The Man From Barbarossa

The Man From Barbarossa by John Gardner

As I read through the next John Gardner penned James Bond book, it dawned on me that perhaps I need  a break from the series.  In my review of Brokenclaw, the previous Gardner title, I mentioned that my goal is to go through all of the James Bond books, and go through them in order.  Because of this, I find myself almost reading these out of obligation rather than pleasure.  It’s hard for me to divert to other works of fiction when I still have close to a dozen latter day Bond books still to be read.

So it was really hard for me to get into this novel, and I confess that I really just wasn’t into it.  The plot revolves around a sinister Russian crime syndicate pursuing a World War II war criminal that was in alignment with Hitler.  Unfortunately for all involved, the syndicate whose intentions may be noble, use the wrong methods to bring justice, so 007 is called in to infiltrate the organization.

By the time I got to the middle of the story, my brain just sort of mentally checked out (kind of like when you’re in one of those idiotic meetings at your job where the boss wants to go around the table and have everyone share their goals).  I found myself not really caring, and getting a bit lost in the details of the story.  The majority of this is more of a reflection of me, and not necessarily the story itself.  Although these Bond books do follow a pattern, and the pattern becomes a bit wearisome.  Perhaps if I only read one per year (the approximate timeframe when they tend to be written and released), it wouldn’t seem so redundant.  So I’m sure my blasé feeling towards the work is a bit biased.  I’ll give the next one a bit more attention and concentration, and it may be time for Bond break for a few months.  I’m sure the casual reader would enjoy several elements, so I’ll give this work the benefit of the doubt and say “it was ok”.