Customer Reviews

Cobra Trap (Modesty Blaise series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a Modesty Blaise fan since 1966, when I was 14, I have avidly followed and collected all the books, and even met Mr. O'Donnell in 1985 and got 2 of my hardbounds autographed. I was both excited and reluctant to read the 'last' of the MB series. But I did, and was glad. The separate stories were classic MB and Willie, but it still did not prepare me for COBRA TRAP, the final adventure. I admire Mr. O'Donnell's accurate portrayal of the way MB and WG would want to end their action careers. As a female investigator about MB's age,(27 yrs in the field), he is right on the psychology of his ending! Cheers and kudos!!!

Way back in the seventies when I was a little boy back in the Dominican Repúblic I got introduced to Modesty Blaise via the newspaper strips,been a comic fan all my life I never really got to know her well because she never had(at least to my knowledge)a regular comic series,two or three weeks ago I remenbered her and got into mile high comics and Amazon com to try to get something on her,when I bought the Cobra trap I thought that it was a comic book so my first emotion receiving it was of dissapointment,nevertheless I took the time to read it and to my surprise the novel hooked me,I fell in love with Modesty and all his enviroment,it's much better (as good as they are),than the comics books I got reprinting the strips,beautiful written and very nonchalant it has the same style of another series I love very well,the Avengers with _Steed and Emma Peel,I went through the book swiftly and in the interin ordered two more books of Modesty Blaise,this was before I reached the final chapter(The Cobra Trap) last night,full of emotion and incredibly written it lead me to belive it was a something new developing when it was a revelation of what the relationship between Modesty and Willie standed and why he always was thwe first one,full of emotion I've never read anything like this before,not written like this anyway,I'd really like to hear what Mr. O'Donnel feelings were when he wrote down the last page,it should has been a very hard thing to do for him.

Outstanding,to every one who loves fiction,read it!!!

The final Modesty Blaise book is a collection of five novelettes and novellas covering the full span of Modesty Blaise's career, from the early days of the Network to Modesty and Willie coming out of retirement for one last caper. It's a fine collection for long-term fans, providing both new stories and closure for several long term story threads from the series. I don't think it's the ideal place for a new fan to start, because the references to events in earlier books may act as spoilers for those who haven't read those books yet, and the impact of the title story will be blunted for those who haven't had several books in which to become attached to the characters. It is however possible to enjoy these stories without ever having read any other Modesty Blaise books or the comic strip, and while ideally new readers should start with an earlier book in this series, they shouldn't be put off starting with Cobra Trap if it's the only one readily available to them.

The stories are classic Modesty Blaise. Once again O'Donnell demonstrates the appeal of a heroine and hero who are quite willing to go outside the law, but never to step outside their own moral code. For Modesty and Willie the ends do not justify the means. You know that the villains will lose in the end, but there will be no easy solution, and the good guys may well pay a high price for their victory. The stories are often hilarious, sometimes heart wrenching, and always thrilling to read. Some of the stories rely on the most outrageous coincidences, but with this level of writing there is no problem in suspending disbelief. This is a beautifully written and wonderfully entertaining book, and the final story is a bittersweet but emotionally right conclusion to the series.

As a Modesty and Willie fan for many years I was excited to learn of this new release...and eagerly settled down to read it.

Ranging in time from the past to the future, it exposes the full range of this real dynamic duo's skills and abilities. But nothing prepared me for the ending which left my mind whirling and my heart in my mouth.

Where CAN we go from here?

After an eleven-year hiatus following Dead Man's Handle, the last novel in the series, this book collects five short stories, including, as most readers by now probably know, the last Modesty & Willie caper.

O'Donnell alone can say why he decided to write - and publish - a final chapter on their saga. It may have been that he felt he had done all he could with the duo: a writer, no matter how talented and creative, will have just a certain number of stories he or she has to tell, particularly in popular adventure fiction and even more (or less, as the case may be) when writing about regular characters. Once you're done, you face the danger of starting to repeat, or worse, make a parody of, yourself.

The long interval may be an indication that O'Donnell was, in a way, through with Modesty and Willie. And so may be the fact that the stories in Cobra Trap, while skillfully written, are somewhat trite and rehashed in plot. "Bellman", for instance, is an adaptation of a "filler" early comic strip, "The Killing Ground", produced for syndication outside the UK during a newspaper strike in Britain. "The Dark Angels", by its turn, was belatedly adapted to a comic strip, ten years after its publication as prose and five years after the daily strip had run its course; it features a rather ingenious plot twist at its ending, but is still short of O'Donnell's best. The villains here and elsewhere in the stories for the most part read like so many cardboard cutouts, with none of the depth and complexity of, say, Gabriel, Mr. Sexton or Simon Delicata.

Only "Old Alex", although starting from a weak springboard - the revenge killing, much as in "Bellman" - can be said to be truly inventive in a sort of "flux" way, yet it too is a closure of sorts. Also, it features a recurring "baddie", Sir Angus McBeal of Salamander Four, popping out very much out of the blue. Also again, no less than two stories co-feature the Colliers, Steven and Dinah, who by now seem to be just waiting in the wings to show up time and again. And, to cap it off, John Dall makes an all too brief comeback in the title story.

Nonetheless, O'Donnell does manage to wrap it up nicely, providing a plausible and, in a way, moving final episode. Still, if you're a novice to the Modesty Blaise series, do not start off with this book. Read all of them, in chronological order, and try to collect as many of the daily strips as you can. Only then you'll get the flavor of "the perfect mistress of her art" and her erstwhile sidekick.

I, for one, miss them.

Having read a lot of multi-book series in my life, I know from experience how unusual it is for a series of books to keep its 'core' to the final book. Sometimes, as with the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, the series will just... fade. Even worse, as with the Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton, the series will actively turn on itself, becoming something almost unrecognizable to readers of the earlier books. It's a darned rare thing for a series to finish with characters, storylines, and spirit intact and strong.

The Modesty Blaise series is among that rare breed. I can't recommend these books highly enough -- all 13 of them, with no caveats whatsoever.

I have all of O'Donnell's books. Many I have read several times. Cobra Trap did not live up to the usual action line of his previous books. I even thought there might be another author writing the story?
O'Donnell developed so many great endings, each story was easly visualized and enjoyed. Cobra Trap was a fair story, it's just I felt cheated. I knew an ending had to happen, just not that way.

'Cobra Trap' is a collection of stories about Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin. All the stories except the last one, 'Cobra Trap' flesh out stories Peter O'Donnell first created as comic strips. I've read some of the graphic novels, one in fact has the story, 'The Bellman'. This story is more fleshed out in greater detail in this book. These stories are a good read and a good peek into the lives of Modesty and Willie. The Last Story, 'Cobra Trap', I warn you not to read if you like your favorite characters to live happily ever after. In fact I try to forget I've read it by re-reading their adventures over again. It was very well written, but shocking and much too sad. If Mr. O'Donnell had left that story off when he wrote the book, it would have been a very good collection of stories.

"Cobra Trap" is a mish mash of short stories that are like a fast food pizza.You enjoy it at the time but within 10 minutes you have forgotten all about it. I have loved the adventures of Modesty & Willie through the 12 novels that Peter O'Donnell wrote leading up to his final book "Cobra Trap". Some were absolutely fantastic including "A taste for Death", "The Silver Mistress" & "Modesty Blaise" some were average but at all times they were fast,dazzling,enjoyable entertainment.Why then did Modesty & Willie have to be retired off in such a mediocre collection of thinly written tales? The over use of that annoying pratt Steve Collier was annoying enough to start with. The final travesty however was the "Cobra Trap" story itself, if Modesty was to die then why wasn't an entire novel written about it,she deserved that honor & dignity.The manner of her passing was disgraceful, being shot by some nobody,for goodness sakes here is the woman who has faced off against some of the greatest & nastiest villians ever, Gabriel,Mr.Sexton & Delicata to name a few.So why did she have to go out with a whimper rather than an atomic bang like she deserved! There is not much more to say but Modesty & Willie thanks for a great ride,rest in peace! You both deserved better than "Cobra Trap" as a swan song!

I guess there is something to say for an author who creates characters so well that when he kills them off it strikes the reader like a personal loss.That should tell you that Cobra Trap is not my favorite Modesty Blaise book.I came late to the series,I'm in my late 50s,and read the first four novels quickly.Having heard about Cobra Trap,I knew what to expect and decided to get the pain overwith early.Now I can concentrate on Modesty and Willie as young,adventerous and alive.It is to bad O'Donnell could not let them go like Hamilton did Matt Helm ie.the series just ended.It may be that he felt Blaise and Garvin would suffer the fate of Bond,James Bond who must be all of 85 years old and still saving the world.Though,I would think not, since Bond's popularity was basically from a movie base that Modesty Blaise never had.Since O'Donnell is dead(May 2010)and Modesty and Willie are not coming back I suppose I will just have to accept the fact.But in a brilliant writing career this book was not the author's brightest idea.So long Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin.