Customer Reviews

Win, Lose or Die (Coronet Books)

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

 

 

I had read and loved both Death is Forever and Brokenclaw, and I had read and liked The Man From Barbarossa. I thought that this book would be just as good, but instead it just...works. Bond combats another terrorist organization with a cool name (through the years there has been Fleming's SPECTRE, this book's BAST and Benson's Union-the last one doesn't really have a good name, I know, but the head guy's name is cool). This one includes a woman as one of its top members, but she isn't really interesting, just confusing. And, oh yeah, the confusion? The people on the different sides become impossible to like or dislike because they are first portayed as one thing, then another thing, then back to the beginning, then "oh, no, I'm sorry: he/she really is good/bad." I love a good plot twist, but these polt twists demand Tylenol. If you've never read a Bond story before, try this one: you'll enjoy it if your expectations arent high.

Like the other reviewers here, I don't much care for John Gardner's James Bond novels. Gardner just doesn't seem to be in touch with Ian Fleming's classic character or the special world Fleming created for him. The only reason I am reading Gardner's Bonds is that I want to read those by Raymond Benson...

However, although it gets off to a slow start, I would have to say that (so far) "Win, Lose or Die" is arguably a highlight of the Gardner books. It is also the only one that I feel could actually work as a Bond film. The characters are a bit more respectable than most of Gardner's creations, especially his usual cookie-cutter villains. The book also carries some of the wonderful, sinister, almost supernatural imagery that Fleming was so fond of, portraying Bond and the other characters as players in a strange spiritual plane that seems to stretch beyond Earthly bonds.

Now, if only Gardner could have learned to do away with all those...one-liners he has Bond spout after he does something. This is supposed to be Fleming's Bond, not Roger Moore's. Furthermore, the book continues to slip with the horrid scenes in which Bond interacts with M and Bill Tanner. In Fleming's books, M was a man of few words, and when he said something, it was to the point and deadly serious. Unfortunately, Gardner again sinks to the level of having Bond and M trade barbs, if you will. Fleming's Bond would NEVER smart off to his boss the way Gardner's does.

However, once you get past the tepid first third of the novel, the narrative really picks up. This book actually has enough high points to outweigh the low points. The section where Bond is used as bait at the Italian villa is almost up to Fleming's speed. And the climax aboard the hijacked carrier is absolutely spellbinding.

"Win, Lose or Die" is one of the few Gardner Bonds that those of us "Fleming purists" can get through without rolling our eyes darn near every page.

This novel has screenplay written on it. It is fairly simple and would translate to the screen well. Good as a started Bond book for the casual suspense reader.

Win,Lose or Die is an action packed 007 thriller. It is full of suspense and explosive action. This is one 007 thiller you should not miss.

This could be a good book but Gardner was not really a good writer, well for this book. He could have made the story more interesting but he did not.Some of the parts are not really interesting and very strange. Take for example, the part about two of the organisation members having a talk together, how could they not possibily not know that the British Secret service had been bugging the when the have the ability to start their operation "WIN" and "LOSE"?

Why do most of John Gardner's James Bond novels seem like screenplays? I think that is what was always missing from his writings. Because they were similar to screenplays they read like movie scripts, not novels. It just leaves the reader so uninvolved. Detail and flavor for the settings are always noticeably absent from his Bond novels. This one is no exception. I suppose we all lose!