As far as I can remember, I’ve always been a James Bond fan. The love affair started with the action-packed movie franchise but soon the love of the written word steered me towards the books.
Love of Bond
Hurdled in front the television set with a ton of snacks, I remember catching every Bond movie that came out with Pa (and of course he brought home the edited versions). As years passed by, my obsession with old movies ensured I turn back the clock and catch all the ones I missed. And then one-by-one devoured the books. To date, a James Bond movie thrills me to my very core and even though I have severe hots for Pierce Brosnan, I always been overly-critical of the movie adaptations. Especially when they ruin the book altogether. Ian Fleming is one of my favorite authors and when I read on Twitter that Anthony Horowitz was coming out with a James Bond novel, I had a list of reservations already prepared.
Anthony Horowitz
My brother has been a Horowitz’s fan for years (thanks to the Alex Rider Books and the Gatekeepers series) and up until last year when I read the Magpie Murders (2016), I had never experienced a Horowtiz story before. And I was pleasantly surprised when a wonderful Christie-esque murder mystery lit up my holidays. Having said that I was skeptical of the idea – I mean James Bond in the hands of someone other than Fleming? The horror! The horror!
How James Bond became 007?!
And then it happened – I read “Forever and a Day” in July and knew I had to take back my initial verdict. Surprisingly this is not the first James Bond novel by the author. Somehow I missed Trigger Mortis (2015) by him but none the less the origin story of James Bond was exciting but with a bit of predictable plot line. But may be that’s only because I’ve read almost all of Bond literature out there. And since this was Bond’s first mission (the book takes place before the events of Casino Royale) you can’t blame him entirely can you?!
Excerpt from the Book
“There is one more thing.” M reached for his pipe, although he didn’t light it. “You’re going to need a number. You’ll be working with 008 and 0011. I don’t know why, but 009 sprung to mind. What do you think?”
Bond had been getting to his feet but he sat down again. “If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’d like to take over the 007 designation.”
M raised an eyebrow. “Really? Why?”
“Well, I suppose there are two reasons. The first is that I knew Richard Blakeney. The man who used to carry that Double-0 number.” Bond named the man who had died. “I’d go so far as to say we were friends and I’d like to keep his memory alive, flying the flag, so to speak.”
“And the second?”
“I think it sends out a message. You can take one of us down but it changes nothing. We’ll come back the same and as strong as ever.”
My Review
On the goodreads.com scale, I gave this book 4 stars and I would’ve been a little more generous but shades of Vesper in a similar character forbid me to do so. Some fans might disagree but many similarities do surface here and there including the ultimate evil plan of the villain. One thing that I am grateful for is a different Bond, we see a different man, we see him make mistakes and watch him often rescued by others. This is exquisite because we see how he was able to develop as a spy in the following years.
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One of my favorite moments was when we discover the origin of Bond’s signature line — “Shaken, not stirred” and yes you will be surprised (I wonder if Fleming would’ve agree with it or not?). A few favorite, reoccurring characters to the series are obviously absent but are handsomely replaced by similar figures. You’ve a couple of scenic destinations and to my sheer surprise almost no sex. I mean well there is but compared to the book/movies – I should say nothing.
I don’t even feel the need to comment on the action because we can all trust Horowitz to create a series of igniting events. If you enjoy thrillers and have absolutely no idea of Bond’s history, you will still thoroughly enjoy this book. Just be warned you will find yourself predicting a few elements but the easy writing style and an entertaining lineup of characters won’t let you put it down.
For those of you who are interested, ‘Forever and a Day” is available in Pakistan.