With a Mind to Kill: A James Bond Novel

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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. Whenever I read a James Bond novel, I always wonder which version of 007 I will see. Once I understood the timeline of WITH A MIND TO KILL, which wraps up Anthony Horowitz’s Bond trilogy, I had my answer.

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 novel is set in 1964, immediately after The Man with the Golden Gun, the final novel written by Bond creator Ian Fleming. After recovering from his near-fatal encounter with Francisco Scaramanga at the end of that novel, Bond undertakes a dangerous undercover mission behind the Iron Curtain in a bid to infiltrate a group of former SMERSH agents planning an operation that will change the balance of world power. Along the way, he must wrestle with his inner demons, and deal with the fallout of the brainwashing he'd suffered the last time he was in Soviet hands. 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 Mind to Kill (WaMtK) is Anthony Horowitz's final book in his James Bond trilogy which was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate. It follows a mid-career Bond in Trigger Mortis (2015) and a pre-007 Bond in Forever and a Day (2018). In terms of chronology, the latter is a prequel to Fleming's original Casino Royale (James Bond #1 - 1953) and the former follows after Goldfinger (James Bond #7 - 1959). I’d expect this kind of lazy writing from older books that at least have the excuse of being “of a different time”, but not from a novel published today (although maybe because it’s set in the ‘60s, Horowitz is trying to stay true to the literary conventions of the time?). It’s just embarrassing to read more than anything.

It is M's funeral. One man is missing from the graveside: the traitor who pulled the trigger and who is now in custody, accused of M's murder—James Bond.

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The sense of well being come from not only not being harmed. The sense of wellbeing come from accepting the risk and the harm and feel it is all worth it. 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. False Flag Operation: Stalnaya Ruska's plan involves sending Bond to assassinate Nikita Khruschev in East Berlin. Their goal is to implicate the West in the murder of a Soviet leader, which will be a massive propaganda victory for them, while simultaneously clearing the way for a more hardline, uncompromising Stalinist leader to take Khruschev's place and lead Russia to glory. Horowitz.captures the mood, pace and style of Fleming very well. the story thunders along with action galore in the Bond tradition. It whets the appetite for the 25th Bond film. Alex Gordon, Peterborough Evening Telegraph Bond's brief marriage to Tracy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service is discussed by Katya Leonova and Colonel Boris, with the latter expressing her belief that the marriage wouldn't have lasted long had Tracy survived due to Bond's inability to commit to a long-term relationship and domestic life. Towards the end of the novel, Bond muses that he was at least able to make Tracy happy before her death while he was unable to do so for Katya before she sacrificed her life to save his.

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 The title and cover of the new James Bond novel by Anthony Horowitz have been announced: With A Mind To Kill will be published on 26 May 2022 by Jonathan Cape. The story begins in Moscow where a new organisation, Stalnaya Ruska, Iron Hand - a successor to Smersh - is planning a major act of terrorism which is intended to destabilise relations between east and west. Meanwhile, Bond is returning from Jamaica and his encounter with Scaramanga ( The Man with the Golden Gun). He is aware of a world that is changing all too rapidly around him. The old certainties of the post-years have gone. The intelligence services are no long trusted. He is beginning to wonder if his "license to kill" may even be valid any more. 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.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. 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. Faking the Dead: M's death is faked to convince the Soviets that their plan to use a brainwashed Bond to assassinate M had succeeded. The objective is to maintain the illusion that Bond is still under the Soviet's control, so that he can return to Russia and infiltrate their new secret organization Stalnaya Ruska. 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. Ascended Extra: The novel's Big Bad is Colonel Boris, who was briefly mentioned at the beginning of The Man with the Golden Gun as the Soviet officer responsible for brainwashing Bond and sending him to assassinate M.

The third Bond book from Anthony Horowitz and, sadly, it looks like it might be his last. I say sadly because the publishers finally found an author who “gets” the character of James Bond and the appropriate plots.

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To be clear, Horowitz is in no way the first author anointed by the Fleming estate to continue the adventures of James Bond in book form. That tradition started in 1968 when Kingsley Amis wrote the 007 book Colonel Sun under the pen name “Robert Markham,” just four years after his friend’s death in 1964. But for Bond fans, all the “continuation” books are interesting, and the committed 007 completist will find strong entries like John Gardner’s License Renewed (1981) or William Boyd’s Solo (2013). The 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.