Trigger Mortis audiobook

DEAD HAND "I think you're a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War, whose boyish charms, though lost on me, obviously appealed to that young girl I sent out to evaluate you."- M. "I shall not waste my days prolonging them. I shall use my time". - Ian Lancaster Fleming. Continuation novels. They’re the unloved and neglected stepchild of fiction. Never being able to capture the magic of the original author’s work, even if they’re so well written in their own right, critics and certain fans will wail that the final product is inferior. Recently however, there were two books which bucked this trend. The first was The Survivor by Kyle Mills. The second, is the book which I shall be reviewing today. Ian Fleming’s Trigger Mortis. For half a century, the estate of Ian Fleming has released continuation novels for James Bond. Many were bad, some got better with time and the rest are best not to be mentioned. Most recently, there have been 3 books. The first, “Devil May Care”, was a horrendous blundering wreck of a story and its author butchered Bond to the point of unrecognizability with his characterization. Second there was “Carte Blanche”, a failed experiment which tried to modernize Bond but did so at the cost of failing to replicate the Fleming touch. Finally, there was “SOLO”, which according to many reviews was just plain boring as hell. So, many of the more fanatical Bond fans and serious literary critics were despairing when a fourth 007 continuation novel was announced. Trigger Mortis. The title was unjustly savaged as corny and concerns were increased by the overly hyped return of a character from a previous book. So it came as quite a big surprise when every single literary critic who reviewed “Trigger Mortis” lavished accolades on the book and every James Bond fan site toasted the praises of author Anthony Horowitz. All were in unanimous agreement. Trigger Mortis is the best James bond continuation novel ever released and standing on its own, is a pretty damn good story too. How did this happen? Well, for starters, the Fleming estate gave Mr Horowtiz a TV treatment written by Ian Fleming for a James Bond TV show episode that was never released. Next, the book is set in the original timeline, a few months after the Goldfinger novel, helping give the book that extra Fleming feel. Finally, and perhaps the biggest reason why Trigger Mortis was so successful is because of the author, Anthony Horowitz. Mr Horowitz made his name working as a TV writer and Young adult novelist. His most famous creation is Alex Rider, the first successful teenage spy series of the last decade. I borrowed some from a young nephew of mine, and found them to be a brutally dark deconstruction of the very concept of having teenager as a spy, the books pointing out how psychologically dead and crushed a teenager would become in such a high stress profession. So when I heard he had been announced as the next Bond continuation novelist, I was in the minority of people who were delighted. And Horowitz did not disappoint. Unlike the authors of DMC, CB and SOLO, Horowitz is a Bond purist par excellence. He knew what makes a Bond novel great, but resisted the urge of allowing his own vision to completely blot out Fleming’s creation, perhaps the biggest sin committed by the 3 authors who came before him. Unlike them, Horowitz studiously attempted to replicate Fleming’s writing style and how he characterized Bond, namely as her Majesty’s blunt instrument, a well – dressed, martini swilling government assassin with social views which would give half of the West’s social justice warriors a seizure. At the same time, Horowitz paradoxically strove to make a balance of sorts, deconstructing many of the more unpleasant tropes and conventions that made Fleming notorious. Now to the review. What happens when a casualty of the Cold War rises from the grave? The novel begins on the East coast of America. A German American rocket scientist who took advantage of the opportunities opened up by the OSS Operation Paper-clip is busy betraying his adopted country for money. He meets with a shadowy individual in a diner to receive his payment for a service he conducted at a rocket launching facility for the individual’s boss. Returning home, the German tells his wife to get packed but is promptly stabbed in the back, relieved of the money and left to die in a towering inferno by the woman he thought he loved. We then cut to London. James Bond is called into the office by M who has a strange assignment lined up for his top killer. Intel gathered by a murdered Czech asset run by the Secret Service suggests that the Soviet Union plans to kill Britain’s top racing driver at the upcoming German Grand Prix. Bond, being cinema and literature’s premier badass driver is imminently suited to the task and sent to train for the trip to the Nurburgring with a female racing car driver. They play off well with one another and she even provides him with assistance when a problem from the past comes calling, and eventually ends their relationship on a good note, with someone special in the bargain. Heading to Germany, 007 enters the race and proceeds to accomplish his close protection assignment by running the Soviet assassin off the track before the man can hit his target. Despite winning this battle of the covert war, Bond knows he’s not finished yet. Before the race, he spotted a high value target, the leader of the Soviet SMERSH black ops service, who was arguing with a Korean man. Wrangling an invitation to the after race party held at the Korean’s castle, Bond learns that the man is named Jae Sung Sin and he’s a multimillionaire businessman in America. Sneaking into the upper levels of the Castle, Bond finds documents hinting at a conspiracy, and runs into a mysterious American woman. Seconds later, Sin’s security detail burst in and 007 enters a new race, one which takes our Secret Agent across the Atlantic and into a bowels of a scheme that if successful, would change the balance of power in the Cold War with no one the wiser. With the clock ticking to blast off and a major assault on the West set to demolish one of its major metropolitan centers, the only question remains. In a fight between two dead men walking, who will be the victor and who the vanquished? In terms of plot, Trigger Mortis is executed to perfection. With Horowitz aiming to replicate the feel and style of the original novels, as far as contemporary standards can humanely tolerate, this story is packed with all the surreal, absurd and fun threats that characterized the middle part of Fleming’s work. It’s back to 1950’s with all the period details and atmosphere brought to life with aplomb along with an ocean of alcohol and a fog of cigarette smoke. The narrative is inspired by some of the threads, themes and threats from the original books, yet while respecting the heritage in a way that the previous continuation novels utterly failed to do the story of Trigger Mortis also provides the pace and intensity that readers expect of a contemporary spy novel. As a continuation novel however, how does it truly fare? Extremely well. Like Kyle Mills who finished writing Vince Flynn’s “The Survivor” around the time, Horowitz took a nearly identical approach to writing his continuation novel. Attempt to replicate the feel and style of the original authors while trying to find more subtle ways to make their own personal mark on the series that they’re books are a part of. And Horowitz does this with 007. The writing style of Trigger Mortis heavily replicates Fleming’s own, from the vivid visual metaphors to the explanation point laden internal monologue and even the infamous literary swearing censor that Fleming used in “Goldfinger”. The characterization of Bond here is also a standout. This is the Bond Fleming introduced to us. The killer all men want to be and all women lust after. The well dressed, martini chugging blunt instrument of British foreign policy, who despite possessing some unenlightened opinions about the world around him, ultimately means well and has the moral fortitude to defend civilization from those who wish to burn it to the ground. At the same time however, Horowitz doesn’t make a total clone of a Fleming novel. In this age of the social justice warrior, that would have been impossible. To counterbalance the nostalgia, he downplays certain tropes, gently pokes fun at others and obliterates the rest. For starters, Bond most certainly does not get the girl in this book, when she makes him realize that he would never be a long term commitment fellow in a million years. The Bond girl in question is also a far cry from those in the original novels. While not a badass government assassin like 007, she’s a lot more cunning than he is and at several points in the story, pulls Bond out of the fire through some impressive quick thinking. Then there’s a very mature resolution to the Pussy Galore plot thread from the previous book. Horowitz deconstructs the infamous “heterosexuality conversion” from Goldfinger, savagely pointing out the hollowness of the relationship Bond has with the character and eventually having Galore find the right woman, specifically the racing driver training Bond for his Germany assignment, and run off with her. I could go on and on, but suffice to say, Horowitz does a good job in dissecting and demolishing quite a few of the more notorious conventions and tropes Fleming used, while at the same time succeeding at recreating Fleming’s style far more successfully than the other continuation authors. Before writing this review, I read an analysis of Trigger Mortis done by a James Bond fan site, this findings which I concurred with. It was about a running theme in Trigger Mortis. Specifically about the ability to move on in life and break free from the past whether said past is good or bad. The Pussy Galore appearance for example is a meta one for the readers. She’s totally irrelevant to the actual plot and merely a link to the original timeline. Due to Galore’s incongruity, Horowitz uses her to point out how we can’t cling onto certain parts of the Bond literary universe in this day and age. The past is the past, and even the world’s most famous super spy is not immune despite what the films claim. In the novel itself, multiple members of the cast have tried to break free from their pasts. The main Bond villain for instance tried but ultimately failed to let go of his past life, and was consumed by madness as a result. Even the main secondary protagonist is no exception. While she and Bond grow close during the story, ultimately, she realizes, unlike him that their relationship would never last in the long run and maturely tells 007 to move on after one final fling, a sharp contrast to the start of the novel where Bond tried to delude himself into thinking he and Pussy galore could make things work. Now to setting and characters. Well, this book primarily takes place in snow - swept Germany and the East Coast of the USA. From a harrowing black bag job in a surreal German castle to a violent gun battle through a New Jersey motel and finishing with an intense, breath-taking race along the Coney Island subway line, Trigger Mortis provides some great backdrops for the action and violence that literary James Bond partakes in. So, we come to the characters. Horowitz did very well in this department. I’ll focus on three. Bond, the girl and the target. First, James Bond 007. As mentioned previously, the Bond Horowitz created is perhaps the closest in characterization to Fleming’s original. The skilled Cold Warrior full of moral certainty that his job of dealing death to the enemies of Britain and the free world is right and proper. Is he badass? Yep! Getting buried in a New Jersey construction site doesn’t slow him down in breaking necks and shooting his way through hired thugs once he gets back among the living for starters. This Bond fearlessly goes up against the odds and behaves like a man who knows he’s going to win or doesn’t care if he loses. The Bond of the previous three continuation novels was a more passive fellow. The Bond of Horowitz however, happily takes the piss out of his enemies before trying to shoot, stab or beat them dead. However, in this book, Horowitz has fun with the character arc Bond goes through. He ensures the world doesn’t go 007’s way like in the later Fleming novels and early films. The author also does Fleming wouldn’t have done, namely shaking 007’s worldview. In Trigger Mortis, the villain introduces the sort of moral ambiguity that Bond hasn’t had to deal with since Casino Royale. Seeing Bond slightly shaken when he realizes just who he’s dealing with was one of the highlights of the story. Next, Jeopardy Lane, the Bond girl and secondary protagonist. She’s an agent of the USSS tasked with the counterfeiting side of the service. A former showgirl and stuntwoman who got a lucky break before going into law enforcement, Jeopardy meets Bond in Germany and much to the annoyance of the secret agent, manages to outwit him and make off with a package he had planned to send back to London. Eventually in America, they form an alliance to go after the main threat of the novel. As a character, I found Lane brilliant. She’s not particularly impressed by Bond’s charms and for much of the story, their relationship is a professional one centered on their law enforcement/intelligence gathering work. While not a badass killer, Jeopardy isn’t a shirking violet who Bond needs to protect. She’s more than happy to run over hired killers with her car when the need arises and possesses skills that Bond doesn’t have. One of those skills in question comes into play in the climax and without it, Bond would have totally failed his assignment in the worst possible fashion. Finally, we have Jae Sung Sin, the bad guy. A Korean American millionaire, Sin hails from Seoul and could be considered one of the Cold War’s forgotten casualties. His life was destroyed by the Korean War and he built himself a new one in the United States. However, the past warped this highly intelligent individual who allowed the Soviet Union to cultivate him as an intelligence asset for a special operation they have planned targeting their biggest enemy. As a character, Sin on the surface is a slightly more down to earth Bond villain. Firstly, he’s got not over the top deformities like say Dr No and is for all intents and purposes merely a very intelligent fellow with substantial financial resources and an army of killers. But beneath the surface, Sin is far more interesting. During the Korean War, he was involved in a real life incident known as “No Gun Ri” (something which you damn well should Google after reading this review). The incident left him alive but took a lot from him, particularly his sanity. As a result, unlike most Fleming bad guys who are irredeemable, Sin’s got a very legitimate beef with his adopted homeland and goes to horrifying lengths to get even. Another after effect caused by Sin’s past has made him obsessed with death. Having encountered it and survived, Sin is by far the most nihilistic Bond villain in recent memory. The man aspires to obtain the power of death and tries to do so through a very unique card game (which inspired the title of this review). Seeing him go up against James Bond, by far the most famous fictional dealer of death is a treat. Criticism? Well the main henchman of Jae Sung Sin ended up with an anticlimactic fate. He performed well in his attempt to kill Bond but ultimately, his shallow characterization and Jeopardy hitting him with her car made me disappointed at the wasted opportunity. So, my verdict is this. Trigger Mortis is the best James Bond continuation novel written and by itself is one of the greatest continuation novels published. Written by an author who respected the heritage of the series he was contributing to, the book features a well shaken cocktail of nostalgia, solid plotting, a surprisingly deep narrative under the nods to the past and the thrills and spills readers expect from a good spy novel. If you’re a Bond fan who has despaired at the quality of the previous novels, I’m happy to say, Trigger Mortis hits dead center where its predecessors have missed time and again.

This book had my name on it right from the git-go. First, I'm a diehard fan of the late Ian Fleming's James Bond books - and of the motion pictures as well, though for the most part they have little in common with the books. Second, Anthony Horowitz also authored Moriarty, to which I happily awarded 5 stars (yes, I love Sherlock Holmes as well).For the first few chapters, though, I began to wonder if this one was destined to be not much more than name-dropping of people and places from other Bond books (it begins as Pussy Galore is ensconced in Bond's flat as a protective measure after the Goldfinger affair). Okay, I expected some of that - this one marks Bond's return after an electrifying exchange with Oddjob at Fort Knox. But would there be a real plot here with enough substance to stand on its own?So, I consulted my Bond expert husband, who had just passed the book on to me, and his answer was a resolute yes. Even more impressive, he said, is the authenticity of writing style compared with that of Fleming. Now that I've finished, I totally agree; especially when the action began to heat up as the end was near, I really felt as if I were immersed in the pages of From Russia with Love or You Only Live Twice. Interestingly, author Horowitz says in the acknowledgements that the concept for this book came from outlines Fleming had created for a possible TV series that was being discussed in America prior to the success of the film, Dr. No. Once that took off, the series idea was scrapped, and a couple of those outlines were used as the basis for subsequent movies. But five remained and were given to Horowitz; he picked one that piqued his writing interest and actually used about 500 words of Fleming's own dialogue in one chapter of this book. The story here, set about a dozen years after the end of World War II, is that Bond learns his old nemesis, SMERSH, wants to kill the chances that a leading racecar driver will win an international Grand Prix in West Germany, thus allowing a Russian driver to win and demonstrating the power of the Soviets. Bond's boss, M, sends him in to prevent that from happening (yep, that means he'll have to impersonate a real driver and do laps around the track himself). But prior to the race, he spots a meeting between a top SMERSH official and a shady Korean millionaire dubbed Jason Sin, and suddenly Bond is convinced there's much more afoot than winning a road race.Needless to say, Bond is right on the money, and the chase begins to find out what the secretive Mr. Sin really is up to (and, that accomplished, convincing the U.S. and British powers-that-be of the need to stop him). As Bond fans should expect, the whole thing comes down to resolution by the very capable secret agent, who must pull out all the stops to keep the world safe for democracy. Again.I've missed you, Mr. Bond - great to have you back!

Last time I read this novel in book form, so this time I've gone for the audio version!Actor David Oyelowo is a fine choice to read the best James Bond novel since Fleming. This unabridged audio version (with an epic running time of 9 hours & 32 minutes) is as good to listen to as the book was to read. 2018 should see the publication of Horowitz's second 007 adventure. I can hardly wait.

3.5 stars, or 7/10Entertaining addition to the Bond canon, could easily imagine this as a Bond film.Set in the 1950's, it has Bond masquerading as a race-car driver to foil an assassination plot, before stumbling on to another, bigger plot involving the Space race.Fans of Horowitz's Alex Rider series (a sort of teenage James Bond) will not find this outing much of a departure, with the action and obligatory seduction (tacked on at the end of the book almost as an afterthought) all being reasonably PG. In fact, this could actually be a YA book (without meaning that in a bad way).Fun, with some thrills, and a reasonable plot. In all likelihood better than the original!

Strong, violent Bond adventure. The villain here was odd as in the middle point of the book you had some serious sympathy for him but otherwise he was just stock.

Set during the backdrop of the space race in 1957 and two weeks after the events of Goldfinger, Bond must foil a Soviet counter-intelligence agency plans to sabotage a Grand Prix race in Nurburgring.It has a real classic Bond feel especially after the author set the story after the events of Fort Knox, this novel fits in seamlessly.Great characterisation and the villain had plausible motivations, highly recommend.

James Bond, fresh off his adventure against Auric Goldfinger, is assigned to protect a prominent British race car driver from sabotage by SMERSH at the International Grand Prix event at Nurburgring. After infiltrating the racing circuit as a driver, 007 stumbles across some photos of rockets, which points him at a mysterious Korean millionaire named Jason Sin who seems intent on a terrorist attack against the US space program. Accompanied by American Bond babe, Jeopardy Lane, the plot unfolds amidst plenty of intrigue and action.It’s not strictly necessary to have read Goldfinger first, but some connections would not be appreciated as much. Pussy Galore has a role in this novel, for example but I suspect many readers will mentally reference the movie rather than the original novel.I’m a big fan of Anthony Horowitz and have always liked what I’ve seen from him, whether it’s a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, a stand-alone original mystery/thriller, or his television creations such as Foyle’s War. I’ve also read all of Ian Fleming’s Bond series and thought this novel, "Trigger Mortis", fits in well with Fleming’s original work. It felt a lot like I was reading a Fleming novel, except without the troubling racism and sexism. And given that the primary antagonist in this book is Korean, I can easily imagine how he would be depicted during Fleming’s time. Kudos to Mr. Horowitz for capturing the flavor of the originals, adjusted for today’s readership.

“Trigger Mortis” is Anthony Horowitz’s continuation of the Bond series. The story sets in after Goldfinger and starts with the portrayal of what occurs after Bond gets the young lady (aka the bond girl). I thought it was a fascinating idea to show this side of Bond’s life. Fleming didn’t do this. There were flashbacks to a portion of Bond’s past experiences and notices of past characters, however, aside from proficient associates, characters didn’t show up again – to the furthest extent that I can assemble – in the later books. Each book is another experience, and that is broadly similarly valid for Bond’s affection life.Plot-wise, the story gets moving after Bond’s relationship separates. He’s sent determined to examine a few goings-on at the engine races, which could be controlled by SMERSH in the endeavors to succeed at everything. This is another climate for Bond. He can drive, yet not alright to contend at the expert races, never mind at one of the most troublesome courses in the F1 circuit – the Nuerburgring, which some time ago when the book is set (1957) still just comprised of the notorious North Loop. Along these lines, experience results, and after a short time Bond experiences the genuine antagonist of this book. Jason Sin is a heavenly reprobate. He is profoundly abhorrent and makes Dr. No resemble a monstrous softie. The principal contrast is that while Dr. No had a plan carrying out his malicious things, Jason Sin has neither qualities nor interests – he’s self-assertive, and apparently without feelings of any sort, the encapsulation of the thought that something contrary to cherish doesn’t abhor however detachment.Bond is spot on, and the pursuit starts to discover what the clandestine Mr. Sin is doing (and, that refined, persuading the U.S. also British people pulling the strings of the need to stop him). As Bond fans ought to expect, the entire thing comes down to goal by the truly proficient spy, who should put it all out there to save the world safe for a majority rules system. Once more. Whenever you have acknowledged this the book takes on its very own speed and I felt particularly towards the end I was perusing the story from an unreleased film. Presently I realize this book isn’t as everybody would prefer however it was composed with the gift of the Fleming home and even has a shrewd reverence to the man in the approach to including the thoughts from a never acknowledged TV series he was chipping away at.I surmise like any book that gets a well-known writer’s work a very long time after their elapsing it will be part assessment anyway I think the story is a commendable expansion and shows the time and exertion Horowitz put into composing it. This was a hell of a ride! After “Are you afraid of the dark” by Sidney Sheldon, I missed a compact action thriller where every page was important, things were happening fast and I was loving it! The book is a fast read- the signature of Anthony Horowitz, his writing style is beautiful and very simple. Being one of my favorite movie series, I was skeptical to pick up the book as I didn’t want the movies to get ruined, so I picked this prequel to Casino Royale, and oh my! Did not regret it! Highly recommended!

Updated 9/23/2019"Trigger Mortis" is vintage 1950's James Bond lightly retouched for a modern reader, a direct sequel to "Goldfinger" and an action-packing, suspenseful, thrilling adventure all its own.With the upcoming release of "No Time To Die" I have re-read all Fleming novels and am now sifting through greatest hits of the continuation books. "Trigger Mortis" was certainly worth the re-read. It begins (after showing us some opening plot points that will tie in later) with Bond fresh off the Fort Knox Goldfinger takedown, "hosting" Pussy Galore in his Chelsea flat. He's quickly called back into duty; Miss Galore gets a very interesting and fitting plotline here. Bond is also taken into the world of Grand Prix, which is exciting (perhaps not explored as much as one would hope) but this is important because it utilizes actual writing and dialogue penned by Ian Fleming for "Murder on Wheels" - a TV pilot. So, the Fleming work is a hook, but Horowitz delivers; I am a fan of his Sherlock Holmes work as well, and "Trigger Mortis" feels a lot like Fleming with the description, some of the words and phrases used ("God! What a girl!") and the high stakes with Bond up against a vengeful villain with backstory and paired with a girl who adds a ton of value. Horowitz manages to put a fresh spin on James Bond while taking him back to an era he was born from and delivering a tremendous story across numerous geographies and perils. 4 stars.**************************************So, let's review. "Trigger Mortis" is essentially a direct sequel to "Goldfinger," certainly the most legendary 007 film and definitely an essential entry in the Fleming series. It brings back Pussy Galore and takes place literally two weeks after the end of the Fort Knox caper. Not only that, but its second chapter is lifted from an original Ian Fleming work. That sets it off in a fantastic direction.Having read Horowitz's two Sherlock Holmes novels and marveling at the way he adapted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's style, I expected something similar with that of Fleming's and was not disappointed.Furthermore, being set in 1957, up against Bond's old adversary SMERSH and bringing back classic settings and characters and vehicles, this one felt really familiar already.While some of the connect-the-dots-of-the-plot is perhaps a stretch (Bond poses as a playboy racecar driver who happens upon the baddies and almost stumbles upon their mission), the stakes are high, the formula is very much adhered to, the characters are well developed and written and it is a satisfying story.Personally, I feel that Raymond Benson has authored the best post-Fleming Bond work. That said, this is certainly a worthy entry in the canon. 4 stars.

Having spent a good part of last year reading all the Fleming Bond novels, I could honestly say that Anthony Horowitz has given us something quite special with Trigger Mortis. Not only has Horowitz given us a thrilling original entry in this Bond continuation novel, he's also provided the readers with the closest experience I believe we will ever have to reading an actual new Bond book by Ian Fleming. Horowitz had been given unprecedented access to story treatments by Ian Fleming which have not yet been made public. Before the success of the film franchise, Fleming had dabbled with the potential of letting Bond exist as a television series. When this prospect fell through, he used some of the outlines and treatments he'd written for the short story collection, For Your Eyes Only. Among the treatments that Fleming left unused was one called "Murder on Wheels" about Bond entering the Grand Prix racing circuit to protect a well known British racecar driver. Horowitz decided to use this idea as the launching pad for his own original story and so we have Trigger Mortis. Taking place 2 weeks after the events of Fleming's Goldfinger novel, Trigger Mortis finds Bond dealing with the aftermath of that adventure and specifically dealing with the prospect of a long term relationship with that novel's Bond Girl, Pussy Galore. While this wouldn't be the first time that Bond had extended his relationship with a woman beyond his adventures (Bond had fallen in love with Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever where she had even moved into Bond's flat by the end of the novel but the relationship had ended prior to the events of the subsequent novel From Russia With Love), it's the first time we get to see how a woman's relationship with Bond might disintegrate after the thrill of their adventure together has concluded. Horowitz does a fatastic job bringing the characters and setting to life. His literary style is quite reminiscent of Fleming, the dialogue appears to be spot on, and the narration that Fleming had often relied upon to get readers inside of Bond's psyche is also quite faithfully recreated here. In every practical sense, this novel feels like you're reading a Fleming Bond novel.I believe anyone who has enjoyed reading the Fleming novels will instantly take a liking to Horowitz's book, and I highly recommend it.

A pitch-perfect Bond. Possibly the closest to Fleming's Bond in any of the Bond stories I've read. Once I got past the seemingly-daft title (which does make sense as played out in the story), we get to a cracking tale of classic Bond adventure. Trigger Mortis follows immediately on the heels of Goldfinger, with Bond and Pussy Galore back in London. It's not long before Bond is off on another mission, this time to race the Nürburgring and foil an assassination attempt against a British driver. But not all is as it seems, and soon Bond is embroiled in a bigger tale, one which threatens New York.Horowitz's Bond is superbly authentic, with a real feel for the character as written by Fleming. There are a couple of places in the book which, plot-wise, feel like slight mis-steps, but the action is such that they're soon forgotten.Very confidently written, and I hope Mr Horowitz has the chance to dabble in 007's world again soon.