Brokenclaw

Brokenclaw by John Gardner

Brokenclaw is about the eighth or ninth James Bond book by John Gardner, who took over the super-spy series after the late Ian Fleming.  For those (such as myself) who are fans of the James Bond movies, know that the majority of these movies, up through the Timothy Dalton era, were somewhat loosely based on Fleming’s novels and short stories that he wrote from 1957 up until his death in 1964.  The books were immensely popular in their day, and whereas time hasn’t been as kind since the writing style is somewhat dated, they become a source of fascination due to the longevity of the films.

Although there was one lone novel by a lone author in 1968 (Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis), John Gardner was the first author who resurrected the literary spy in a series of novels beginning in 1981 through 1995.  These books were released in a timespan that usually resulted in one book per year, and although they don’t have the same rich literary sweep as the Fleming novels, they were overall well received as somewhat of a “B” novel.  Meaning, other than the James Bond fan, they never received much attention.

The James Bond of the books, both Gardner’s and Fleming’s, was a bit more dry and a bit more serious.  Humor is almost non-existent, yet the stories are all quite fantastic as to the fact that they can never be taken quite seriously.  There isn’t nearly the same amount of action as there is in the films - especially the latter day ones.  You won’t read about extensive boat chases on the Thames river, exploding warehouses, or people being pushed out of airplanes without parachutes, but then again, those scenarios don’t translate that well to the written word anyway.

As matter of fact, with Gardner’s books, there really isn’t that much action at all.  The stories contain a lot of introspection and, to be fair, kind of all blend after awhile and become a bit too similar.  Maybe it’s my impatience, but I don’t have luck recalling much of the details of these books.  I couldn’t really say “That’s the James Bond book that ____________”.  At the risk of sounding a bit OCD, I almost find myself reading these books out of obligation.  Once I’ve read everything by an author, I have a hard time stopping.  Fortunately, these books by John Gardner aren’t too detailed nor too long and can be easily polished off over a weekend.

Having said all of the above, I confess that although I’m reviewing a book I read less than two months ago, I have a hard time remembering much of the details.  It’s hard when so many of the stories are so similar.  Usually, the trend in the books revolve around a “thriller” of an introduction setting up the plot, then an obligatory meeting with M, the chief (who has a much larger role, it seems, in the John Gardner books), a “good guy” (or girl) that will double-cross him somewhere in the plot, and there’s always "the Bond girl".  Yes, they're in the books as well.  In this novel, the villain is of Native American descent, wanting to bring some sort of destruction somehow, somewhere on the globe, and Bond outwits him near the end in a very sadistic, tribal ritual where he “competes” against Brokenclaw - complete with piercings, burnings, and other nastiness to the flesh.  It’s quite sickening.

Still, the book does what it sets out to do, and whereas reading all of the Gardner books probably aren’t necessary, it’s probably worth it to pick up one or two at a used bookshop.  This one is par for the course.