Customer Reviews

Modesty Blaise

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been slightly Modesty-obsessed for about ten years now, so I was thrilled when Amazon found me a copy of this out-of-print gem. Modesty and Willie's first caper for Sir Gerald has suspense, drama, and wit. The novel fills in details not in the comic version of this adventure, making it even more fun to read. A great addition to any pulp fiction lover's collection.

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!

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

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.

If you like action novels, with unusual villains, fast-moving scenes, and plenty of tongue in cheek humor, Modesty Blaise is the girl for you, and 'Modesty Blaise', the first novel in the series, is a good place to start.

After writing non-fiction for many years, I turned to fiction in 2003, and my first novel 'Snides' is available on Amazon. As a gesture of homage to Peter O'Donnell, I created an action duo, John Pilgrim and Sally Brandon. They're not straight copies of the originals and the best, Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, but I've tried to hit their target of plenty of action, with a little humor.

I own the complete series of Modesty Blaise books, and one of them is always on my bedside table. I must have read them all dozens of times, but I still keep re-reading them!

Tony Walker

Scottsdale, Arizona

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. The comic strips have been reprinted by Titan Books, Ken Pierce Books, Manuscript Press, and in Comics Revue magazine, and now the novels are being reissued. Also highly recommended are the books Peter O'Donnell wrote under the pseudonym Madeleine Brent.

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 Lantern, etc.) I could not resist.

It seems this graphic novel is of Modesty's early adventures. Hardened as a child at a refugee camp, she took over a criminal organization and dealt in everything except drugs and sex. She took on a partner and did quite well, getting out of the business.

Another man of a British organization (Sir Gerald Tarrant) wants her help and he convinces her by letting her know of one of her friends is in a prison, whom she frees. Grateful, she helps our modest British agent get the goods on a diamond smuggling ring.

The rest of the tale is quite well done. Modesty is very sexy; some of the scenes are really well done (thanks Dick!) and the James Bond like instruments of death (grenade in a shoe, etc.) are fun to read about as well.

The Modesty character is brazen, strong and can be soft when she wants. She uses her feminine ways to get the goods on the clueless male bad guys, even in one scene when a common thug gets the goods on her.

Most of these strips came from author Peter O'Donnell, who wrote these in the Sixties at the time of the James Bond films. Another femme fatale in comics and television is Honey West, (Honey West #1) but Modesty is tougher!

O'Donnell wrote many novels and even a screenplay of the character from what I understand. And yes, though I'm a newbie to this strip, I really must follow up on more graphic novels and maybe even check out that screenplay!

Tied up, a knife to her back, how will she escape? Read and see! Recommended.

Other Graphic Novels in the Modesty Blaise Series:

Modesty Blaise: Million Dollar Game (Modesty Blaise (Graphic Novels))

Modesty Blaise: Sweet Caroline (Modesty Blaise (Graphic Novels))

Modesty Blaise: Death in Slow Motion (Modesty Blaise (Graphic Novels))

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.

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. Modesty is a tough, brilliant and beautiful woman along the lines of The Avenger's Mrs. Peale, but more deadly. She is expert in martial arts and a variety of weapons. If these books were wrtten in this decade instead of the 60's, she would probably also be computer geek extraordinaire . Don't be put off by the tacky cover illustrations, the books are about brilliant, daring and often outlandish escapades (including - spoiler alert - shooting a defector over the Berlin Wall via a circus canon) rather than sexual encounters, which are plentiful but not explicit, very much a la Ian Fleming's James Bond and with humor like Lawrence Block's Tanner series. The books are entertaining, clever, humorous, thrilling and very well wriiten. I'm sorry there are only 13 books and the author sadly is no more.

If you want to read them in order:

Modesty Blaise

Sabre Tooth

I, Lucifer

A Taste For Death

Impossible Virgin

Pieces of Modesty

The Silver Mistress

Last Day In Limbo

Dragon's Claw

The Xanadu Talisman

The Night of Morningstar

Dead Man's Handle

Cobra Trap

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Modesty Blaise series in conjunction with the hullabaloo over The Girl series by Stieg Larsson. I consider myself a well read mystery fan and I had never heard of this series. According to what I read, Modesty was one of the characters that Lisbeth was modeled after. Well, just like with Lisbeth, I fell in literary love with Modesty. What a wonderful series ala the female James Bond like character, although that does not do justice to her character. And the relationship between Modesty and Willie her partner in crime is a wonder to behold. I just wonder if we could all learn from their relationship. You don't have to be sexually involved to be VERY close to someone from the opposite sex. In any case once I read the first book "Modest Blaise" I was hooked. I immediately put together the entire series from a variety of sources. I am happily ensconsed in the AC reading about Modesty and Willie and their latest caper while it is horrid outside. I hate to admit it, but they even brought the occasional tear to my eye, and this from a hard-boiled life long mystery/suspense reader. You can't go wrong. Buy it today and you'll be hooked.

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 commitments.

If you like your superheroes or thrillers to be up close and personal, you need to read O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise. There are gadgets, guns, and impossible missions, not to mention hand to hand combat poetry.

In this book, Tarrant, of the British Secret Service, has a problem. He wants Modesty's help, but really has no leverage, except to play on how much she cares about Willie Garvin. The reasons why are revealed.

He does so, and they go into action. A very dangerous situation, and they must be captured by a ruthless man named Gabriel, to stop a diamond operation.