Ian Fleming was an
amateur. Let me clarify that; when he entered the World of Naval
Intelligence in the War he wasn't a professional intelligence
officer. As with so many of his generation, he had to jump in and
swim. Read any of the biographies and it becomes clear he was an
ideas man, but not a practical one. Schemes such as 'Operation
Ruthless' show both how desperate Britain was at that stage of the
war and how far-fetched Fleming's thinking could be. So, an amateur
intelligence man; but I'm English and many of you are not which
falls on me to explain what an amateur actually is in merry
old England. To us, an amateur is a sporting chap (or chappess) who
takes the crease at Cricket, the field at Rugby and generally does
their best to try to beat the other chap.
Like all amateurs,
Fleming admired a pro and he was certainly influenced by them when he
wrote James Bond into our lives. Bond is an amateur himself – at
least in the sporting sense and Fleming had this in mind when he
sketched the outlines of a television series, abandoned at the outset
of the films. One of these shows was to be titled 'Murder on Wheels'
and you'd probably never have heard of it had the writer Anthony
Horowitz not been approached by Ian Fleming Publications to produce a
new book; Trigger Mortis.
Anthony Horowitz photograph by Mark Rusher
Anthony Horowitz OBE
is a TV Screenwriter and author of The House of Silk and
Moriarty, as well as the
Alex Rider childrens books. He
created Midsomer Murders and
Foyle's War, which is
the only of his works I'm barely aware of; – it featured Michael
Kitchen, Bill Tanner in
the Brosnan Bonds.
Trigger
Mortis has been out awhile, but I've only just finished it (It was a
Christmas present from my Wife) and I have to say I'm impressed. The
book features original material written by Ian Fleming and this isn't
as easy to spot as you might think; Horowitz writes as Fleming very
convincingly. The setting is
the late Fleming's original
idea featured Stirling (Now Sir
Stirling) Moss at risk of a typical piece of SMERSH nastiness at the
NΓΌrburgring.
Horowitz replaces him with a fictional driver and Bond takes to the
track as a playboy amateur driver...
The
book – perhaps unwisely, brings back a certain Ms. Galore, only to
dismiss her after she's provided us with a spot of uncharacteristic
damsel in distress. The main love interest comes in the form of
Jeopardy Lane, American like Pussy, but on the right side
of law enforcement. This is more like it; Lane is both
attractive and capable. She
digs Bond out of the soup in more than one instance and is genuinely
memorable. At last a female more Felix Leiter than Mary
Goodnight (And if you don't know, don't bother finding out!).
Providing the menace along with SMERSH is a shadowy Korean, known as
Jason Sin. Sin is – without giving too much away, a psychotic
monster without soul or human warmth. The action takes us from Europe
to America, where the military is about to launch a Vanguard missile.
Aware something terrible is on the cards (But
not how terrible those cards can be),
Bond tries to warn the authorities, but gets the brush off. To
prevent a tragedy of international proportions, 007
and Jeopardy have to penetrate the mysterious
Sin's empire and Bond's life rests on the turn of a card...
Bond is presented as
Fleming wrote him, but for today. Gone are the racism and sexism that
so shock modern readers when they pick up an original. The book has
been extensively researched, with few errors or gaffes to mar the
illusion. I've read criticism of the decision to place this book
firmly in the 1950's, but it fits nicely with the originals and is
far more interesting placed with Fleming's works. I've
read a few of the continuation novels and, for me as a life-long
Fleming buff, Trigger Mortis is
as good as they come; Ian Fleming would surely be proud.
Trigger Mortis is
available everywhere; Orion Books, ISBN 978-1-4091-5913-1 and
priced at £18.99 in the UK.
Visit the author's site at;
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