Incorporating original, never-before-published material from 007 creator Ian Fleming, New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz returns literary legend James Bond to his 1950s heyday in this exhilarating and dashing thriller.
The world’s most famous spy, James Bond, has just returned victorious from his showdown with Auric Goldfinger in Fort Knox. By his side is the glamorous and … glamorous and streetwise Pussy Galore, who played no small part in his success. As they settle down in London, the odds of Galore taming the debonair bachelor seem slim—but she herself is a creature not so easily caught.
Meanwhile, the struggle for superiority between the Soviet Union and the West is escalating. In an attempt to demonstrate Soviet strength, SMERSH plans to sabotage an international Grand Prix in the hot zone of West Germany. At the Nürburgring Racing Circuit, Bond must play a high-speed game of cat and mouse to stop them, but when he observes a secretive meeting between SMERSH’s driver and a notorious Korean millionaire, it becomes clear that this is just the infamous organization’s opening move.
An orphan of the Korean War, he has a personal reason for wanting to bring America to its knees. He’s helping SMERSH decisively end the white-hot space race—but how? With the help of an American female agent, Bond uncovers a plan that leads first to Florida and then to New York City, where a heart-stopping face-off will determine the fate of the West.
This thriller has all the hallmarks of an original Ian Fleming adventure and features welcome familiar faces, including M and Miss Moneypenny. Horowitz delivers a smooth and seductive narrative of fast cars and beautiful women, ruthless villains and breathtaking plot that will leave readers hanging until the very end.
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Ian, is that you?
Since the departure of Raymond Benson as the official author of James Bond, the franchise has been less than stable. There were two ‘Fleming’ Era novels, Devil May Care’ and ‘Solo’ and the modern tale, ‘Carte Blanche’; none of which set the world on fire. ‘Solo’ was ok and ‘Carte Blanche’ was, well, politically correct. It’s taken awhile for the Ian Fleming estate to find the right voice.
The search is over.
For the first few chapters, it was easy for me to believe that ‘Trigger Mortis’ was some long lost manuscript dug up from the Fleming’s cellar or something. True, it doesn’t hurt that Anthony Horowitz had access to an original script for a proposed James Bond TV show. That aside, Horowitz gets the style of Fleming right, including the liberal use of exclamation points! It’s hard to believe that a guy whose claim to fame is writing Alex Rider could capture the grittiness of James Bond.
This book skips the modern convention of ‘political correctness’. Bond is hard drinking, hard driving, racist and sexist. For those not familiar with the original books, this may bruise your delicate sensibilities. For the rest of us, it’s like welcoming back an old friend. For clarity, let me reveal that I am an African American male and I fully realize that if you’re going to copy the style of the 1950s, Bond’s view of different races won’t be as…enlighten as we’d like.
The novel finds Bond a week or so after the Goldfinger affair. He and Pussy Galore (if I have to remind you who she is, this is definitely not the novel for you) are enjoying each other’s company…or are they? Before Bond can get too bored with playing house, M calls him in for an assignment. SMERSH is at it again. They’re targeting a British race car driver and only Bond, the best driver in the Service, can get close enough to save him. What starts off as a simple mission to keep SMERSH from launching an attack just to embarrass the British (because, you know…Russians…) turns into a plot that will decide the fate of one of the biggest battlefields of the Cold War: The Space Race.
Jason Sin is the villain this time and he would be at home with the rest of Bond’s Rogue’s Gallery. A Korean with a host of mental unbalances, Sin is also the victim of one of the most terrible yet forgotten tragedies of the 20th Century. It hard to hate him until you remember just what diabolical scheme he’s got hatched up for New York City.
Trigger Mortis is a fun read and in the end that’s all that’s really important. There are some slow spots with Bond playing detective and some moments that seem a bit too modern. The biggest let down was the use of Pussy Galore. Without giving away too much, simply put, her role in the novel and the ‘shocking’ scene that’s gotten much play in the media is overhyped. In fact, if she were removed from the book all together the impact would been minimum.
For the Bond fan, it’s a must read, a love letter from a devoted fan and author across the decades to the man who gave us the greatest spy in fiction.
Anthony Horowitz has written a James Bond book in the style of Ian Fleming. Can’t wait for his next one. Bravo!
If you are a Bond fan, give this a try. Mr. Horowitz captures the feel of classic Bond quite well.