Win, Lose or Die [Hardcover]

John Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 1989

James Bond OO7 reluctantly returns to active service, his mission to protect an observer of a NATO exercise, Admiral Sergei Yevgennevich Pauker, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy. The author's other books include "Scorpius", "No Deals Mr Bond" and "Licence to Kill".

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fortunately for Gardner, dyed-in-the wool James Bond fans may be disposed to overlook the lack of credibility and characterization in this latest thriller featuring the superspy. The leaders of Britain, Russia and the U.S. are planning a top-secret summit aboard HMS Invincible . We never learn what they want to talk about, but we do know that BAST (Brotherhood of Anarchy and Secret Terror) is up to some high-level nastiness. Alerted to the threat, British Intelligence sends James Bond to protect the "heads of state." Promoted to captain, Bond is trained on Harrier jump-jets, and narrowly escapes death when a Sidewinder missile intercepts his flight path. Human menaces include "the Cat," a mysterious female terrorist, and "the Viper," head of BAST. A lot of huffing, puffing, padding ("Bond has not shown all his cards") and sloppy writing ("the first kind of ship of her type") occur before a limp confrontation that takes place inside the Rock of Gibraltar, with chief villain Bassam Baradj, inanely "born plain Robert Besavitsky, in the old Hell's Kitchen area of New York."
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

John Gardner served with the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Marines before embarking on a long career as a thriller writer, including international bestsellers THE NOSTRADAMUS TRAITOR and THE GARDEN OF WEAPONS. In 1981 he was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate to revive James Bond in a brand new series of novels. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (July 24, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399134360
• ISBN-13: 978-0399134364
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars It works, but it doesn't thrill, March 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Win, Lose or Die (Paperback)

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Gardner's best Bonds (which isn't saying much), January 20, 2003

By 

J. Frey "man o' words" (Wisconsin, eh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Win, Lose or Die (Hardcover)

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars Just enough plot to be a movie., June 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Win, Lose or Die (Paperback)

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.