Trigger Mortis

 

There’s always a sense of trepidation when a new bond book is announced, mainly because most of the continuation novels have been a bit hit and miss. Kingsley Amis and Raymond Benson turned out some good efforts as did John Gardner who exceeded Fleming’s output , producing  16 books (but later admitted he should have stopped after 6 or 7) 
Sadly though in recent times the best thing about the recent “celebrity trilogy” has been the cover art.  Sebastian Faulks said that thrillers weren’t his cup of tea but took on Ian Fleming’s writing style of 2,000 words a day and finished “Devil May Care” In just 6 weeks, it wasn’t terrible but I can’t see myself picking it up again any time soon. That said I wouldn’t mind Faulks having another go at a bond book (even though he’s said he won't)

“Carte Blanche” by Jeffery Deaver moves bond into the 21^st century and to be honest I haven’t read it yet so I can’t say if it’s any good or not.

“Solo” by William Boyd was a good effort and arguably the best of the recent bond books, but like devil may care I can’t see myself reading it again any time soon ,it’s not that solo is a bad book but it’s not exactly on a par with Boyd’s finest work “ any human heart” (in which Fleming appears).

Anthony Horowitz (of Alex Rider fame) is the latest author to write a Bond book but  this one is a little different because it features original material by Ian Fleming. The book is called “Trigger Mortis” and whilst I’m not mad about the title the plot (a summary of which I’ve copied and pasted from good reads) sounds fucking brilliant.

The world's most famous spy, James Bond, has just returned victorious from his showdown with Auric Goldfinger in Fort Knox. By his side is the glamorous and streetwise Pussy Galore, who played no small part in his success. As they settle down in London, the odds of Galore taming the debonair bachelor seem slim—but she herself is a creature not so easily caught.

Meanwhile, the struggle for superiority between the Soviet Union and the West is escalating. In an attempt to demonstrate Soviet strength, SMERSH plans to sabotage an international Grand Prix in the hot zone of West Germany. At the Nürburgring Racing Circuit, Bond must play a high-speed game of cat and mouse to stop them, but when he observes a secretive meeting between SMERSH's driver and a notorious Korean millionaire, it becomes clear that this is just the infamous organization's opening move.

An orphan of the Korean War, he has a personal reason for wanting to bring America to its knees. He's helping SMERSH decisively end the white-hot space race—but how? With the help of an American female agent, Bond uncovers a plan that leads first to Florida and then to New York City, where a heart-stopping face-off will determine the fate of the West.

This thriller has all the hallmarks of an original Ian Fleming adventure and features welcome familiar faces, including M and Miss Moneypenny. Horowitz delivers a smooth and seductive narrative of fast cars and beautiful women, ruthless villains and breath-taking plot that will leave readers hanging until the very end.

I know a few people are sceptical about Horrowitz taking on a bond novel but   he did a good job of his Sherlock Holmes books (House of Silk, Moriarty) and   the Alex Rider books are young bond novels in all but name. 
Horrowtiz is bloody good at what he does and if they haven’t already the Fleming estate should sign him up for some sequels (I’m sure they’ve got some more original material knocking about) but if they don’t here are my top 5 choices for the next Bond author.

1. Lee Child

2. Simon Kernick

3. Peter Robinson

4. Charlie Higson
5. Jeremy Clarkson – see his column ‘hands off 007 or I’ll shoot you’ (The World According To Clarkson Volume 3)

Book Review - Worth Dying For By Lee Child

Lee Child - Worth Dying For    

"Worth Dying For" by Lee Child is the fifteenth novel about Jack Reacher, a former military cop, turned drifter, who has a habit of wandering into other people’s problems.
 If you aren't familiar with Jack Reacher think of him as an American version of James bond but without the gadgets, Aston Martin, weapons and logistical backup.

In typical Reacher style he manages to find trouble in the sleepiest of places (this time Nebraska) in a town ruled by fear of the Duncan Family.  They require all farms to use their trucking company and pay high rates. 

They have former football players on staff as thugs to bully the locals. They are waiting for a shipment of something illegal to arrive which they sell to a guy in Las Vegas. Twenty-five years ago the daughter of one of the locals disappeared. It was never solved. Spurred on by this Reacher with the help of Eleanor Duncan and the local doctor (who is almost permanently drunk) set about destroying the Duncan’s empire.  Without giving anything away, events at the barn had me a little freaked out.

Worth dying for follows on from the previous book 61 Hours so it is probably best to read that one first as this book (briefly) explains the cliffhanger ending that features in that book . 

  Overall though worth dying for is a fantastic book and my personal favourite of the Reacher books I’ve read so far.

Verdict: An absolute blinder of a book. An incredible series.

5 of 5 stars

Book Review : Ghostman by Roger Hobbs

The opening chapter of Ghostman , describes a bloody casino armoured car robbery in Atlantic City   which goes tits up in every way imaginable.  One robber is killed by a sniper from a concealed vantage point. The other is mortally wounded. Despite this, the second man escapes with the loot and effectively disappears – so completely that even the mastermind in Seattle who orchestrated the job can’t find him.

The narrator of this Ghostman is "Jack Delton" a ghost man - someone whose job it is to be forgettable, to disappear or to help other criminals disappear. It has to be said that Delton is very much a Jack Reacher type i.e. Highly observant, capable, keeps to himself and not afraid of kicking 50 shades of shit out of people.

Jack is called out of semi-retirement by a criminal associate who has every reason to kill him: the Ghostman was a member of an armed robbery team that robbed an ultramodern bank in Kuala Lumpur of millions of dollars, but a cock up on Jacks part resulted in most members of the crew being arrested and the stolen money ending up tantalizingly out of reach.

He is told he can make up for botching the Malaysian heist by recovering the loot stolen in Atlanta. However, to do so, he will not only have to track down the robber who remains alive, but also avoid the casino city’s crime boss, a sadistic fellow called The Wolf who also is looking for the stolen cash.

As a further complication, Jack will also have to avoid being arrested by pesky female FBI agent  Rebecca Blacker who spots him as a bad guy the minute he lands in New Jersey has his face on wanted posters all over the shop.

I have to admit that when a book is as hyped as this one with even Lee Child recommending it, I was left both incredibly curious as well as just a little concerned that it might not live up to expectations.  I 

Book Review :The Burning Mind By M.G .Gardiner

The Burning Mind (or The Phantom Instinct for USA readers) is the first novel by MG Gardiner. And is also the twelfth published by the author, because MG Gardiner is the author formerly known as Meg Gardiner.
Haven’t heard of Meg (or MG) Gardiner? To be honest i hadn't until i stumbled across this book in ASDA . But some googling tells me  that Meg practiced law in LA and taught writing at the University of California and she counts Stephen King and Lee Child among her  biggest fans. She has written two thriller series with the recurring characters, Evan Delaney and Jo Beckett, and is an Edgar Award winner. The Burning Mind is the latest in a number of standalone's.

Harper Flynn is working behind a bar when gunmen burst in, killing her boyfriend, Drew, and burning the place to the ground, with two gunmen dying in the process. Harper is convinced there were three gunmen, and that the third killer had been specifically targeting her in the attack. But neither the police, nor Drew’s family believe her. One year on, she spots someone lurking in the trees at Drew’s memorial service, and is convinced that she has seen the elusive third gunman. But the only person she can convince is Aiden Garrison, one of the policemen who survived the night of the attack.

But Aiden suffered a brain injury that night and now has delusions that random innocent people are killers in disguise.

 If that doesn’t complicate things enough, Aiden discovers that Harper has a secret past that put significant doubt into his mind that she might be part of the whole conspiracy, and not a victim.

The thing I liked about this book is Gardiner’s ability to throw ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and let them sink or swim. Or, in this case, do a lot of floundering in some very murky waters. Her characterizations are as good as any thriller I've ever read , quickly bringing Harper, Aiden and Erika to life, and gradually peeling back some of the protective layers wrapped so tightly around Harper herself.

Meg’s writing style is to ratchet up tension at every opportunity, and she manages that in this book with apparent effortless skill. I have read some great books in my time  but only a few of them have kept me up into the early hours because I could not put them down. This is one of them.

Book Review : Bad Luck and Trouble By Lee Child

Bad Luck and Trouble By Lee Child

In terms of the books that spawned them James Bond and Jason Bourne are dying on their arses.   Robert Ludlum is survived by Eric Van Lust Bader whose output is a bit patchy (I’m being kind here) and Ian Fleming’s successors have also been a bit hit and miss. But this is a subject for a later blog.

 Now onto Jack Reacher.

  For those of you who aren’t familiar Jack Reacher is an ex-military policeman who left the army some years ago and now wanders around America carrying only what he can fit in his pocket .most of the time his life is nothing to write home about but Reacher has a knack for stumbling into someone else’s problems and he won’t stop until things are put right. I find this quote from 61 Hours sums him up perfectly “I don't want to put the world to rights... I just don't like people who put the world to wrongs.”

       I always read a Jack Reacher novel when I'm on holiday, not because they’re “great literature" the reason I love them is because they’re easy to read and you have bloody good fun doing it.

In the first chapter of the  eleventh book in the series , "Bad Luck and Trouble", nameless men hover over the California desert in a Bell 222 helicopter. They lift from the floor a bound man on a stretcher, whom they’ve already tortured viciously.

Then they dump him, still alive, out of the aircraft to plunge three thousand terrifying feet to his death.

Their victim is Calvin Franz, a former military policeman who belonged to an Army special investigations unit. But bad as things got for Calvin, things will soon get much, much worse for the guys who murdered him.

You see, the M.P. unit’s motto had been, “You do not mess with the special investigators.” And this tightly knit team was led by a man you definitely don’t want to mess with: Jack Reacher.

At six-feet-five and 250 pounds, shrewdly intuitive and utterly self-sufficient, Reacher is a kind of hybrid of James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and Jack Bauer. Ten years out of the military, he’s become a drifter and loner, without address or ties, his sole concessions to society being a folding toothbrush, a passport, an ATM card, and the clothes on his back.

 Only one of the clever investigators from the old unit could possibly figure out how to contact this ghost: She leaves a deposit in his bank account in an amount that Reacher quickly deciphers as a coded message—a call for help.

The donor is Frances Neagley, the toughest woman Reacher ever knew. They meet in Los Angeles, where they learn about Calvin’s murder—and before long, about the similar grisly deaths of other members of the unit. Soon, in a sober reunion, they’re joined by the team’s last two survivors: beautiful forensic accountant Karla Dixon and tough-guy detective David O’Donnell.

“They are dead men walking, as of right now,” Reacher tells them. “You don’t throw my friends out of helicopters and live to tell the tale.”

  
The colorful quartet stoically masks its deep bonds of affection with plenty of playful insults and dry, understated wit. One of the funniest scenes occurs when they return to their motel to find their rooms ransacked and their property trashed. Reacher’s terse, one-word response is hilarious. You know he won’t stop until justice is delivered.

But—delivered to whom? In keeping with previous thrillers in the series, Child weaves a devious mystery throughout a tapestry of unrelenting action. Why were the special investigators targeted? Was it  blowback from some case in the distant past? Or did one of the victims stumble upon something ugly and unwittingly draw the others in? The clues to be cracked include obscure numerical patterns—fodder for the deductive talents of maths-freak Reacher—and the baffling password to a murder victim’s computer.

The plot ultimately sends the reader on a collision course with today’s most chilling news headlines. And for the white-knuckle finale, which pits the indomitable Reacher and his comrades against the bad guys in the inevitable violent confrontation, Child delivers the perfect resolution.

 The formula of the Reacher books is by now familiar. However, familiarity does not have to be a negative. Bad Luck and Trouble is a showcase of what lee child does best, leading us and his protagonists up blind alleys, down dead ends, until answers begin to come and the real truth emerges. The vile and psychotic villains get their comeuppance (no surprise) but the ride is hectic and the climactic scenes suck the breath out of you.

In a way I suppose Reacher is a bit like  James Bond , he is  admired by his male fans and lusted after by the females ( and maybe  a few blokes as well) , but whatever sex you are you’ll find yourself rooting for him.

 I reckon this book will be perfect source material for a movie when they make it and word is it’s being lined up to be the third Jack Reacher film and I for one will be first in line to see it when it gets made .

I love this book. In short Bad Luck and Trouble is one of the best thrillers ever written.