Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz - ★★

[John]

James Bond has just wrapped up the Goldfinger affair and has returned to London with Pussy Galore in tow. The novel is set in the midst of the Cold War with Russia. Loving and leaving his companion, he receives a new assignment. After receiving some refresher training in automobile racing, he must infiltrate a rigorous Grand Prix race to prevent the sabortage of another British racer by SMERSH, the Russian counterintelligence agency, hoping to embarass the British. This event will lead him closer to a new archenemy and Korean millionaire, Jason Sin.

A fan of Anthony Horowitz, I picked up this book when I saw that he had been given permission by the Fleming estate to continue the James Bond franchise. Horowitz did not stray from Fleming's franchise's formula. If you have read any of Fleming's books or have seen any of the many James Bond's movies, you will fill right at home with this book. It includes minor thrills preceding the major confrontation with the current archenemy in NYC. As one would expect there are a series of women with unusual names that help Bond in his adventure. Besides Pussy Galore, there is Logan Fairfax, his race car trainer, and Jeopardy Lane, an American adventurer and savior. This novel also doesn't close after the climax without one final adrenaline rush. I'm not sure what constraints that Horowitz's permission to continue Ian Fleming's works but I hoped that he would reveal similar creativity he demonstrated in The Word Is Murder. However, I found the book the "same old, same old."

[Robin P]

Horowitz deliberately copied the style of Fleming and probably didn't want to get too original. So even though I am a fan of his, I have no interest in this one. He is the only writer who was authorized to write both James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, in addition to writing his own series for adults and children and tons of TV scripts.