent the early '50s working as an aviation law consultant to the government of Israel, and from there moved to an editorial job at the United Nations, where he oversaw the editing of that organization's myriad publications. His interest in writing got him into radio at the tail-end of that medium's era of prominence, authoring scripts, and in his spare time he wrote stories.
He was also a writer and producer for CBS Radio, CBS television, and NBC television and was editor-in-chief of Playbill from 1963 to 1966. In addition, Wager worked in public relations for ASCAP and the University of Bridgeport.
Born Walter Herman Wager in the Bronx, NY, he was the son of Russian immigrants, and he attended Columbia College at Columbia University. He graduated in 1944 and later earned a law degree from Harvard; the practice of law interested him less than aviation, however, and Wager subsequently entered a fellowship program at Northwestern University through which he earned a degree in aviation law. He attended the Sorbonne for a year under a Fulbright scholarship at the end of the 1940s, and then turned his attention to earning a living. Wager spent the early '50s working as an aviation law consultant to the government of Israel, and from there moved to an editorial job at the United Nations, where he oversaw the editing of that organization's myriad publications. His interest in writing got him into radio at the tail-end of that medium's era of prominence, authoring scripts, and in his spare time he wrote stories.
He was also a writer and producer for CBS Radio, CBS television, and NBC television and was editor-in-chief of Playbill from 1963 to 1966. In addition, Wager worked in public relations for ASCAP and the University of Bridgeport.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 23, 2025
Definitely bad, but…better? At least marginally moreso than the previous two books in this limited series from the 1960s, both of which were written by "Max Walker" (sometime pen name of Michael Avallone, who also wrote a number of similar junk tie-ins for "Hawaii Five-O," "The Girl/Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "Mannix"), and which were just awful. But for this one, the good folks at Popular Library returned to "John Tiger" (aka Walter Wager), who also wrote the slightly better first "M:I" novel, and so this final (thank God) book actually reads more like an episode of the TV show — which in itself isn't really anything to be proud of. (Wager also wrote all the equally awful "I Spy" novels around the same time.)
Of personal interest, just as the previous (i.e., third) "M:I" book had Barney training on a LINK simulator (a company I worked for in the mid-'70s), this book takes place largely on the sidelines of an international machine tool trade show, a number of which I frequented for a different job in the '80s-'90s. So fond memories — but again, just terrible books. Really, about the nicest thing I can say for ALL these books here is that I'm impressed that after more than half a century, the pages still aren't falling out of these things — so kudos to the books' binder, if no one else involved in this sorry project.
Fans of the TV show probably remember the original cast — or at least the Season Two "original cast," when Peter Graves replaced Steven Hill. However, even I had forgotten what a fluid line-up the show had from then on; the husband-and-wife team of Barbara Bain and Martin Landau both left after Season Three, to be replaced by Lesley Ann Warren and a post-Star Trek Leonard Nimoy, and then Sam Elliott replaced Peter Lupus a year later. So, y'know, that.
Of personal interest, just as the previous (i.e., third) "M:I" book had Barney training on a LINK simulator (a company I worked for in the mid-'70s), this book takes place largely on the sidelines of an international machine tool trade show, a number of which I frequented for a different job in the '80s-'90s. So fond memories — but again, just terrible books. Really, about the nicest thing I can say for ALL these books here is that I'm impressed that after more than half a century, the pages still aren't falling out of these things — so kudos to the books' binder, if no one else involved in this sorry project.
Fans of the TV show probably remember the original cast — or at least the Season Two "original cast," when Peter Graves replaced Steven Hill. However, even I had forgotten what a fluid line-up the show had from then on; the husband-and-wife team of Barbara Bain and Martin Landau both left after Season Three, to be replaced by Lesley Ann Warren and a post-Star Trek Leonard Nimoy, and then Sam Elliott replaced Peter Lupus a year later. So, y'know, that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review