Customer Reviews

Death Is Forever

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

 

 

Ian Fleming's James Bond is the gold standard. To me, From Russia with Love is the finest novel in that distinguished, exciting series. But Fleming is gone, and we are fortunate to have John Gardner to continue the stories for us.

Gardner's stories suffer from two basic weaknesses: He doesn't have the full range of Cold War enemies to work with and his doesn't have the same hard edge to his characters and writing.

Death is Forever veers back toward the Fleming books by involving Wolfgang Weisen, onetime director of East Germany's Security Service. He makes for a truly fascinating villain. Fleming would have made him even more fascinating, but you will enjoy him and his plot to destabilize the West. Although the Cold War is over in this book, Gardner finds a way to create an extension of the Cold War. That is good for all of us readers.

In all other ways, the book is a typical Gardner offering -- serviceable plot and relentless Bond.

If you have a choice between reading a Fleming novel and a Gardner one, you should always read a Fleming one first. If you have read and liked all of the Fleming books, you will be pleased with this Gardner offering. Enjoy!

Beginning with the murder of two members of a VERY well-organized spy ring known as Cabal, Bond teams up with another MI6 agent to try and find out what happened to the remaining members of the organization and find out who was behind it.

Wow! John Gardner has a masterpiece this time. This is one of the best espionage novels I've read. Bond goes up against some of the most sinister and ruthless villains, and in this novel almost nobody can be trusted. The amount of double-crosses and plot twists is astounding, and unlike the more recent Bond movies, the plot is complex and (gasp) logical! As Bond unravels more clues as to who is killing Cabal's agents, he must use every means available to survive, and to stop a cataclysmic event orchestrated by a ruthless organization.

Because of the rich and twisting plot, Death Is Forever captures the more sinister elements of the spy world with nothing short of brilliance. HIGHLY recommended.

I'm not a "die-hard Bond fanatic" but I've seen the movies and read some of the novels, and after reading some of the other comments, mostly negative, about Gardner and his novels I thought I'd set down some thoughts on DEATH IS FOREVER. For me Gardner is as close as anyone's ever gotten to Fleming and not that far behind. DEATH IS FOREVER was an enthralling novel and the best Gardner I have read (with SCORPIUS a close second). Gardner's Bond, like Fleming's, is not a super-hero with rocket-boats and submarine cars never at a loss for humorous one-liners every time he kills a guy. He's a flesh-and-blood human being as vulnerable as anyone else who survives by using his head. Of all the movies, the two that are most faithful to Fleming's original conception of the Bond character are "From Russia with Love" and "Licence to Kill." In my opinion, needless to say, the two best Bond films. And this is the Bond of DEATH IS FOREVER and the Gardner novel series. As for the Benson novels, I've never understood why the head of the James Bond fan club was chosen to succeed Gardner as Bond writer and not an actual published novelist.

This is one of the most itrigueing and action packed Bond novels ever written! Bond is set against an old H.V.A. or Stasi officer(East German Intelligence)who can't except Communism's failure. It's action till the last page with all the women and gadgets that make Bond James Bond.

I found the pace of this book slow. There were far too many new primary characters, and they were extremely under-developed. Bond, in this story, falls in love with an inept female spy he barely knows. Vague comparisons to his wife Tracy, killed on their wedding day, cause us to question this relationship. His subsequent relationship with another spy is also inconsistent with his expressed emotion. I wouldn't have finished this book if I wasn't such a fan

Maybe I checked this out from the library expecting not to like it. (The Raymond Benson ones I got I really didn't like.) But as soon as I read the first page, I was hooked. It felt like I was reading another Fleming novel, with agents mysteriously dying with means that would have been used in his day. The more modern era and the relics of the past (the CABAL network and what it's up against) are blended together seamlessly. It kept me hooked until the very end. If you like the Fleming novels and plot-changing surprises, read this. If you prefer the new-millenium Bond, well, I can't say much for your taste, but whatever floats your boat...

This was my first experience with the "modern' James Bond. I strongly suspect that the only people who like Gardner (or Benson) are the ones who have never read Fleming. This one dimensional book had a weak villian, the 2 key plot elements had no apparent connection, and an uncharacteristically dumb action by Bond which led to the deaths of 2 allies. This last was only a plot device to prolong the novel. And Bond falling in love with some incompetent woman he just me, get real. This Bond is just a poor copy. At least the movies are fun.

This is the first james bond book i ever brought and read.The book is complicated with so many people using more than one name and in some cases using someone eles's name. i had keep flicking back.

Gardner is amazing! i have to agree with the reader that concluded "this book falls short (of pages)"! i have never taken a book in so fast. a triumph! do i dare rank this one up there with some of Mr.Flemming's masterpieces? yes, i do!

After reading Ian Flemings "GoldenEye" I really expected this Bond story to contain the same level of excitement. Unfortunately I think Raymond Benson has got caught up in being Politically correct and at points make Bond sound like a amateur in situations where Fleming normally portrays Bond as cool, carm and collected. Overall not a bad read but Fleming still rules in the writing of Bond.