Nobody Lives Forever cover art

Nobody Lives Forever

James Bond (Original Series), Book 5

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About this listen

"Take care 007. Take special care. The continent's a hotbed of villainy these days and you can never be too careful."

Bond was supposed to be on leave. But SPECTRE leader Tamil Rahani, dying from injuries suffered at Bond's hand, is determined to make it the holiday to die for. With a price on his head, Bond must evade the world's greatest assassins in a ruthless game of cat-and-mouse across Europe, while trying to save the lives of the two women who matter to him most, his housekeeper May and Miss Moneypenny. But Bond has been a target before. And when it comes to staying alive, nobody does it better than 007.

©1986 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. James Bond and 007 are registered trademarks of Danjaq LLC, used under license by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense
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I’ve been gradually working my way through this entire collection. As yet I think this is possibly one of the worst books I’ve read in the collection. The story, although it runs, is pretty unbelievable. And we do see James Bond not in the same light as Ian Fleming has done in previous books. John Gardner has written better books than this and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

Interesting, but a bit over the top. 

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A great premise for a story and even a film. Good audio and narration. It’s Bond, it’s fun. Undoubtedly better bond works out there but still entertaining and enjoyable. Makes me chuckle that there’s some strong female characters who at times rescue bond 30 years before we decided to make that a selling point and means to an end in itself.

enjoyable

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I read the reviews here, especially the negative ones, but thought I'd give it a go anyway. And I have to say, as others have mentioned, this doesn't really reach the heights you'd expect. Gardner does write in the style of Fleming... but perhaps overly so. Too much additional, superfluous detail. It just seems to go on and on a bit in places. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad per se, but at the end I was left with a feeling of, "Oh, is that it?" rather than, "Oh great, can't wait to listen to the next one."

Overall, I enjoyed the narration, and initially I thought that the narrator sounded very much like Robert Whitfield, who did many of the original stories. A quick google search later, and it turns out that Simon Vance IS Robert Whitfield. The only negative is his Scottish accent as May, the housekeeper. It's chronic. Later in the story, it mentions another character with an "exaggeratedly Scottish accent" --- who sounds exactly like May.

I listened to this while driving around, and towards the end, I only had 12 minutes left to listen to. If I'd really been enjoying the story, I would've let it finish before getting out of the car. But I didn't. It's not a bad story, but I never felt that I needed to listen to more.

Ultimately disappointing

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should be made as a film, exactly the same as the book, gripping story throughout

excellent

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Nobody Lives Forever is a great premise. A price is put on Bond's head, and every agency and enemy from across the globe wants to claim the price. Think Rat Race but with Bond as the target. Only downside is the final resolution. Bit of a anti climax. Simon Vance is amazing as ever.

James Bond meets the Cannonball Run

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