Author: Anthony Horowitz
Author Anthony Horowitz returns the world’s most famous ‘secret agent’, James Bond to his Ian Fleming heyday in this exhilarating and dashing thriller, “Trigger Mortis.” As a huge fan of the original James Bond series and, especially, the Sean Connery/Daniel Craig films, I found this read to be very satisfying. I thought Horowitz effectively captured the spirit of the Ian Fleming novels in this impressive story. It was clearly based on the Fleming novels rather than the films.
As Bond-villain plots go, this is a clever one. Set right after the “Goldfinger” novel/film, this book is split into two separate subplots, each covering a different mission. It had the typical James Bond-like plot involving a suitably diabolical and grandiose scheme. And an excellent mimic of Fleming’s prose of characters and action scenarios. The first part even re-introduces Ms “Pussy Galore” (most creative character name in literary history), even though she feels like an add on to the overall storyline. Also, according to the notes section in the book, it was acknowledged that Ian Fleming actually wrote a few pages of the book thus the feel of the story being split into two parts. Overall, the second part of the storyline held the scope that Bond fans have come to expect from the Bond movies, even though the first part of the book was much more engaging and suspenseful from a literary standpoint. Plus the Pussy Galore piece was a very nice addition to an overall entertaining story.
Although I may be considered a strict James Bond 007 aficionado, Trigger Mortis has more than enough pleasures for most Bond thrillers. This action spy thriller has all the hallmarks of an original Ian Fleming adventure and delivers in being one of the better non Ian Fleming novels. Horowitz delivers a smooth and seductive narrative of fast cars, beautiful women, and ruthless villains in a breathtaking plot that had me reading until the very end. If you like the old-school James Bond stories and movies like Goldfinger and Thunderball, then you will love Trigger Mortis (another great creative Bond-like name/title).
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