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Agent 007 has been killed in the line of duty near Marseille, and M needs another man to get down there and find out what is going on. His chief of staff recommends an operative who has been performing extremely well in a variety of missions, a young man named Bond. James Bond.
After returning from assignment, Bond is invited to join the elite 00 Section and is sent to the south of France to learn what happened to the original 007. Following typical Fleming-esque formula, he meets some young women, confronts a villain, infiltrates the lair, and struggles to know whom he can trust. He makes a few mistakes (no surprise there) and ends up a prisoner on board a vessel destined for a diabolical mission.
His escape and subsequent conquering are no surprise either, but are fun to read and second-guess. Anthony Horowitz leaves plenty of clues along the path for us to see, and the reveals are well written as the tale approaches the climax.
This is a refreshing change of pace for something like the 45th (depending on how you count them) official publication in the literary Bond-verse. Readers who have enjoyed these exploits for decades can get a fresh glimpse into the early days of Bond’s service in the 00 Section and have some fun along the way.
The author has made a sincere effort to craft a villain who has similar quirks in both body and mind as those classic bad guys from the Fleming days: Auric Goldfinger, Francisco Scaramanga, Hugo Drax, and others. He comes very close to success here, but, as in other modern-day Bond novels, he just does not devote enough time to really developing a full-blown antagonist.
The overall conflict is a little weak as well, providing an interesting mystery to solve but not nearly approaching the level of megalomania that both Fleming and some other modern writers (especially the Young Bond series) have accomplished. The book serves as an enjoyable escape for a few days, but nothing happens that is truly memorable.
Rated: Moderate. No profanity or descriptive intimate encounters, but a whole lot of killing, much of it cold-blooded and remorseless.
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