SeaFire (John Gardner's Bond, #14)

The author writes a good James Bond story and this is one of the best. Ian Fleming must be smiling down on him. We know Bond's lifestyle and this book will point out his vanity, letting us see that he is far from perfect.

This book is written as the last of the Bond series and it was a good endeavor. We are told his weak points, his strong points, that he does not have a heart of stone and can shed tears. Although there are other Bond stories, they will not move his life and career further on. 

"Brokenclaw" (John Gardner's Bond #10)

This story started with possibilities. But this Bond is not the Bond I know. He hides rather than confront. The story was readable with a predictable ending.

"Win, Lose or Die" (John Gardner's Bond, #8)

Where is James Bond? What have you done with him? This character sounds like a rookie not a seasoned operative. In his first conversation with "M", he is wimpy, a pale version of the real James Bond. The author uses sex scenes to capture the real Bond but makes a poor job of it. It is ill thought out with ridiculous dialogue. The story is a "B" movie with a lot of high school drama.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

With this I refer to my visit to the hospital yesterday. I had to go for a stress test. This is good because I was able to get it so soon, this is bad because I had to get it and this is ugly because I have to go for more tests.
Finished reading a James Bond book yesterday and one of the female characters was called Clover. Yesterday evening I watched a "Sniper" movie and one of the female characters was called Clover. What are the chances of that? I am always surprised when this happens, even though it happens a lot.
Every generation has its golden idol for whom they march and destroy. They believe this to be the way to change the world. It can change small deficiencies but you can never eliminate poverty and you can never eliminate racism because people are people. 

James Bond's "M"

In the James Bond movies they should have promoted Bond to "M".

"Circus" by Alistair MacLean

This is a book of Cold War intrigue but not a book to keep you up late to read the next chapter. To steal plans from a lab in eastern Europe, you would expect an elite team to be sent in or at least a James Bond. In this story, they are sending in a circus. The first thing I noticed was that the author was getting rid of characters fairly soon, narrowing the field for heroes. 
The main character is an aerialist and mentalist whose feats are far-fetched and greatly exaggerated. I find the character unlikable. The main female character is an inept CIA agent, chosen for her looks rather than her intelligence. It's an easy read and might even be considered a YA yarn.

"When Eight Bells Toll" by Alistair MacLean

"When Eight Bells Toll" is a spy novel. It is characteristic of that genre written in the 50's. If you replaced the main character Calvert with James Bond, you would get a similar take on the book. It involves piracy on the coast of Scotland with the Secret Service to the rescue. The first part reminds me of the opening of a Bond film, instant excitement before the credits start rolling. Although the action was fairly fast paced, I was not too excited about the ending. The explanation for the sequences of events was long drawn out and tiring. Four stars for me.