Never Send Flowers

Never Send Flowers by John Gardner

It is now officially official: I’m going to take a break from the John Gardner penned James Bond books.  As I’ve stated in previous reviews, I am currently fiercely committed to getting through the series of books by the author who ‘officially’ took over this concatenation from Ian Fleming.  These books are overall good, but lacking in originality and depth, and I can’t help but feel that I’m not doing the reviews justice since I seem to be plodding through at a faster pace than what is probably required.

I made a dedicated effort to go through this one a bit slower and really allow the story to sink in, and not hurry through in an attempt to simply “get it over with”.  I think I succeeded overall, yet even going through this one at a less-than manic pace, I can’t help but feel I’ve read all of this before.  Again and again and again.  In all of the other John Gardner Bond novels.

The book starts off well.  Several high profile individuals from around the globe are mysteriously assassinated in what seems to be a well thought out, carefully constructed manner.  In other words, someone powerful must be pulling the strings.  So James Bond is called in to investigate.  Of course he’s paired up with a lovely honey who can best be described as a counterpart from one of the countries where one of the killings has taken place.  Well, here’s a rule for James Bond books - anytime a lady with better than average looks appears within the first fifty pages - well, can you guess what will happen?

Sadly, from this point, the story goes downhill.  The murderer, somehow, ends up being a high profile movie actor.  Of course, during the story, Bond is lured into the bad guy’s lair - before we know he’s the actual bad guy, of course.  And his abode is far from humble.  It’s more like a castle or a fortress with all sorts of bizarre thespian amenities.

The rest is predictable - no real surprises.  I’m actually yawning as I write this.  I’ll definitely pick up on the series again.  It will just be awhile.  I need a Bond break.  At least from the books.