The 007 Re-Read Project: Role of Honour by John Gardner

It's been quite a while since my last foray into the post-Fleming Bond continuation novels, but 26 short months later, I'm back at it! Role of Honour is John Gardner's fourth James Bond novel, originally published in 1984. I remembered virtually nothing about this novel nearly three decades after I read it, apart from a couple of character names. As ever, I won't blow the entire plot, but there are

SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

After receiving a sizeable inheritance,  James Bond has some unfavorable attention directed toward him, even within the Secret Service. M sees this as an opportunity to crack a rather tough case, orchestrating a phony falling out between Bond and MI6. This receives some publicity, even leading to a newspaper interview with Bond over the matter! Even with Bond's history with many of them, other organizations are unable to resist trying to recruit him. The one he is interested in is led by computer whiz Dr. Jay Autem Holy, who has faked his death, and is now masquerading as Jason St. John Finnes. He and his compatriots are up to something sinister in a small English village, and it is vital that Bond infiltrate his organization and discover exactly what. Holy's own widow, Percy Proud, herself a CIA agent, meets with Bond in Monaco to teach him everything he needs to know about computer programming to carry out his mission. Bond is successful in being recruited, but it turns out that Holy is working for another organization, one with a long, bloody history with Bond. 

 Remember up above where I said I remembered virtually nothing about this novel prior to re-reading it? That's because it's dreadfully dull. It seems to take forever for anything to actually happen, and when it does, none of it is particularly interesting. There are certainly some interesting concepts here, such as Holy creating elaborate computer programs to train operatives to commit crimes with clockwork precision. The idea of Bond splitting from the service and being sought out by other organizations is also a promising setup, but Gardner fails to make any of it particularly engaging. It is quaintly amusing to read about the miracles of the computer age, things that were absolute cutting edge, or simply not yet possible, at the time. 

Bond himself acts out of character at times. A scene where he sings aloud while driving comes off as particularly odd. Gardner takes great pains to construct a decent backstory and skillset for Holy, but the man remains bland and nonthreatening. Percy Proud is fine as the female lead, but is again a pretty unmemorable character. That Gardner goes so far as having Bond consider marrying her is laughable, given their complete lack of chemistry. There's simply nothing compelling about the character as written, certainly nothing of the spark that Tracy Draco possessed. Perhaps the most egregious sin committed is handing over leadership of one of the great Bond villain organizations to Tamil Rahani, a character introduced about halfway through the novel, who is as dull as they come. He is very much a stock terrorist character with nothing notable about him. I remember him returning as the main antagonist in the next novel, so hopefully he fares better there!

 

Notable quotes:

(On the downfall of Monaco) Even those had not created a safe buffer against some of the more garish encroachments of the 1980s. On his last visit, Bond had been horrified to find one-armed bandits installed in the exclusive Salles Privees of the Casino.  Now he would not be surprised if there were space invader games there as well. 

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 Bond reflected on his own past encounters with the kind of madness that turned men into devils. 

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Conspirators can rarely divorce without one partner seriously damaging the other.

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 Always, in Switzerland, Bond thought, you knew you were in a small, rich country, for all the buildings looked as though they had been assembled in some sterile room from a plastic kit, complete with small details of greenery and flowers.

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 Unlike the previous two Gardner Bonds, which I enjoyed despite their flaws, this one simply has too many issues for me to recommend it. For an author as skilled as Gardner, I'm honestly astonished at how deficient this one is. It's not a good Bond novel, and neither is it good as a generic thriller. It's a misfire in nearly every aspect. Hopefully Gardner returns to form with the next entry. Nobody Lives Forever is up next, and I promise it won't take me more than two years to get to it! See you then.