Loved it, Bond takes a lot of beating in the written form.

Bond returns with a touch of fleming. I enjoyed this one. I stopped reading Horowitz a while back but this is bond so I was happy to read it. It's a lot of fun and captures the original bond books well. It's fast paced with plenty of action and is very well written by Horowitz. I liked the plot and the use of unused fleming material was nice. One of the best new bond books.

The James Bond books by Ian Fleming and the motion pictures they were made into are two very different animals (read Moonraker, for instance, then watch the movie...love how they really captured the, er, title). The films deserved reputation for fabulous stunt work and gigantic action comes from the screenwriters, as Fleming's books were often far starker, and smaller, in their scope. With this in mind, Anthony Horowitz's continuation novel - well, technically continuity, I suppose, as it occurs within the canon - is going to split its readers into those who want movie-esque crazy stunt fest and those who realise how good a job he's done of reproducing Fleming's terse, unsympathetic, doubt-filled world and its trappings. In peril, Horowitz is Fleming reborn. His staccato prose rattles out at an alarming rate, tough, unyielding, precise and single-minded, he shakes your bones with more than a few alarming sequences - chapters 7, 19 and 22 jump to mind - that perfectly replicate the Bond you know from Fleming's own slightly dubious narratives. Elsewhere Horowitz is far more loquacious than Fleming ever was, but at least he doesn't feel the need to ram 1950s touchstones down your throat - a fleeting reference to the years since the war, a discussion on the latest developments in now hilariously-antiquated car technology, a few defunct brands and you're done. I for one appreciated this; you're not reading this for a cultural submersion, and if you are then you've come to the wrong place. Inevitably there will be some debate over how much of this book is overlaid with 21st century attitudes that aren't true to the source material, but for my money it's all very well done. Sure, there may be slightly more of an air of introspection in Bond than usual and, sure, his villain isn't quite the pantomime grotesque Fleming would gleefully trot out since there might be an eye on forgeign markets or touchy sensibilities, but there are more than enough flashes of the Fleming-ian gallows (the playing cards, for instance, and the lovely closing note) to sweep such concerns aside. 'Bond Girl' Jeopardy Lane, too, will draw her fair share of debate and attention, but I think it's a balancing act expertly executed and will leave it at that. It's tenuous, but so were Fleming's Bonds, it's unlikely, but so were Fleming's Bonds, it's bloody good fun, and so were Fleming's Bonds...in short, it's about as close to Fleming's Bonds as anyone has ever got (yes, including Kingsley Amis), and if you're a fan you shold check it out. And if you're not a fan, and you're waiting for something to convince you, well, this may be the book you've been looking for.

Second place for me in the Horowitz-Bond canon but a really enjoyable story with little historic details which help shape the picture (the Korean War in particular), and tie ins from previous Bond novels (Fleming's Goldfinger). It's let down by the climax in my opinion which is still gripping enough to work as a page turner - but just didn't do it for me. All in all a good read though 4/5.

Following in the footsteps of Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver and William Boyd, Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz proves itself one of the best retro-James Bond novels to date. Having been left a little bruised and confused by Horowitz’s excursions into the world of Sherlock Holmes, I was more than a little wary of his contribution to the Bond ouvre. But as my recent quote to customers of this one being a ‘really Bond-y Bond novel’ attests, it’s been a total delight to have my apprehension over this one so delightfully undone… The absolute stand-out feature of this book, is with how much care, attention, and respect, Horowitz affords his depiction of James Bond himself. The little references and attention to the smallest details of Fleming’s legendary secret agent is first class, and more than once a wry smile of recognition passed my lips, as some character detail was inserted effortlessly into the narrative. It was also gratifying to see a small section of Fleming’s own writing woven into one of the chapters, accrued from Horowitz’s obviously studious reading of Fleming’s work authorised by his estate. Hence, Horowitz’s depiction of Bond carries with it a wonderful sense of familiarity and authenticity, which has been sometimes noticeably absent from a couple of the proceeding Bond pastiches. Equally, when one mentions Bond it cannot go without comment that there will be women involved! There is a welcome reappearance of the kick-ass Pussy Galore at the start of the book, but somehow this felt a little unresolved, and didn’t quite gel within the book as a whole. However, with the inclusion of the brilliant Jeopardy Lane, who steps in when Pussy Galore departs , Horowitz has created a female character who encapsulates all that you want from a female character being both feisty and brave, but posing the all important question… is she immune to Bond’s charm? You’ll have to read it to find out! The plot is terrific carrying all the quintessential moments of extreme peril for our hero, as he becomes immersed in a plot to perpetrate a terrorist attack on New York, under the cover of a U.S. Rocket launch in the fifties space race. There is a good balance between all the attendent details of the U.S. vs Russia space race, and as a bit of a space nerd, I particularly enjoyed this aspect of the story. Earlier in the book there is a heart in mouth episode as Bond also takes part in a death defying motor race at Nurburgring, which is wrought with tension, but again underscored by Horowitz’s obvious research into the motor-sport of this particular period. The book consistently contains an air of peril, with all the action and violence one naturally expects from a Bond adventure. Bond’s nemesis in the book is the sinister millionaire Korean- Sin Jai-Seong aka Jason Sin- who in true Fleming style arouses a strange kind of sympathy in the reader with the tale of his damaging formative years, but is still a total megalomaniac ne’er do well- an archetypal great Bond villain. His twisted verbosity and deranged demeanour is brilliantly rendered, and he is a villain worthy of the attention of the debonair and dangerous Bond. So altogether quite keen on this one, with some superb characterisation, a good high quotient of derring-do and all the little details that fit this book so nicely into Fleming’s legacy. Maybe for this reader just not enough Pussy- Galore that is…