The 007 Re-Read Project: Licence/License to Kill by John Gardner

Bond is back at TMR after a brief hiatus! Today we're looking at a film novelization, the first of John Gardner's tenure. License to Kill (I'll be using the American spelling since that's what muscle memory leads me to type) remains a divisive movie in the 007 catalogue, and Gardner had the unenviable task of adapting it and making it fit with the continuity of the literary Bond. This created a few headaches that we'll come to presently. As this novel is based on a movie, there's a greater than usual chance that anyone reading this is already familiar with it, but nevertheless, there are

SPOILERS AHEAD! 

The plot will be familiar to anyone who has watched the movie. Bond's longtime friend Felix Leiter is on his way to his wedding when he gets word that Franz Sanchez, a major drug baron, has entered the US to fetch his wayward girlfriend, Lupe Lamora. With the kingpin briefly within his jurisdiction, Leiter heads off to grab him, with Bond in tow. Bondian mayhem ensues, culminating in Sanchez's arrest. Felix arrives at the church a bit late, but the wedding goes off without a (further) hitch. Unfortunately, Sanchez's open offer of a massive bribe to anyone who aids him in the event of his arrest proves too tempting for one of the DEA agents, and Sanchez is sprung. His reprisal is swift and brutal, as the newly-minted Mrs. Della Leiter is murdered and Felix is mauled by a shark. (Yes, again.) Sanchez flees to Isthmus, the small South American nation where he makes his home, and Bond resigns from the secret service to seek revenge for his fallen friend. 

This movie's plot placed Gardner in an awkward spot, as Felix had already been mauled by a shark in Bond's second literary outing, Live and Let Die.  This leads to a scene in which Felix's artificial limbs are ripped off the surely disappointed shark, leaving him in a far less delicate state than in the movie. (Physically, anyway.) The murder of Della, who the novel mentions is an old friend of Bond's, still provides enough motivation for the revenge plot. Another echo of literary Bond adventures past is Sanchez's predilection for whipping Lupe with a whip fashioned from the tail of a stingray, as used by Milton Krest in The Hildebrand Rarity. Another example of the novelization not meshing perfectly with the other books is that Cedar Leiter, Felix's own daughter, doesn't attend his wedding, and goes completely unmentioned. She must have been on one hell of an important mission! 

Gardner's novelization follows the plot of the movie closely, with no major deviations caused by working from an early version of the script. There are some minor differences, however. Sanchez's henchmen, even the sadistic Dario, balk at his order to cut out Alvarez's heart. Dario is much different physically from his celluloid counterpart. Della's murder is far more gruesome. In a nod to the changes Gardner had made in his novels, it's mentioned that Bond is down to five cigarettes per day. Gardner makes a point to refer to some of Bond and Leiter's past adventures, ensuring that their friendship is far more apparent that in the movie. Bond splitting from the service to avenge Leiter makes far more sense than in the movie, as their friendship had always been given short shrift in the film series. 

Something I'd never noticed while watching the movie that stuck out to me while re-reading this novelization is how Pam Bouvier seems almost an evolution of Nannie Norrich from Gardner's Nobody Lives Forever. Both are depicted as somewhat tomboyish with short haircuts, are capable at close-quarters combat and handguns, and they each carry a small handgun strapped to the upper thigh. Seeing as how the cargo plane battle in The Living Daylights was clearly inspired by a similar scene in Gardner's License Renewed, this may not have been a coincidence. Gardner had to have noticed the similarities, and one can't help but wonder how he felt about it.

Gardner fleshes out a number of more minor scenes and creates new ones that provide some connective tissue between the movie's scenes and setpieces. There are several pages, for example, that reveal exactly how in the hell Bond goes from flying a small plane filled with bales of drug money to walking into a bank in Isthmus with a couple of briefcases. These are scenes that aren't really necessary, but they smooth things out to keep the story flowing more naturally on the page than it would without them. We are also given a bit more background on a few characters. Sanchez, for example, is revealed to be the child of "a fascist German woman and a wealthy Panamanian businessman." 

This has no bearing on anything, but I felt it worth mentioning that Gardner gives the name of a news commentator who interviews Sanchez as Anna Rack. It almost makes Holly Goodhead seem subtle!

 Notable quotes:

Felix Leiter made a quick movement with his gloved left hand, expertly adjusting the mechanism of his artificial left leg. Bond felt a wave of bleakness as he always did when he saw his old friend manipulate the false limbs, for the shark that had so mutilated Leiter a long time ago now, had been meant for him and, in a strange way, Bond felt responsible.

____________________

(While dangling from the helicopter in pursuit of the fleeing Sanchez's plane.) In spite of the fear that engulfed him, Bond began to laugh. He was thinking that he must look a ludicrous sight, like some movie stuntman doing a particularly daring act for the cameras.

____________________

(Upon finding Felix mauled by a shark again.) Bond was struggling for control. it was almost impossible that this kind of thing could happen to a man a second time.

____________________

Her accent was unequivocally Texan, for the words came out as, "Heidi yawl. Yawl Markin?" (After seeing Gardner's attempts to convey Southern and Texan accents in multiple novels, I never again want to hear an English person complain about how badly we Yanks depict English accents!)

____________________

Bond smiled to himself. The nylon rope was almost half an inch thick, and there was a lot of it. "How the devil do you get this much into the cylinder, and the grappling irons?" he had asked Q.

Briskly, Q had replied, "All done by mirrors, 007. Surely you know that I've been a member of the Magic Circle for a long time." (This makes a lot of sense!)

____________________

The scream hung on the air like some bad odour.

____________________

 "The pain goes with time, Felix." Bond was not talking about physical pain, and he knew all the hurt his old friend was suffering from Della's death. "I've been there, old buddy. Never leaves you, but it does get easier."

 

This story fits rather awkwardly into the literary Bond canon, even if you're only considering the Gardner era. One gets the sense that Gardner's heart wasn't really in this, and it lacks the spark of his better novels. Some the over-the-top action sequences, in particular, seem rather incongruous with the literary 007. I don't consider it an essential post-Fleming novel, unlike Christopher Wood's novelizations, but the novelization of License to Kill is worth the read. Just don't pass over the likes of License Renewed or Icebreaker in favor of it. That does it for today, but I'll be back before too long with a look at John Gardner's Brokenclaw! 

The 007 Re-Read Project: Win, Lose, or Die by John Gardner

John Gardner's eighth James Bond continuation novel is the second Gardner Bond I read, more than 25 years ago now. After a friend found a hardcover copy of Seafire on the Books-a-Million sale tables, I headed over to BAM to see if could turn up any more, and found a hardcover of this novel. I remembered enjoying it, but not much else, as I mentioned last time. Turns out my memory of it was even hazier than I thought, as it doesn't involve a submarine, but a ship! As always, I won't give a blow-by-blow of the entire story, but there are

SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

At M's behest, James Bond is once again active in the Royal Navy and promoted to the rank of captain. This is to thwart the plans of a new terrorist organization known as BAST from disrupting the upcoming Landsea '89, a massive wargames operation that will see the involvement of an official from the ever more friendly Soviet Union. With Landsea nearly a year away, Bond is sent for extensive training to bring him back up to speed as a naval officer. However, BAST has a long reach and impeccable intel, and they seem to have Bond's number nearly every step of the way. By the time he boards Invincible as its security officer, it's clear that he will have his hands full dealing BAST's agents, as well as protecting the trio of VIPs whose top-secret arrival is well known to his enemies. 

When I first read this, I thought BAST was an attempt to create a successor to SPECTRE to plague Bond for years to come-- even Bond remarks that they sound like a poor man's SPECTRE-- but the further you get into the novel, the more obvious it becomes that the organization won't be sticking around. Gardner fleshes out Bassam Baradj, its founder and leader, fairy well, giving him a motivation that is even more banal than BAST's stated goals, and all the more realistic for that. Most of the organization's members are ciphers with little to no personality, but they serve their purpose as antagonists pretty well. No one will place Baradj anywhere near the upper tiers of 007 nemeses, however. Though he does have a perfect opportunity to kill Bond at one point, completely at his leisure, and doesn't take it, so he definitely fits in on that point!  

Bast is described as an Egyptian demon with three heads, which threw me for a loop since the only Bast I'd ever heard of is the cat goddess, who was generally depicted as rather benevolent. I did a bit of digging (i.e. a quick web search) and it seems that the version of Bast from which the terrorist organization in this book derived its name was a later Christian corruption of the Egyptian goddess, conflated with a three-headed demon as described in the book. I didn't delve too deeply into this, so I may have fudged some of the details, but Gardner didn't pull that description of Bast from nowhere!  

We have a trio of intriguing women playing supporting roles. Clover Pennington is a WREN who is also stationed on the Invincible, Beatrice Maria da Ricci is a fellow British agent assigned to watch his back, and Nikola Ratnikov is a Naval Attache with the Russian VIP on board the Invincible. However, Bond knows that BAST has dispatched one of its heads, a woman known only as the Cat, to eliminate him. No one knows her identity, so she could be any one of the three, or someone else completely. This adds an additional layer of intrigue as Bond endeavors to drink and bang his way through his mission, as per usual. 

Speaking of the women in this book, there's one part where Bond is about to interrogate a woman he believe is responsible for a murder aboard the ship, and she loses her shit and goes crazy on him. He's a highly experienced combatant, of course, but this woman is totally nuts, and she just kicks his ass for a bit before she's taken down. It was unexpected and hilarious!    

Back to the story, the staple Gardner double crosses abound, though nowhere near the ridiculous levels seen in Icebreaker.  One fakeout of a character who was supposedly killed borders on too ridiculous even for a Bond story, but I must admit that Gardner took the trouble to foreshadow the reveal shortly after the "death." It still barely comes off, though. Gardner tries to speedrun the "James Bond falls in love" thing again (a la Persephone Proud in Role of Honor) by having Bond fall for one of the characters far too hard far too fast. He even goes so far as to tell her he loves her, and the whole thing really doesn't feel earned at all. Bond reminisces about Tracy from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and there's even an oblique reference to Colonel Sun!

There's a nice aerial battle toward the end, and the final fight aboard the Invincible is pretty well done. I always like when Bond goes into a big conflict with a squad. We get to see Bond's brutal side a bit here, as the stakes are high enough that he shows no mercy. It ends quickly and far more easily than you might expect, but given the way the tables have turned by that time, it could hardly go any other way. Baradj is run down shortly afterward, and meets his demise in a manner evocative of Thunderball. The novel wraps with Bond still with this woman he just met yet claims to be in love with, and there's no indication that they'll be splitting up. So does she stick around for the next book? I don't remember! I'll have to keep forging ahead to find out. 

Notable quotes:

Bond leaned back in the armchair in which M had invited him to sit. It was a chair Bond knew well. If you were asked to sit in this, the most comfortable chair in M's office, the news could only be bad.

____________________

 Bond's lips curved into one of the cruellest smiles M had ever seen. Later the Chief was to say that, to use a biblical expression, "Iron had entered into 007's soul."

____________________

Bond was beginning to realise what had attracted him to the Navy in the first place. He was a man of routine, and enjoyed the privileges that came with rank.

____________________

 "Don't want our own people getting shot up," M had said as though he did not give a damn who got shot up.

____________________

 (When Bond meets the Soviet Navy's Commander-in-Chief.) "I think somewhere I have hear the name before. Have you perhaps, served in your embassy in Moscow?" He spoke excellent English.

"Not exactly in the embassy, sir." Bond gave an almost imperceptible smile.

"But you are known there, I think. In Moscow, I mean."

"It wouldn't surprise me, sir."

____________________

He recalled M's words about their intelligence gathering. "They imagine you're unique," the Old Man had said. "They think your presence on Invincible is very bad medicine for them." M had made a sarcastic one-note laugh. "I suppose BAST and its leaders are your fan club, 007. You should send them an autographed picture." 

____________________

With the advent of the microchip the old Registry had been relegated to a smaller area and people were constantly transferring the paperwork onto a series of giant databases. Rumor had it that all the work would not be completed from past files until the year 2009, or thereabouts, as the crow flies. (Hm, I wonder if they got it all done on time?) 

Even with a couple of twists that don't really feel earned and some moments of silliness that stick out even among the sea of 007 adventures, I enjoyed this book. Part of that is simply the novelty of seeing Bond in a different setting; Bond not only spends time aboard the Invincible, there's also an extended section in the middle of the novel that sees him basically hanging out on Xmas vacation. (Sure, he's serving as bait, inappropriately romancing a colleague, there's a joke about how you can shoot your balls off if you don't stow your gun properly, and some people get killed, but what else can you expect from a 007 vacation?) The villains rarely feel like an actual threat, but the change in setting, intriguing setup, and the mystery of exactly which of Bond's new lady friends is the Cat, and a couple of nice action sequences make for an enjoyable read. I wouldn't recommend this as your first Gardner Bond, but if you've read a couple of his and enjoyed them, this one won't do you wrong. Next time we'll dive into the novelization of Licence to Kill! 

 In the meantime, here's another of those cool fan-made covers in the style of the old Great Pan paperbacks. If anyone knows the original source, feel free to share it!

The 007 Re-Read Project: Scorpius by John Gardner

John Gardner's 007th James Bond novel is one which I specifically remember where and when I got it. After almost literally having the revelation of the Gardner Bonds dropped into my lap (as recounted here), I set about tracking down all of them. A trip to The Book Rack, a local used book store, turned up a half dozen Gardner Bond paperbacks, mostly the earliest entries. I managed to turn up most of the others in short order, but for whatever reason, Scorpius was one of the three that eluded me. In those (just barely) pre-ebay days, there weren't a whole lot of options for running down old books unless you were fortunate to live in a large city with an abundance of stores that sold such things. Thankfully, we did have a bookstore here that would attempt to locate old out-of-print books for you, and I set them to work on the trio of Gardner Bonds I was missing. (This shop is also where I found my hardcover Casino Royale and the Goldeneye novelization on the same trip!) I remember the day they called to let me know they had located a copy of Scorpius; it was in immaculate condition, and would cost me $30. I wasn't thrilled with the price, but I'd been working my way through the Gardner books I had in publication order, and that one was holding me up. Impatient to read it, I told her to go ahead and get it. I went by there once it arrived and picked it up on my way to work. Decades later I remembered enjoying it, and thinking it had an appropriately harsh villain death, but nothing else about it. Let's see how it holds up! As always, I won't blow the whole thing, but there are

SPOILERS AHEAD! 

 

A woman escapes the clutches of a cult known as the Meek Ones and is found dead soon afterward. When her purse is found to contain little besides a scrap of paper with James Bond's phone number written on it, 007 is brought into the investigation.  Almost immediately, another young woman turns up after leaving the cult, out of her mind with the powerful drugs that have been pumped into her. Her father is an old acquaintance of M's, which pulls the SIS further into things. Despite being exhausted from the intense "refresher course" he's just completed with the SAS, Bond is plunged into the mix. The leader of the Meek Ones, Father Valentine, is suspected to be a new identity adopted by notorious arms dealer Vladimir Scorpius, who has rarely been photographed, and hasn't been sighted for years. A search of the Meek Ones compound in London reveals that it has been abandoned, its members dispersed to blend seamlessly with the general populace. When a horrific act of terrorism is committed on British soil, it becomes clear that Scorpius is responsible. Despite numerous precautions, the attacks continue. Through the Meek Ones cult, Scorpius has an army willing to die to commit murder at his command. With the aid of IRS agent Harriet Horner and SAS Sergeant Pearlman, Bond must run Scorpio to ground and try to devise some way to halt his bloody scheme. However, Scorpius has someone very close to the mission who keeps him informed of their every move...

This is a rather unusual James Bond story, with Bond, M, and the entire SIS on the back foot more often than not. Much of the novel takes place in London, and we're quite a ways in before Bond even leaves the country. It's always refreshing to read a 007 tale that breaks from the formula. The deplorable acts of terrorism committed by religious fanatics, so shocking to M and Bond, are sadly not unheard of today. It's interesting to read their reactions to these appalling acts through modern sensibilities. The weaponized cult concept is disturbingly plausible, and indeed, we have seen such things play out again and again. 

Scorpius himself is built up to the point that he seems a fiend for the ages, though he falls a bit short once we finally meet him. He doesn't command the scene as the best Bond villains do, and seems almost deferential to Bond at several points. He is oddly concerned with performing a wedding ceremony prior to the final phase of his plan for reasons that are never explained. (Horner mentions something about the ritual being important to him, but it's not elaborated on.) He does indeed receive a nasty death that is well-earned, though it occurs weirdly early in the novel. There's still a bit of story left once he's been wiped from the board. The way the story is constructed, this isn't objectively a flaw, but it does feel strange to have the main antagonist disposed of relatively early. 

Several of the supporting characters are interesting, with the aforementioned Sergeant Pearlman a real standout. There are several very effective scenes in the novel, one of which is a desperate escape in which Bond, for once, miscalculates badly.  It's a scene that feels far more Fleming-esque than the somewhat movie-leaning Bond characterization we often get from Gardner. Unfortunately, the consequences of that mistake are not given much page space, and it feels glossed over far too quickly and easily. (Though to be fair, Bond does achieve one hell of a catharsis immediately afterward, so I suppose that helped him cope!) A duo of iconic Bond cars are referenced when Bond is tailed by a Saab and a red Lotus Esprit, a nice detail for attentive readers. We also get an appearance from Sir James Molony, familiar to anyone who has read Fleming's final Bond novel!

 

Notable Quotes:

Bond's lifestyle had changed drastically over the last few months, and any changes in 007 made M a shade nervous - even when the changes appeared to be for the best. 

____________________

 Bill Tanner - M's Chief of Staff - came in through the private door that was the only other entrance to M's office. (What the hell... since when does M's office have two entrances? Seems a rather odd choice.)

____________________

For a moment, Bond felt uncomfortable. Sir James Molony probably knew more than any other man about his secret life - not his life of secrets within the Service, but the hidden areas of fear, the complexities of imagination which dwelt within him, motivated him, kept him happy and on an even keel, or came hurtling from his subconscious to plague him like demons in the night.

___________________

"Get them, James!" M spoke through clenched teeth. "Just get them. Kill them, wipe them off the face of the earth if you have to, though I'll deny ever saying that to you if it happens. Go out and find the devils."

___________________

 Breakfast, as ever, was his favorite meal of the day, an immovable and set feast when he was home. Apart from a brief acknowledgement, Bond took little notice of May, who went back into the kitchen clucking to herself about his bad habits of coming in late at night, then acting like a "Wee bear wi' a sore heed!" the next morning.

___________________

Pearlman settled back to watch the in-flight movie. Though he had already seen it, Bond sat through it again. The Untouchables. A favorite actor of his played a Chicago cop. (Who knew Bond was a Kevin Costner fan? 😉)

___________________

It would have taken a saint to resist her, and Bond would be the first to admit that sanctity was not his strong point. 

___________________

"Good girl for you, James. Good family. Steady." (WTF?!? M's playing matchmaker now?) 

 

Even with a final act that deflates a bit, Scorpius is a good read, and offers a 007 adventure that breaks from the standard formula in a few key areas. Scorpius is an interesting villain, even if he doesn't quite measure up to the build-up Gardner gives him. I'd rank this in the upper middle tier of the Gardners I've revisited so far in this series. Up next is another one that is a blank slate to me; all I remember is that it involves submarines, and that Bond is promoted from commander to captain. Join me next time for Win, Lose, or Die! 

Here's another of those cool fan-made covers in the style of the old Great Pan paperbacks. I have no idea what the original source is, but I love these things!

 

The 007 Re-Read Project: No Deals, Mr. Bond by John Gardner

Gardner's sixth James Bond novel concerns Bond's local grocer, who refuses to sell him anything for less than the full retail price, never running any sales or deals-- okay, I admit it, that's not quite accurate. Gardner's oddly-titled adventure does offer a plot that is at least as interesting, however, and while I never blow the whole story, there are

 SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

A pair of particularly gruesome murders are connected to an old mission Bond played a part in, Operation Cream Cake. CC was concerned with enlisting disturbingly young agents in a ploy to seduce and gather information from, and possibly turn, top Soviet intelligence figures. Now, five years after the mission was suddenly ended, someone is hunting down the agents involved, killing them in a manner guaranteed to send a message. M is unable to send anyone to help these agents in an official capacity, and he knows there is only one person who has a hope of pulling everyone's fat out of the fire. After a quick briefing and some time with the relevant files, Bond is on his way, but at least one of the people he intends to protect is not what they seem, and he soon realizes that M has withheld some vital information. As more players enter the game, the danger continues to escalate as the rules of the game keep changing. Amidst the intrigue, a shadow from his past reaches out to crush him for good!

Happily, this novel continues the upward trend established by the previous one. The plot allows for quite a lot of intrigue, and Gardner milks it for all it's worth. There are double crosses, but they're not overdone as in Icebreaker.  We get to visit a couple of locales rarely seen in Bond adventures, which is always nice. Bond's visit to Hong Kong nicely foreshadows (coincidentally, of course) Raymond Benson's debut as Bond's chronicler a decade later. There seem to be more supporting characters than usual, though some are rotated out as the story progresses. Reflecting on it now, I'm not really certain if there actually is a larger cast, or if it only seemed that way because Gardner made many of them more distinct than usual. 

The main villain is a pretty good one when judged on his own merits, just don't go comparing him with the likes of Drax or Goldfinger. He's definitely of the more realistic variety, and has strong ties to some of Bond's oldest nemeses. The death he devises for Bond makes for an exciting finale. One of the lead women, Heather Dare, has an appropriately Bondian name without slipping into self-parody, a balancing act that many writers have struggled with. The identity of the Cream Cake traitor is pretty easy to figure out, as there are a couple of tells as the story chugs along. The way Bond deals with the turncoat was surprisingly brutal. The moment is somewhat shocking as it shows the character with a much harder edge than Gardner often does, but by the time we reach that point of the story, I doubt anyone will argue that the traitor doesn't deserve it.

 At one point, it's casually mentioned that assassinations have been forbidden by the British Secret Service! Gardner already eliminated the Double-0 section in his 007 debut novel, and here he takes it one step further, rendering "007" merely what M insists on calling Bond. Given how the rest of the novel goes, however, it looks as if this change is basically ignored by Bond, at least on this unsanctioned mission. I don't recall this affecting Gardner's future Bond novels, but I barely remember anything from them, so I reckon we'll see as I proceed!

Notable Quotes:

"Make someone a damn good husband, 007." The clear grey eyes showed no apology for mentioning marriage, a topic people who knew Bond well steered clear of, and had done since the untimely death of his bride at the hands of SPECTRE.

Bond ignored his chief's lack of taste and began to attack his fish with the skill of a surgeon. 

(M really seems to be going out of his way to be a massive prick here, especially considering the whopping big favor he's about to ask Bond for!)

____________________

Violent death is easier to gaze upon in reality than when captured for ever by the camera.

____________________

"I wish to see Ms. Dare," said Bond, giving her his patently insincere smile.

____________________

"Bit of an irony, isn't it? The Soviets having their Embassy in Orwell Road, and building a forest of communications hardware on top of it."

____________________

Bond was deeply suspicious of rugs. (WTF?!? This is never elaborated on. The only thing I can think of that makes any sort of sense is that he thinks they may conceal trapdoors.)

 

Clunky title aside, I enjoyed No Deals, Mr. Bond quite a bit. Gardner keeps things moving at a good pace, and another twist or action setpiece is always just around the corner. It's a rock solid spy thriller. After finishing it, the biggest negative that sticks in my mind is a weird line where Gardner mentions Bond kissing a woman on both ears, the logistics of which seem pretty awkward to me. If something silly like that is the biggest gripe I have with a book, we're in good shape! That's it for today, but I'll be back next week with a look at Scorpius! 

The 007 Re-Read Project: Nobody Lives Forever by John Gardner

Bond bashes his way through the 1980s in Gardner's fifth continuation novel! Picking up soon after the end of the series' previous entry,  this adventure is propelled by the consequences of one aspect of that novel's climax. I found that novel a rather dull affair, unfortunately, but this one has a setup so interesting that it's bound to be an improvement, right? Read on to find out! As always, I won't blow the entire thing, but there are

 

SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

While Bond is on a hard-earned holiday,  several suspicious deaths have his spy-sense tingling. He continues his road trip nevertheless, the final aim of which is to pick up his treasured maid May, who has been convalescing at an elite clinic in Austria. Miss Moneypenny, on holiday herself, has taken it upon herself to visit her, and the pair are getting along famously. Bond's plans are derailed when MI6 informs him that his enemy Tamil Rahani, last seen at the end of Role of Honor, has put a rather sizeable price on his head. Injured during his escape, the current head of SPECTRE is at death's door, and his dying wish is to have Bond's head literally delivered to him on a silver platter. To make matters even worse, one of the groups vying for the prize has kidnapped May and Moneypenny! Bond has help from a pair of intriguing new allies, the Principessa Sukie Tempesta and Nannie Norrich, but can either of them be trusted?  

While not Gardner's strongest 007 novel, this is a massive improvement over his previous effort. The concept of one of Bond's numerous enemies simply putting a price on his head is so obvious that it seems astonishing in retrospect that it took so long for someone to do it. It's also refreshing to have a Bond adventure with no world-shaking stakes, just a personal vendetta between Bond and one of his enemies. Things unfold at a good pace to keep things interesting, and there are enough double-crosses to add that extra dash of intrigue. The framework allows for some fun action scenes, and an underwater infiltration that is rather evocative of the late-night swim in Live and Let Die. The method devised for Bond's demise is appropriately dramatic, and the climax is crazy and chaotic in all the right ways. Bond ordering scrambled eggs and booze as his last request shortly before his execution is a scream! I enjoyed having Bond's new Bentley return, and the collapsible tactical baton is a nice addition to his arsenal.

In the negative column, May and Moneypenny are only plot devices. With them figuring into the main plot, I was hopeful that we'd get some good character interactions, but they spend most of the novel being spoken about, but not seen, and are completely wasted. There are a pair of scenes of Bond groping his new female acquaintances to search for hidden weapons that just feel rather icky. It makes sense for him to try to assure himself that these supposed new allies he's unsure of trusting aren't packing any nasty surprises to use against him, but the way it's presented is less than stellar. One scene gives us one of the more ludicrous attempts to kill Bond. Bond quotes The Wizard of Oz at one point, which wouldn't faze the audience in a Moore or Brosnan Bond film, but it comes off as quite odd and out of character here. Gardner gamely tries to milk suspense and drama from one of the big double-crosses, but we've spent so little time with the character in question that it falls flat. He also kills off a well-liked character from the Fleming days in an offhand comment, something I'm glad a future Bond writer ignored. 

Rahani remains as dull as ever, and I was glad his end was definitive enough that there is no possibility of him ever returning. SPECTRE must have fallen on hard times indeed to let such a bland, generic character rise to the top position. Gardner really seems to have struggled to create memorable villains beyond his first two Bond novels, though I remember some of the later ones being big improvements. I don't remember anything at all about the next two novels, but hopefully we're over the dull patch now.

And like many who have the good fortune to hail from somewhere other than the bowels of the bible belt, Gardner doesn't know how to properly spell or use "y'all." I don't hold it against him. 

 

Notable Quotes:

Bond always mistrusted people of short stature, knowing their tendency to over-compensate with ruthless pushiness, as though it were necessary to prove themselves. (Sheesh!) 

____________________

 Then he saw his adversary. It was something he'd come across only in zoos, and never one as big. Hunched on top of the shower head crouched a giant vampire bat, its evil eyes bright above the razor-toothed mouth, its wings beginning to spread in another attack. (😂)

____________________

There was a Saab 900 Turbo, a car he knew well, which had just been returned. (Silver Beast reference! I always wondered why Gardner abandoned it so quickly.)

____________________

"The slightest move and I'll blow a hole in you so big that even the maggots will need maps. Understand?"

____________________

SPECTRE had made themselves into a sitting target, which only he could smash.  

 

This is a fun, entertaining novel, and can easily be read without first tackling the previous one. It's not on the level of Gardner's debut Bond novel, but Nobody Lives Forever is a pretty satisfying read. I recommend it if you've enjoyed any of Gardner's other Bonds, and feel in the mood for more. That's it for this time, but I'll be back soon with a look at No Deals, Mr. Bond! 

For now, dig this awesome fan-made cover, done in the style of the old Great Pan paperbacks! I've seen covers in this style for a few non-Fleming stories, but I don't know the original source. 

 

The 007 Re-Read Project: Role of Honour/Honor 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. 

 ________________________________

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

 _________________________________

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

 __________________________________

 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.

 ___________________________________

 

 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. 

The 007 Re-Read Project: Icebreaker by John Gardner

Today, we're taking a look at John Gardner's third James Bond novel, Icebreaker, which I remember enjoying when I first read it about 25 years ago. Last time, I was disappointed when For Special Services failed to hold up to my initial reading of it back in the day. Will Icebreaker fare better? Read on to find out! (Or just skip to the end, if you want; I can't really stop you!) As always, I won't give away the entire plot, but there are

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Dozens of terrorist acts are carried out across Europe, with the neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Action Army claiming credit. James Bond, stealing a couple of days respite in Helsinki after completing a training exercise in the Arctic Circle, runs afoul of what may be a pair of their agents. Returning to London, he is assigned to Icebreaker, a multinational mission featuring agents from the CIA, KGB, MOSSAD, and MI6. Bond has been specifically requested. After a quick briefing, he is dispatched to join the group, and mission, already in progress. 

CIA agent Brad Turpitz, Nicolai Mosolov of the KGB, and the MOSSAD's Rivke Ingber are Bond's teammates. It immediately becomes clear that none of the agents trust one another, and Bond himself harbors doubts about each of them. Predictably, he quickly gravitates toward the shapely blonde Rivke, despite a shocking revelation about her that directly relates to the mission at hand. With the team already splintering, Bond faces an uphill struggle to complete the mission in any capacity. 

The novel has a fairly strong beginning, and the concept of the mission itself is ripe for interesting drama. It's clear early on that one of the Icebreaker agents is a double agent, actively working to destroy the team and prevent them accomplishing their mission. Naturally,  a reveal is expected, and we definitely get one. Unfortunately, I found myself getting sick of all the double- and triple-crosses long before the story ended. It got to the point of self-parody, and I wouldn't have been bowled over if we'd gotten one more in the final few pages. 

Another problem is the villain. Oh, did I forget to mention him in the synopsis? That right there tells you the main issue with him. Count von Gloda is an imminently forgettable villain, even more of a disappointment after the memorable nemeses in 007's first two outings under Gardner's pen. Attempts to make him seem a major threat, such as a ludicrous passage in which Bond wonders if he has finally met his match in this man, are laughable. He's as bland as they come, and that's a major sin in a series whose entries largely live or die based on the strength of their villains. 

Gardner does keep things moving briskly, however, and the plot is always interesting even as it descends into absurdity at times. He does have a tendency to frequently switch between dialogue and third person narration when delivering exposition. This is a stylistic touch Gardner uses frequently, and it always mildly annoys me for some reason. Gardner constructs a torture scene so sadistic that it rivals some of those in the Fleming novels. This is easily the most gripping scene in the entire novel. 

The following scene, however, may well be the low point of the entire novel for me. Bond blabs a bunch of secrets he's just endured a horrendous torture to avoid spilling to the enemy, while he is still held captive within the enemy's stronghold! This only occurs to serve the plot and lead to yet another pair of double crosses, and the whole thing makes Bond look incredibly stupid. He curses himself for it a couple of pages later, offering up a very weak explanation as to why it happened, but it's clear why it really did. Gardner was a good enough writer to advance the plot in the way he desired without having Bond act so wildly out of character here, so it's annoying that events unfold in this way. It makes for a very weird scene. 

NOTABLE QUOTES:

Bond did not smile. Perhaps it was his background in the Royal Navy, and working all those years close to M, but he considered smoking while someone else ate to be only a fraction above smoking before the Loyal Toast.

 __________________________________________

For a flitting second, Bond experienced the strange sensation of a clammy hand running down his spine. Because he had not really met von Gloda face to face, or even read a full dossier on the man, Bond felt an unusual unease. In that fraction of time, he even wondered if, at long last, he might have met his match. (Oh, come on!)

__________________________________________

Von Gloda stood, hands clasped behind his back, a tall straight figure, every inch a soldier. Well, Bond reflected, at least he was that - not the pipsqueak military amateur Hitler had proved himself to be.

____________________________________________

"SMERSH has what I understand is called, in criminal parlance, a hit list. That list includes a number of names - people who are wanted, not dead, but alive. Can you imagine whose name is number one on the chart, James Bond?

____________________________________________

Despite the issues I had with this novel, I still enjoyed it well enough. Icebreaker is a pretty strong 007 adventure. There is better Bond material out there, but if you want to sample some of the non-Fleming Bonds, you can do a lot worse. There's definitely a trend being established here with these books not holding up as well as I had hoped, however, and that's a bit worrying. I still have about a dozen more Gardner Bonds to get through, after all! Hopefully the next novel in the series, Role of Honor, will break the streak of mild disappointments. We'll find out together next time!

The 007 Re-Read Project: For Special Services by John Gardner

Then-new Bond continuation novelist John Gardner's 007 debut, License Renewed, had been a critical and commercial success, and he sought to raise the stakes a bit with his follow-up novel. I remember enjoying this one quite a bit when I read it about 25 years ago, so I was interested to see how it would hold up. Grab hold of your martinis, and let's find out! As ever, I won't blow the entire plot, but there are  

SPOILERS AHEAD!

After assisting the SAS in foiling a string of violent mid-air plane robberies, James Bond finds himself summoned to M's office. He finds M sitting with an attractive young woman who seems oddly familiar. M introduces her as Cedar Leiter, the daughter of his old friend Felix! Flabbergasted, Bond sits to listen to the mission briefing. A scrap of paper found on the body of an FBI agent in the swamps of Louisiana indicates the existence of a resurgent SPECTRE, led by someone calling themselves Blofeld. Bond is sure it can't possibly be his old nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld-- with some justification, as even in the often comic book-esque world of 007, Blofeld received just about as definitive a death as possible-- but either way, a revived SPECTRE in any form is a threat to be taken seriously. And Bond, of course, has a personal interest in unmasking this new Blofeld.

The trail leads to Markus Bismaquer, an immensely wealthy (former?) Nazi sympathizer who has built his own private city in the middle of the desert in the American west, complete with a full-scale replica of Tara from Gone with the Wind. The dead FBI agent whose body yielded the SPECTRE clue, along with several other agents, had been sent to investigate suspicious activity at Bismaquer's compound. Bond and Cedar ingratiate themselves with Bismaquer and infiltrate his compound. They meet Bismaquer's wife, Nena, and his Smithers, Walter Luxor. In a shocking turn of events, Nena quickly falls for Bond, and warns him of the imminent danger they face. As for Luxor, Bond quickly begins to suspect that he may actually be the head of SPECTRE, rather than Bismaquer. Bond and Cedar investigate both of their prime suspects, and attempt to uncover SPECTRE's plan, as the rest of SPECTRE's top-level members begin to arrive for a meeting that will surely signal its initiation. And unbeknownst to Bond, Blofeld has reserved a key role in their plot just for him...

 One of the biggest issues with this novel is its pacing. There's a sizeable section early on that sees Bond and Cedar masquerading as a professor and his wife who have uncovered extremely rare prints in a bid to attract Bismaquer's attention. A group of extremely generic thugs hassle them, leading to a tussle and a halfway decent death trap. This entire section of the novel is so inconsequential that it seems to have been included solely to pad out the page count. The prints serve as a method to get into Bismaquer's compound, but that could have been easily achieved without wasting several chapters. Bond's cover identity is so useless that he just ditches it after the second thug attack, and things proceed just fine. At least when Gardner brings the leader of the thugs back later in the novel he serves a more important purpose. 

Once we're in the compound, there's quite a bit of standing around and talking, but there's nearly always a sense of things moving forward. Personally, I found it impossible not to read Bismaquer's dialogue in the voice of the Rich Texan from The Simpsons! Whether that's an asset or a hindrance depends on your own sensibilities. Bismaquer is easily one of the chummiest of Bond villains, and several scenes lend credence to Bond's suspicion that it may be Luxor who is actually leading SPECTRE. Luxor has a pretty interesting appearance and background, and he serves as the antagonist in the novel's best action setpiece. I found the revelation of the new Blofeld pretty satisfying, along with the identity of the person who helped Bond near the novel's end. Both reveals defy expectations in a very interesting manner, though the new Blofeld is sadly dispatched far too abruptly. 

There is one more thing that simply has to be addressed, and that is the character of Cedar Leiter. There's nothing really problematic about the concept itself, though it may age Felix a bit more than many readers would like. The real problem is the constant effort to force a romance between the two, though Bond does vehemently resist it. Still, even though the novel itself acknowledges how inappropriate and downright creepy it would be for Bond to have a sexual fling with the daughter of his best friend, it ends with a situation that seems guaranteed to lead there, anyway. It's nice to see Felix himself appear at the end, but the whole "gift of a daughter" thing is just stomach-churning. Even in 1982, this had to seem pretty fucked up, right?

Notable Quotes:

 "The Silver Beast" was the nickname members of the service had given to Bond's personal car-- the Saab 900 Turbo: his own property, with the special technology built into it at his expense. Jibes about it being Bond's "toy" received only a polite smile from 007; and he knew that Major Boothroyd, the Armourer, had constantly sniffed around the machine in an attempt to discover all its secrets: the hidden compartments, tear gas ducts, and new refinements recently built into the bullet-proofed vehicle. 

(The Silver Beast was a beloved part of the Gardner Bonds, and I love the idea of Q having a bit of professional jealousy over Bond having it modified elsewhere on his own dime!)

___________________________________

   Bond did not blush, even though "gentlemen" was scarcely a word ladies used to describe him. 

___________________________________

 "To be honest with you, Bond... if it wasn't for that predatory Nena woman, I'd put Bismaquer down as a faggot."

"Right the first time," Bond said.

"Lawks-a-mercy." Cedar  gave a satisfied smirk as they turned into Tara's main drive. "I'se sick, Mizz Scarlet, I'se sick." 

(Notable for all the wrong reasons. This one has several layers of "HOLY SHIT!" packed into it. Product of its time, and all that, and people can bitch about things today being "too PC" or "woke" all they want, but I'm still glad we don't commonly see exchanges like this in our entertainment these days.)

____________________________________

 

This novel didn't hold up as well as its predecessor, and certainly not to my memories of reading it when I was a teen back in the late '90s, but I did find plenty to enjoy within its pages. The possibility of the Cedar romance is problematic, and I could hardly believe the quote above when I read it, but that is the novel at its absolute worst. You have to keep the context of the time in which the novel was published in mind when you read one of these, and enjoy it based on its merits despite things that stand out in a negative way. Not everyone can do that, and that's okay, but this is definitely one to skip if you can't compartmentalize certain elements of it in that way. If you can, however, give this one a read. The problematic bits don't come close to overwhelming the good bits. It's not one of the best Bonds, but it's well worth a read. It's also worth noting that this new version of SPECTRE sticks around for awhile, so the novel does have a long-term impact on the series. Next time, we'll be looking at another one I remember really enjoying, Icebreaker! Hopefully it'll hold up a bit better. See you then!

The 007 Re-Read Project: On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson

So... it's been quite a bit longer than the couple of weeks I'd planned for. I won't go into detail, because that's really not what this blog is for, but let's just say that real life got in the way. After losing my dad early last year, in particular, it was pretty difficult to care about things like updating my blog. Recently, however, I've been feeling that itch again, so I'm back to do a bit of scratching. Admittedly, this post is a bit of a cheat, as this book is only a few months old, and I'm reading it for the first time. To help me ease back into the habit, however, I figure it gets a pass. Plus, this'll keep everyone from having to wait years for me to re-read it to give it eligibility! 

Charlie Higson, no stranger to the world of James Bond, was asked to write his first adult 007 novel to compliment the coronation of King Charles III, with the proceeds going to the National Literacy Trust. Bond is put on the tail of Aethelstan of Wessex, a wealthy eccentric who claims to be the true king of England, and aims to disrupt the coronation. Raising the stakes is the discovery of the dead body of 009, who had previously been sent on the same mission. Time is short, and Aethelstan is sure to be on high alert after discovering 009's infiltration of his organization. Bond must contend with a gaggle of wealthy lunatics who have bought into Aethelstan's cause, an army of mercenaries, and the enigmatic Ragnheidur, the requisite femme fatale of the novel. 

The novel is definitely among the shortest Bonds-- Higson was given only three weeks to complete it-- and it feels a bit condensed, as Higson does his best to fit in as many of the expected scenarios as possible. It's still a rather scaled-down adventure compared to what we normally get, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Most of the characters are rather bland, and the main villain is a particular disappointment, which is surely a consequence of the novel's accelerated creation. Bond himself rings true, which is unsurprising, given Higson's prior experience with the character. (Albeit at a different stage of his life!) Ragnheidur is easily the most memorable supporting character, and I would welcome her presence in a subsequent Bond adventure, however unlikely that seems. The Budapest setting is quite nice, too, though we don't get to spend much time immersed in the local atmosphere before the story becomes barricaded within Aethelstan's castle for much of its length.

As the novel is set in the present day, we have to endure references to social media, and a heaping pile of political discourse. It would be pretty damn tough to avoid politics, given the story's subject matter, but it may be a bit much for some readers, whether or not you agree with the views expressed. I didn't find this detrimental, but if you think it might bother you, be warned! There was an occasional line that just sounded odd, or out of character-- hearing M refer to blogging just doesn't seem right, 2023 setting or not-- though I feel many such idiosyncrasies would likely have been eliminated if the novel had been given more time to gestate. 

Notable quotes:

 Bond didn't like the codewords and acronyms that were increasingly creeping into the MI6 vocabulary. He felt they were designed to soften the reality of what they did. D37. Looked harmless. But it was a desperate thing. An emergency flare. A shout for help. A dying scream for your mother. No content. Just a digital blip that communicates when an agent has important information but knows they won't be able to parachute out with it. 

There was no acknowledgement that the English were outsiders, themselves... Why pick one small point in history? Why not try to put a Celt on the throne? Or go further back and put a Neanderthal there?

Bond hated fighting. If a fight started it meant all else had failed. It was a last resort. Fighting was painful and things got broken. If you did get into a fight, then you had to shut it down as fast as was humanly possible. 

 Working for the service had been the making of him but the ruin of him too. It had left him unfit to do anything else.  

Despite the shortcomings enumerated above-- and I truly do believe that most of them were due to the book being completed so quickly-- OHMSS is an engaging, if quick, read. I enjoyed my brief time with it, and I find myself hoping that Higson gets the go-ahead to write a full-length novel of the adult Bond very soon! That's all for today, but I'll be back soon to dive back into the Gardner Bonds with For Special Services. I won't pretend to know exactly when, but it definitely won't be another 21 month wait!

Necropost: Ten Books that Changed My Life

Okay, a bit of backstory: On request, I provided my Facebook friends with a list of ten books that have stuck with me. It was an interesting enough exercise, and a long enough post, that I figured an expanded version would make for a good post here. I copy & pasted the list, expanded on it a bit, and resolved to finish it and publish it here later. Well, as sometimes happens, I wound up forgetting about it. A chat with a friend reminded me of it this evening, so I figured I'd dig it up and finish it. The list needs a bit of updating now, but for the sake of finishing what I started nine short years ago, here are ten books that are not necessarily the best I've ever read, but that have stuck with me for one reason or another, presented in no particular order:

The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard
This is my favorite REH story ever, and is the only Conan novel written by the character's creator, as well as the only novel REH ever wrote. It's baffling that no one has ever looked to this story when adapting the character and his world to film; it has absolutely everything anyone could want from a Conan story, and it's practically a blueprint for adaptation. (I know, they kinda sorta based that Kull movie on it, but eh... that doesn't count!)

The Godfather by Mario Puzo
This is one of the rare instances where the movie is actually better than the book, but the book itself is no slouch. In addition to the story used for the first Godfather film, it has all the backstory that was used in the second one.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This is one of the handful of books that anyone who can read should read, without exception. If you can't read, get someone to read it to you. (Perhaps the same person who is presumably reading this to you?) Is it overrated? Maybe. Regardless, it's still easily one of the most important books ever written.

You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming
A slightly odd inclusion, as it's not my favorite of Fleming's works, and not even my favorite James Bond novel. (That honor goes to either From Russia, With Love or On Her Majesty's Secret Service.) As the follow-up to the devastating ending of the previous book, however, it has this weirdly fascinating morose tone as it presents Bond as we've never seen him before, and never would again. He stalks his wife's murderer through a Japan populated with ancient castles and bizarre suicide gardens, a shell of his former self who is driven only by a desperate need for vengeance. Not a bit of this, aside from Japan as a location, is in the film that uses the novel's name. It's a book that I'm always interested to re-read because it's so unlike all the other books in the series.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
This and the next entry are books I read pretty much back-to-back when I was 12 or so. I was familiar with both stories previously only from movies and comic book adaptations, so it was revelatory to read them in their original forms. They remain books I enjoy re-reading, though Frankenstein is definitely a bit of a slog for the first 100 pages.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
This novel's epistolary style definitely took me by surprise when I first read it, but it quickly sucked me in. It's definitely not without its flaws, but is compelling reading, regardless. To paraphrase Clive Barker, it's a first-rate 19th century trashy novel! (I managed to find this image featuring the same cover art on the copy I had back when I first read it. Cool, eh?)

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
This is one I picked up due to my fascination with mountaineering. I have no desire to ever actually climb a mountain, and I think I'm probably far too lazy to do it anyway, but I've always been interested in it, for whatever reason. It's the true story of the massive storm that descended on several groups who were climbing Everest in 1997, told firsthand by a journalist who was among them. It's an absolutely harrowing tale, nearly told minute-by-minute, of disaster and tragedy. It's a gut-wrenching read, but so powerful that I've found myself returning to it a couple times all the same. The IMAX documentary "Everest" was being filmed at the same time, and it makes a good companion piece to this book.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This is the first of those stories I ever read, and it remains my go-to when I feel I need a quick Holmes fix. It's a perfect sampler for anyone interested in reading the character's stories.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Easily one of the most satisfying reads I've ever come across. It may not have actually happened, but it's true, all the same.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Well, some Twain had to be included, and this was the first of his books that I ever read. It remains possibly my favorite.

Bonus 2022 addition to the list: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
I'd need to do a bit more tinkering with the overall list to fully update it to account for the past near-decade, but I absolutely had to add this one. I've been hearing about how wonderful the Discworld series is for many years, and I finally read the first book in the series, The Color of Magic, back in (consults Goodreads) 2011. I liked, but didn't love, the book. I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to read more, but as I often do, I kinda forgot about it for an entire decade. Early last year, something made me think of the series, and I resolved to give it another chance to really hook me. I jumped ahead to one of the most acclaimed books in the series, and damn, did it ever get its hooks in me! It's a fantastic book packed with memorable characters, humor that frequently made me laugh out loud, and a level of depth that repeatedly surprised me. Since finishing it, I've gone back to the beginning, and am currently reading the entire series in publication order. I'm making myself wait at least a couple of weeks between books so I don't blow through them all in a couple of months. I'm a Discworld nut now, and Pratchett has rocketed right into the top tier of my favorite authors, and it all started with this book.

I limited myself to one work by each author, and didn't count short stories. (Although I cheated a bit by including the Sherlock Holmes collection.) So, questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?