Trigger Mortis
A James Bond Novel
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Trigger Mortis
Narrated by:
David Oyelowo
Buy Now for £17.94
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Narrated by:
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David Oyelowo
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By:
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Anthony Horowitz
Summary
It's 1957 and James Bond (agent 007) has only just survived his showdown with Auric Goldfinger at Fort Knox. By his side is Pussy Galore, who was with him at the end. Unknown to either of them, the USSR and the West are in a deadly struggle for technological superiority. And SMERSH is back.
The Soviet counter-intelligence agency plans to sabotage a Grand Prix race at the most dangerous track in Europe. But it's Bond who finds himself in the driving seat and events take an unexpected turn when he observes a suspicious meeting between SMERSH's driver and a sinister Korean millionaire, Jai Seong Sin.
Soon Bond is pitched into an entirely different race uncovering a plan that could bring the West to its knees.
Welcoming back familiar faces, including M and Miss Moneypenny, international bestselling author Anthony Horowitz ticks all the boxes: speed, danger, strong women and fiendish villains, to reinvent the golden age of Bond in this brilliantly gripping adventure. Trigger Mortis is also the first James Bond novel to feature previously unseen Ian Fleming material.
This is James Bond as Fleming imagined him.©2015 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd and the Ian Fleming Estate
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Critic reviews
A humdinger of a Bond story, so cunningly crafted and thrillingly placed that OO7's creator would have been happy to own it.... The book is the best Bond movie you'll ever see without actually having to see the movie. (Simon Schama)
TRIGGER MORTIS is a blast. Set two weeks after the end of the novel Goldfinger in 1957, it has a superb plot based around the early space race and features the return of the best Bond girl of them all, Pussy Galore.
Fleming fans certainly won't be disappointed. Trigger Mortis contains all the adrenaline you'd expect from a Bond novel with bags of humour, international jet-setting and a compelling cast of inventively named characters. It is, one suspects, a novel Fleming would be proud to have in the 007 canon.
Almost too good
Horowitz is doing something both clever and audacious...a clever and enjoyable pastiche, which manages to press many of the buttons that were the purview of 007's creator.
There is a delicate line separating imitation from parody and Horowitz stays on the right side of it to perfection.
'Sexy, slick and full of suspense, this new Bond novel is perfect escapism.'
Anthony Horowitz knows exactly what ingredients are required to satisfy even the most gluttonous James Bond fan and serves them up with the confidence of the self-confessed aficionado that he is... In Trigger Mortis the reader finds set pieces expertly handled and genuinely exciting... it all makes for an energetic and satisfying read.
'This supremely well-crafted thriller is an expertly shaken martini of authentic flavours, right down to several heart-pounding set pieces that surely belong on the big screen. Women... are in the driving seat in more senses than one, while Bond is an alluring mix of emotional detachment and death-defying heroics. Pure Pleasure.'
'Ultimately, Horowitz seems to me to have captured the spirit of Fleming more successfully than his recent illustrious predecessors in the Bond-sequel game.' (Jake Kerridge)
Trigger Mortis is cool and restrained... Fleming's best work was possessed of a rather insouciant tone; a wry, weary, mid-century tone that Horowitz captures exactly.
The tension-filled opening sequence is there, the threat to world peace, the race to prevent central Manhattan being blown to smithereens, beautiful women and dodgy gangsters, but, somehow, Bond is more likeable. Daniel Craig would be hard pushed to describe this one as sexist and misogynistic. Mr Horowitz has introduced us to a more rounded hero, but one who won't disappoint the traditionalists.
'Horowitz's brings her [Pussy Galore] back as something like a three-dimensional woman, giving her an arc that surpasses Bond's hackneyed Freudian masculinity... He delivers the tersely precise prose that makes Bond so compelling, but more than that, he also supplies touches of Fleming's cruel poetry.'
'Horowitz has an amazing facility for narrating action, and the set-pieces are terrific... the final 50 pages pass in a breathless rush of excitement.'
The story clips along and has all the Bond set-pieces: a sporting duel: this time it is racing cars, more impossibly-named beautiful women, booze and fast cars, a ludicrous "let me explain my evil plan before you die" soliloquy from the bad guy, then a climactic battle and the "mano a mano" at the finish; before the triumphant, bitter-sweet conquest of his female partner, of course.
It's an accomplished, solid entry into the Bond canon, just a shame about the narrator.
Gets better as you stick with it
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Firstly, I believe Horowitz really captured the essence of Fleming's writing style.
Secondly, the story itself was great, keeping me immersed right until the end.
With regards to the narration, David Oyelowo was fantastic! It shows how a really good actor (which he obviously is) makes a massive difference to the overall enjoyment of an audio book. The different voices he used ensured that there was never any ambiguity as to which character was talking. Some people have complained that he is an American trying to put on an English accent. He comes from Oxford.
All in all, a very, very good book, thoroughly recommended.
Thoroughly enjoyable!
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What did you like most about Trigger Mortis?
It embraced the world of 'classic' Bond - high stakes action, caricatured villains, expensive cars, an array of sexy, bizarrely named women all strangely linked by their attraction to Bond etc. This book knows what it is and is unabashed by that.Would you be willing to try another book from Anthony Horowitz? Why or why not?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Alex Rider series as a child and then a teenager which was part of my reason for reading his attempt at Bond. After reading this I would be happy to see what he turns his hand to next.Did the narration match the pace of the story?
Yes, the narrator was at times almost breathless with the pace of the action. Conversely there were moments he sounded a little bored, but I felt this suited the often blase attitude of the character.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
It was gripping and certainly romped along, but perhaps lacks the emotional weight for me to commit to reading it in one sitting.Any additional comments?
This was clearly a labour of love for Horowitz and is undeniably fun to read.Bond at his most ridiculous and fun
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David Olwyweyo has perormed the brief exactly to the rules that it is assumed make up any James Bond story. The accents and characterisations were stable and consistent and overall I loved it... However James Bond written by any other author than the late great Ian Flemming is perhaps a step too far, but if one must make that step then Anthony Horowitz is perhaps the best man to do it.
As James Bond Goes...
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Good story, shame about the narration...
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