With a Mind to Kill: A James Bond Novel

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My only real criticsim is the author's constant references to a huge amount of previous Bond adventures by Ian Fleming. Some of these are essential to the story, but many are unnecessary & somewhat laboured. Other Bond continuation novelist like John Gardner & Raymond Benson had the same problem. These endless references to 007's past did irritate me at times, but the last four chapters of With A Mind To Kill are so sublime that (once again!) I'll forgive him. The third guy, also offered the same task, simply takes the gun, walks into the room, and they hear 6 gunshots, followed by some loud words then a crash a bang a scream and then finally silence. This is set a couple of weeks after Fleming’s “Man with the Golder Gun”, Bond is recovering from brainwashing and an intense ordeal, and he is very much a damaged man. But a mission arises that may be vital to the safety of the Western world and, despite not being ready, Bond volunteers to put himself in the hands of the Russians, acting if the brainwashing is still in place. So well written and has the depth that sometimes Fleming didn’t bother with. The 60s Cold War setting works perfectly and there is that sense that Bond is struggling with the idea that his career may be coming to an end and wants to prove himself. But there also an understanding that it is his 00 status that defines him and he can’t imagine a different future. The rest of the novel plays out at an uninteresting, plodding pace with an underwhelming finale. It reads so workmanlike, like Horowitz was fulfilling a contract obligation, not because he was inspired. Which is a shame as he seems to have a good handle on Bond as a character.

When the plot gets going it consists of steals from From Russia With Love (James Bond #5 - 1957) (including SMERSH type thugs & assassins, the conflicted Russian femme fatale and a train ride) and then even from other authors such as Len Deighton's The Ipcress File (1962) (the Russian brainwashing techniques), Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate (1959) (the unknowing, brainwashed assassin) and Le Carre's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1963) (the doomed and cynical spy). After the final reveal, it pretty much fizzles out. This doesn’t really feel that way. Is government agent by nature, in days before HR practice has catch-on on the suffering of the work force. While being subjected to physical and psychological torture in the "magic room" by Colonel Boris, Bond hallucinates people and events from previous novels, including Scaramanga, Rosa Klebb, and the poisonous centipede that Dr. No once sent to kill him.Whether deliberately or subconsciously there are elements of The Ipcress File here, but as that's a classic 60's spy story I can forgive him.

Anthony Horowitz's second James Bond book will keep 007 obsessives happy with martinis, beautiful women and an enormously fat Corsican gangster. The Times *Best New Novels*With a Mind to Kill is a James Bond novel published in 2022. It is the third and final Bond novel by Anthony Horowitz, completing a loose trilogy that includes Trigger Mortis and Forever And A Day.

While Horowitz 007 was thinking about his past and who played a role in it towards which extend they played a role. You realise that this Bond is a very good 00 agent and does the job so well because he likes and enjoys the job. Some people are just like that.Bond is still very Bond, but he is older and jaded and, maybe for the first time, overconfident. There are plenty of typical Bond moments to enjoy but there is a definite theme of a man out of his depth and at the end of his career. Can he pull it together in time to not only survive intact but complete his mission, or is this the end of the line for 007? But first, he will have to persuade Sonya Dragunova that he is what he says he is. A psychiatric analyst as brilliant as she is beautiful, Sonya knows more of what's happening in Bond's mind than he does himself. She is also hiding secrets of her own. This is a love affair that is also a very dangerous game. On the other hand there is some terrific action. Early on Bond is forced to flee after being captured. The writing is genuinely exciting. Later on there is more action, Bond forced to fight for his life and continue his mission. And the finale when he must return to the west. In these moments the book is hard to put down. But I don’t really buy Bond’s mission and all the mind control. It worked in The Man With The Golden Gun because Fleming didn’t elaborate too much. While Horowitz has researched mind control methods I just didn’t believe it. With a stronger story than his previous two, this is easily Anthony Horowitz’s best Bond novel; making it, for me, the best of all the non-Fleming Bond’s that I've read. It flows logically and ends terrifically, better in fact than many of Fleming’s originals. I don’t think endings were his thing. One of my favourites, Dr No, was a wonderfully atmospheric book, but I think Fleming was laughing over a gin on the veranda of Goldeneye in coming up with the great Dr’s demise! Deconstruction: This novel arguably serves as one for the typical Bond story. After spending time in Soviet Russia, Bond comes to realize that his heroic defeats of megalomaniacal villains like Dr. No or Goldfinger ultimately will not make much of a difference in the outcome of the Cold War and that only the Russian people can free themselves from the tyranny of Soviet rule. He also reflects on how the years of physical and psychological trauma that he's suffered as a secret agent have permanently damaged him. The conventional notion of Bond being The Casanova is also deconstructed by Katya Leonova - contrary to popular belief, Bond does genuinely have feelings for all the women he's been involved with and treats them well during the relationship. It's just that the relationships don't last since he's too emotionally damaged to make a long-term commitment.

It’s almost uncanny how well Mr. Horowitz summons Bond’s mindset . . . Yet this Bond also feels the winds of change: 'He had his licence to kill. But was it possible that in this new, more questioning age, that licence might have expired?' A drop of retro pleasures, a pinch of things to come; shaken, not stirred." — Wall Street Journal Even better than Trigger Mortis. it is tremendous fun. Anthony Horowitz has the discipline and skill of a first-class action writer. Sunday ExpressThe second guy is given the same task, he looks very unhappy, but goes into the room to find his wife, but he just can't bring himself to do it and walks out with his arm around her, both in tears, apologising to the CIA management that he's not their man. It’s almost uncanny how well Mr. Horowitz summons Bond’s mindset . . . Yet this Bond also feels the winds of change: 'He had his licence to kill. But was it possible that in this new, more questioning age, that licence might have expired?' A drop of retro pleasures, a pinch of things to come; shaken, not stirred." — Wall Street Journal Internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s third James Bond novel, after Forever and a Day.