In her first adventure for British Intelligence Modesty Blaise with her loyal lieutenant, Willie Garvin, must foil a multi-million pound diamond heist. They travel from London to the South of France, across the Mediterranean to Cairo before battling, against impossible odds, a private army of professional killers.
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About the Author
Peter O'Donnell created Modesty Blaise as a strip cartoon that was syndicated in more than 42 countries. The strip led to a series of novels about Modesty and her faithful lieutenant, Willie Garvin.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Carl Mayes
Format:Paperback
Lots of 'firsts' in this novel. The first appearance of Sir Gerald Tarrant, the father-like head of British Intelligence, and Gabriel, a ruthless and ancient adversary of Modesty Blaise. We are also privy to Modesty's past as a young girl, whom O'Donnell portrays as a brilliant neophyte, creating the criminal organization known as The Network. Additionally, we are provided the origin of her unique and deeply intimate friendship (always platonic) with Willie Garvin, an astute and proficient 'comrade-in-arms.'
Although the book is cumbersome at times with technical descriptions involving an elaborate heist, the action and excitement outweigh it. Look for a spectacular hand-to-hand battle between Modesty and Mrs. Fothergill, one of Gabriel's eccentric bodyguards. Mrs. Fothergill is portrayed as chillingly cold-blooded and combat-competent, yet Modesty's fighting expertise is more than a match for Mrs. Fothergill's martial arts and gymnastic acumen.
Modesty Blaise is far from an ordinary 'spy' (hardly a 007 rip-off). In fact, she's an exceptional woman way ahead of her time!
Although the book is cumbersome at times with technical descriptions involving an elaborate heist, the action and excitement outweigh it. Look for a spectacular hand-to-hand battle between Modesty and Mrs. Fothergill, one of Gabriel's eccentric bodyguards. Mrs. Fothergill is portrayed as chillingly cold-blooded and combat-competent, yet Modesty's fighting expertise is more than a match for Mrs. Fothergill's martial arts and gymnastic acumen.
Modesty Blaise is far from an ordinary 'spy' (hardly a 007 rip-off). In fact, she's an exceptional woman way ahead of her time!
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The above quotation is uttered by Willie Garvin at the end of chapter 18 of "Modesty Blaise". Two chapters later the book is over, and readers can agree with Willie and conclude that this book is different. Enjoyably and intriguingly different.
"Modesty Blaise" was Peter O'Donnell's first book, published in 1965 when he was 45 years old. Prior to that he had had a long career as the author of scripts for comic strips and writing short stories. In fact, the Modesty Blaise character was first launched as a comic strip in a London newspaper in 1963, so Peter O'Donnell had the background and major story elements well worked out when he wrote this book.
This book became the first book in a series of 11 novels and two collections of short stories about Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, Modesty's loyal and trusted companion.
In this review I'll concentrate on certain aspects of the book "Modesty Blaise" itself, in the hopes that the reader already has a general knowledge of the whole Modesty Blaise series of books. If this is not the case then you may want to look at my "So You'd Like To" guide about books by Peter O'Donnell. It includes a link to my MSN group about Modesty Blaise where you can find more information about this whole series of books and why I love them.
In "Modesty Blaise" the basic story is that Modesty, a former criminal, is recruited to the side of the good guys. She and Willie then go up against a ruthless team of bad guys and find themselves captured and scheduled to be killed. In order to survive despite the incredible odds against them they have to fight for their lives, using their fighting skills and their ingenuity.
In this book Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin are introduced to us in a very effective way. In chapters one and two Willie is in serious trouble and Modesty rescues him, the relationship between the two of them made very clear by the way they interact.
Also introduced in this book are Sir Gerald Tarrant, John (Jack) Fraser and Weng, three secondary characters who appear in many of the other books in the series. And we are introduced to Modesty's penthouse apartment overlooking Hyde Park in London and Willie's pub The Treadmill on the bank of the Thames near Maidenhead.
The bad guys in the Modesty books are always very special. In this book the memorable villains are Gabriel (who has a penchant for watching cartoons when he's not sentencing people to death), McWhirter (Scottish henchman who jokes about torture) and Mrs. Fothergill (not too bright or attractive but very good with the unarmed combat). Mrs. Fothergill plays a very special role towards the end of the book - but I can't say how without giving too much away.
This book introduces the special fighting techniques and weapons that are typical for the Modesty books. In particular, we're presented with Modesty's favorite weapon, the kongo, and Willie's throwing knives, plus a couple of unusual weapons invented by Willie.
"Modesty Blaise" is a wonderful book, and a great start to the whole series, and I'm awarding it five stars. If the above information is not enough to convince you, please read my article "Why I love the Modesty Blaise books", which can be found on my MSN group about Modesty Blaise.
In the interests of fairness I'll conclude this review with a few points that I found slightly negative about this book.
The book, at 224 pages, is too short. It's over too soon and you're wishing there was more.
I find some of the things Tarrant and Fraser do to be a tad too silly to be consistent with their positions. Examples: Tarrant complimenting Fraser on his articulation (pg 15), Tarrant expressing relief that a hotel chef has declined leaving his job at the hotel (pg 61), Tarrant worried about being made fun of by Modesty or Willie (pg 70-71 and 128), and Fraser pretending to be angry when talking to Boyd (pg 141).
Finally, in spite of Peter O'Donnell's desire to make Willie an equal to the other characters despite his lower-class background, I detected a condescending tone at times. Examples: "Willie had views" (pg 106), "and to Tarrant's surprise Willie carried his share with ease" (pg 127), "there was no patronage in his manner" (pg 129). (Page numbers refer to the original Souvenir Press edition.)
Highly recommended. Read this book, and if you like it then you'll also like at least the next five or six books in the series. (After that the series declines a bit.)
Rennie Petersen
"Modesty Blaise" was Peter O'Donnell's first book, published in 1965 when he was 45 years old. Prior to that he had had a long career as the author of scripts for comic strips and writing short stories. In fact, the Modesty Blaise character was first launched as a comic strip in a London newspaper in 1963, so Peter O'Donnell had the background and major story elements well worked out when he wrote this book.
This book became the first book in a series of 11 novels and two collections of short stories about Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, Modesty's loyal and trusted companion.
In this review I'll concentrate on certain aspects of the book "Modesty Blaise" itself, in the hopes that the reader already has a general knowledge of the whole Modesty Blaise series of books. If this is not the case then you may want to look at my "So You'd Like To" guide about books by Peter O'Donnell. It includes a link to my MSN group about Modesty Blaise where you can find more information about this whole series of books and why I love them.
In "Modesty Blaise" the basic story is that Modesty, a former criminal, is recruited to the side of the good guys. She and Willie then go up against a ruthless team of bad guys and find themselves captured and scheduled to be killed. In order to survive despite the incredible odds against them they have to fight for their lives, using their fighting skills and their ingenuity.
In this book Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin are introduced to us in a very effective way. In chapters one and two Willie is in serious trouble and Modesty rescues him, the relationship between the two of them made very clear by the way they interact.
Also introduced in this book are Sir Gerald Tarrant, John (Jack) Fraser and Weng, three secondary characters who appear in many of the other books in the series. And we are introduced to Modesty's penthouse apartment overlooking Hyde Park in London and Willie's pub The Treadmill on the bank of the Thames near Maidenhead.
The bad guys in the Modesty books are always very special. In this book the memorable villains are Gabriel (who has a penchant for watching cartoons when he's not sentencing people to death), McWhirter (Scottish henchman who jokes about torture) and Mrs. Fothergill (not too bright or attractive but very good with the unarmed combat). Mrs. Fothergill plays a very special role towards the end of the book - but I can't say how without giving too much away.
This book introduces the special fighting techniques and weapons that are typical for the Modesty books. In particular, we're presented with Modesty's favorite weapon, the kongo, and Willie's throwing knives, plus a couple of unusual weapons invented by Willie.
"Modesty Blaise" is a wonderful book, and a great start to the whole series, and I'm awarding it five stars. If the above information is not enough to convince you, please read my article "Why I love the Modesty Blaise books", which can be found on my MSN group about Modesty Blaise.
In the interests of fairness I'll conclude this review with a few points that I found slightly negative about this book.
The book, at 224 pages, is too short. It's over too soon and you're wishing there was more.
I find some of the things Tarrant and Fraser do to be a tad too silly to be consistent with their positions. Examples: Tarrant complimenting Fraser on his articulation (pg 15), Tarrant expressing relief that a hotel chef has declined leaving his job at the hotel (pg 61), Tarrant worried about being made fun of by Modesty or Willie (pg 70-71 and 128), and Fraser pretending to be angry when talking to Boyd (pg 141).
Finally, in spite of Peter O'Donnell's desire to make Willie an equal to the other characters despite his lower-class background, I detected a condescending tone at times. Examples: "Willie had views" (pg 106), "and to Tarrant's surprise Willie carried his share with ease" (pg 127), "there was no patronage in his manner" (pg 129). (Page numbers refer to the original Souvenir Press edition.)
Highly recommended. Read this book, and if you like it then you'll also like at least the next five or six books in the series. (After that the series declines a bit.)
Rennie Petersen
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Okay, so you've seen Quentin Tarantino's movie "Pulp Fiction." And you've noticed that every time Vincent Vega (John Travolta) goes to the bathroom, he takes a book along to read. What's he reading? "Modesty Blaise."
Why would Vincent want to read Modesty Blaise? Because he's cool and Modesty's cool-- she's a product of British "cool," circa 1965-- and it doesn't get any cooler than that. Meet Modesty and her pal Willie and join them on their action-packed adventures, and you'll see why Tarantino worships Modesty, and why he (pretty obviously) patterned much of Uma Thurman's character "The Bride" after Modesty in the movie "Kill Bill." Modesty Blaise is the ultimate action heroine-- try this, her first adventure (in book form, anyway-- she'd been a comic book figure for awhile by the time this came out), and enjoy.
Why would Vincent want to read Modesty Blaise? Because he's cool and Modesty's cool-- she's a product of British "cool," circa 1965-- and it doesn't get any cooler than that. Meet Modesty and her pal Willie and join them on their action-packed adventures, and you'll see why Tarantino worships Modesty, and why he (pretty obviously) patterned much of Uma Thurman's character "The Bride" after Modesty in the movie "Kill Bill." Modesty Blaise is the ultimate action heroine-- try this, her first adventure (in book form, anyway-- she'd been a comic book figure for awhile by the time this came out), and enjoy.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great service!
Love O'Donnell! He is a genius! The book was in great condition and arrived quickly. Perfect size to travel with or read in bed.
Published 4 months ago by Leigh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely entertaining!
I learned of Modesty Blaise when reading "The Psychology of The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo" by Robin S. Rosenberg who mentions Stieg Larson was a big fan of the Modesty books. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Movie-Maven
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Name is Blaise -- Modesty Blaise!
I heard a lot about Modesty Blaise from others online and thought I'd check it out. When I saw DC Comics had done a reprint using one of my fav artists, Dick Giordano (Green... Read more
Published 20 months ago by comics_tiger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mark E
Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Modesty Blaise series in conjunction with the hullabaloo over The Girl series by Stieg Larsson. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mark Ferris
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bulls-eye Warning
The edition of Modesty Blaise with Bulls-eye in parenthesis is an adaptation by someone named Jean Nobes, in The Bulls-eye Series for Reluctant Readers. Read more
Published on May 29, 2010 by Lindig Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and action
I've been a fan of Modesty and Willie since the books first came out, and I was a loyal reader of the strip in the London Evening Standard for many years. Read more
Published on December 26, 2007 by Tony Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Super Reader
Modesty Blaise is the perfect woman. That is if the perfect woman is a different sort of beautiful, witty, funny, sophisticated, terrifyingly focused and a lethal killer without... Read more
Published on August 29, 2007 by Blue Tyson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long live Modesty and Willie!
I became an instant fan from the beginning pages of this lst of a series. Modesty and Willie are fascinating, likeable characters with almost superhuman powers between them. Read more
Published on October 30, 2006 by Gretchen Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding caper novel
Modesty Blaise started life as a cartoon strip, but O'Donnell then put his creation into novel form, and did a superb job in both formats. Read more
Published on June 12, 2006 by Jules Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Modesty Blaise is one of the most delightful characters in adventure...
It is hard to say whether the Modesty Blaise novels or the Modesty Blaise comic strips are better, but the lucky reader doesn't have to choose. Read both. Read more
Published on November 25, 2005 by Frederick Norwood
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