Cold

John Gardner's Bond #16

by John Gardner

James Bond is on a mission that will become an obsession. It starts the night Flight 229 is torn apart at Washington airport, killing 435 passengers. But the victim who matters to Bond is the Principessa Sukie Tempesta: once his lover, still his friend. The search for Sukie's killers will turn out to be the most complex and demanding assignment of Bond's career. Across continents and through ever-changing labyrinths of evil, he follows the traces of clues into the centre of a fanatical society more deadly than any terrorist army. Its code name is COLD.

Genres: Fiction, Espionage, Thriller, Action, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Adventure

253 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 2, 1996

About the author

Before coming an author of fiction in the early 1960s, John Gardner was variously a stage magician, a Royal Marine officer and a journalist. In all, Gardner has fifty-four novels to his credit, including Maestro, which was the New York Times book of the year. He was also invited by Ian Fleming’s literary copyright holders to write a series of continuation James Bond novels, which proved to be so successful that instead of the contracted three books he went on to publish some fourteen titles, including Licence Renewed and Icebreaker.

Having lived in the Republic of Ireland, the United States and the UK, John Gardner sadly died in August of 2007 having just completed his third novel in the Moriarty trilogy, Conan Doyle’s eponymous villain of the Sherlock Holmes series.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a few of Gardner's Bond novels in my teens and found them utterly forgettable. This one was no exception.

Both the narrative voice and Bond's miss the mark uncomfortably. This is not my basically chivalrous, mildly sadistic, cruel-mouthed professional b*st*ard. It's some other dude who has to have his jokes tagged with "Bond quipped" just in case we didn't notice they were meant to be funny.

Plus points: some of it is now amusingly retro, e.g. the importance of Macs running PowerPC.

Props to Gardner for creating his own internally consistent canon for Bond, but I would have had a better time re-reading a Fleming novel yet again.

This one seems to be leading into the novelisation of Goldeneye, which I apparently own, so maybe I'll give that another shot. Maybe.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final installment in John Gardner's excellent 007 series, this book lives up to the hype. James Bond confronts COLD, a sinister group that plots to take over in the US. Along the way, he gets involved with an Italian crime syndicate as well as several damsels. The book followed the typical format, but was highly entertaining. If you've kept up on the series, be sure to pick up and enjoy this concluding volume.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sea Fire was a sequel to Send No Flowers. This is a prequel and sequel. In prior reviews of prior Gardner books, I complained of mid-book slog. That doesn’t happen here. I was surprised how hooked and fast I read this one.
We have dangerous criminals and real spy work. The exploding plane story read realistic. Then we go to the sequel part of the book. I felt something for Flicka when I read about her. I thought the author would really break down Bond. Gardner wrote a superhero in the past. Too bad. He becomes more sentimental for a while here.
There is a nod to the new cinematic M at the end of the story.
Bond book traits- breakfast foods- check
Meeting with M- check
Lucky save- maybe.
I don’t know if Gardner knew this was the end of his run. He brings back prior characters but he doesn’t close out or end the characters.
This is definitely one of my favorite Gardner books.

[Richard Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally appeared, with spoilers, on The Reel Bits as part of my 007 Case Files. An abbreviated version follows. (There's some minor spoilers here, but nothing that would ruin enjoyment).

If we were to compare the various Bond writers the way we do the actors portraying the spy, then John Gardner is probably the Roger Moore of the bunch.

Sure, Gardner’s tenure spanned Moore, Timothy Dalton, and the start of Pierce Brosnan’s run. Starting in 1981 with Licence Renewed, he has to date served as the longest writer on the series, longer than even Ian Fleming.

He is revered and affectionately mocked in equal measure by fans, mirroring the mixed sentiments Moore elicited from cinema audiences. Like the actor’s portrayal, he could be action-packed and technical, sometimes awkwardly sexy, and often with tongue planted in cheek.

So, with his final novel COLD (aka COLD FALL), first published in 1996, he releases what is arguably his most ambitious and complex novel of the run. Depending on where you are in the world, the two different titles for this book reflect either the US or UK market. Yet it’s the former that retains something closer to Gardner’s vision, splitting the novel into two books: “Cold Front” and “Cold Conspiracy.”

It opens with the explosion of a plane on the Dulles International tarmac, so this was perhaps not my best choice to start reading as my own flight was boarding. It results in the death of one of Moneypenny’s close friends, but also one of Bond’s former love interests.

[The original version has some bigger spoilers here so go check that out or read the book if you prefer]

The second half of the book picks up five years later, with the gap filled by earlier novels Never Send Flowers and SeaFire. The extremist group called COLD (Children of the Last Days) and the mob are apparently trying to overthrow the US government, so the US government hires Bond to drop in and take them out. No prizes for guessing who causes COLD’s fall.

COLD is a divisive entry in the Bond canon. On release, Kirkus Reviews called it “a junk Bond: clumsy, predictable, and utterly lacking in…elegant insouciance.” A quick environmental scan of the various Bond discussion forums sees opinions split down the middle, with very strong feelings in either direction.

Yet it’s hard to dislike something as unabashedly over-the-top as this. M’s kidnapping, which seems to be habit forming for the old man, reveals that Bond views him as something of a father figure. There's a helicopter fight that is genuinely gripping. Perhaps it is only the climax, where a few too many coincidences have to be believed, makes the denouement feel alternatively rushed and lacking.

Still, after 15 years of writing Bond, Gardner grabs the opportunity to take one final stroll through his own universe, reminding us of his distinctiveness from Fleming. Getting a chance to revisit some of his own characters, and maybe rewrite their fates a little bit, he leaves us with hints that the incoming M is a woman. Thus, the transition to GoldenEye, which Gardner adapted a few years earlier, becomes canonical. Gardner is free to exit stage left.

With COLD, the Gardner era comes to a close – but it’s not the end of the Bond continuation novels. He would be succeeded by Raymond Benson, who had previously written the non-fiction The Bedside Bond Companion (1984). Still, Gardner brought a style that few would say has been repeated. It was bold, occasionally unsuccessful, sometimes forgettable, but always full of charm and action. It was, in other words, Bond. James Bond.

James Bond will return…in Blast from the Past.

[Paul Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so the Gardner series ends with a book that, like the others, is reasonable enough but not comparable with Fleming's work. Or rather, his Bond and his Bond girls are not comparable with those in Fleming's work. Even if you ignore the implausibility of the characters in the 1950s all continuing to the 1990s, they are not as well crafted and Gardner sees the female sidekicks as disposable. When Fleming allowed one to be murdered it mattered but in this series it happens several times and whilst Bond may feel the emotional attachment this reader doesn't. The other difficulty I had with this book is that the scale is too big, both in chronology and geography. Bond is best when thrust into a situation with little chance of survival. Here, apart from the first meeting with the too crazy General Clay, we know that there is a back-up plan and help available. Gardner doesn't finish on a high, but nor did Fleming, and it remains a decent read if you don't think about the characters too much.

[Diana Nagy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read. When I started reading it a few months ago, I put it down because I started another book that ended up capturing my attention. Because I had just begun it, I ended up forgetting about it til a week ago when I picked it up and absolutely loved it. I couldn't stop reading it and finished it in days.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a great plot

[Dustin Dye · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Gardner wraps up his Bond series with COLD Fall. The first half of the book is set in 1990, with Bond assigned to represent the Secret Intelligence Service in an American plane crash investigation, but, due to a conflict-of-interest resulting from his connection with a passenger who was mysteriously absent from the flight, Sukie Tempesta from Nobody Lives For Ever , Bond is reassigned by the FBI, with SIS's blessing, to go off on a tangent to look into a connection between Sukie's in-laws--an Italian crime family--and an American right-wing, quasi-religious militia, Children of the Last Days (COLD).

The second half of the book brings Bond back on the case to hunt down COLD in 1994, immediately following the events of SeaFire . Bond teams up with a former Bond girl Beatrice de la Ricci from Win, Lose or Die to infiltrate the Tempestas' villa and confront COLD's top brass.

COLD Fall continued the continuity Gardner started in Never Send Flowers , and backtracks to bring back characters from previous books. The continuity isn't perfect though. In GoldenEye , Bond alluded to Flicka von Grüsse, who was badly injured in SeaFire, and said she would end up in a wheelchair, but she dies in this book, which ends immediately before GoldenEye. I liked the idea of a former Bond girl feeling so jilted she has to devise an elaborate revenge. This was perhaps the most subversive idea Gardner included in his series, and perhaps not surprising he waited until the final book to do it. One small thing I enjoyed was M finally referring to Bond as "007" for the first time in Gardner's series (the double-oh section had been dissolved before the events in License Renewed , with Bond instead going by the cryptonym "Predator," as in "child ...").

One great quote from Bond perfectly captures the current moment in American history vis-a-vis the world:

I suppose it's the world's unspoken greatest fear--an American isolationist policy which would take them off the board altogether, make them self-supporting; allow them to get on with taming their own country by brute force, and probably a lot of ignorance as well.

Otherwise, COLD Fall is another middling potboiler in the same vein as his previous books.

John Gardner's Bond series, a retrospective

Having finished Gardner's series, I found the experience to be a slog. Unlike Ian Fleming's books, they were formulaic and insipid. Fleming's books were flamboyant and distinct from one another, with the "Bond formula" not really being established until the Goldfinger and Thunderball movies. The first act of From Russia, with Love followed SMERSH planning their assassination of James Bond, without the reader encountering the character until well into the book. The Spy Who Loved Me was told entirely from the first-person point-of-view of the Bond girl, with 007 not appearing until the end. As bad as that book was, at least it was different and unexpected.

For the most part, Gardner's books were flat-out boring, and usually forgettable, with the exception of one that stands head-and-shoulder above the pack ( The Man from Barbarossa ) or those that are bafflingly bad ( Never Send Flowers , Licence to Kill , Role of Honor ). When Sukie Tempesta was reintroduced in COLD Fall, her name only vaguely rang a bell. I confirmed she had indeed been the Bond girl in Nobody Lives For Ever, and read a synopsis of that book, but remembered so little of it, I thought I had somehow skipped over it. But going through my Goodreads read shelf, I see I had in fact given it four stars three years ago (I might have to reconsider that rating). "Forgettable" is pretty much the adjective that would sum up Gardner's series. Some books, such as Icebreaker, were so insipid you couldn't be blamed for forgetting what had happened two chapters earlier.

A lot of genre books are lazy, but Gardner's were lazy in their own way. In pretty much every book he describes SIS/MI6 headquarters as "the nondescript building overlooking Regents Park." Bond wears a "rollneck" on every mission. He falls head-over-heels for the Bond girl in nearly every book to create the "now it's personal" motive. Gardner often undercuts the action with a line like "later, Bond would realize...," assuring us Bond would survive the encounter. The books are often padded with needless, boring technical detail. I don't recall Fleming weighing down the narrative flow with technical details (in fact, Fleming was infamous for fudging such details). Other times Gardner would get bogged down describing Bond's fancy entrees and exotic locations, as if to imitate Fleming's gift for creating atmosphere through such devices. The difference was Fleming was writing for a post-War audience living through austerity, where readers could live vicariously through such details. Gardner's audience were Baby Boomers living through the excesses of the '80s and '90s, and such detail would be meaningless. Like Fleming, Gardner's action was often confusing and difficult to follow. Except where Fleming had the sense to keep action scenes relatively short, Gardner's blocky paragraphs of "action" go on for pages.

The main problem with these books, however, is that as they are part of a series in which Gardner was a middle author, so his hands were tied with how much he could grow the character. Bond has no character arc in any book or in the series, a prerequisite for great fiction. While some series, notably Seinfeld, are pure genius in their refusal to make the characters grow, that takes some level of skill which Gardner did not posses. I've read that his other books, like the Secret Generation trilogy, are clever and well-written, but I found his Bond series too frustrating to search out his other books. He was likely commissioned because he had an established brand, precluding the use of a pseudonym, but in the process he sullied his brand. One gets the impression these books were written on spec, with Gardner either being handed a treatment, written by a committee at Glidrose Publishing, or submitting a treatment, which went through a committee's approval, and the end result was a bland product he wrote for the paycheck and didn't particularly care for, much like a trained chef working at Applebee's.

Gardner's books ranked

1. The Man from Barbarossa
2. SeaFire
3. License Renewed
4. No Deals, Mr. Bond
5. Nobody Lives For Ever
6. COLD Fall
7. Brokenclaw
8. Death Is Forever
9. For Special Services
10. Icebreaker
11. Win, Lose or Die
12. Scorpius
13. GoldenEye
14. Role of Honor
15. Licence to Kill
16. Never Send Flowers

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gardner's final Bond starts off fine but the second half is derivative, muddled and at times silly. The author brings back several characters from previous books. M gets kidnapped and retires. I had hoped for a better send off. Gardner wrote more Bond books than Fleming himself, some were very good, but these last couple outings felt pedestrian.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book really starts, stutters and stops over and over again as years pass by in the novel, and then comes to an abrupt and unsatisfactory ending. It was really just John Gardner tying up loose ends, and making sure no one else can use certain characters which he created.

[David]

Gardner’s final Bond novel. Both transitional and retro. Characters from at least four earlier Gardner novels reappear, and there is clear evidence that he’s writing in cooperation with the film team.

[Honey Rose007 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hearing the audiobook, Cold (also titled Cold Fall in the US) is the sixteenth and final James Bond continuation novel by John Gardner, published in 1996. It serves as his swan song to the series he helmed from 1981 onward.
The story unfolds in two parts:
• “Cold Front” and “Cold Conspiracy.”
• It begins with a catastrophic plane crash at Washington’s Dulles Airport, apparently killing Bond’s recurring lover, Principessa Sukie Tempesta.
• Bond investigates, uncovering ties to an Italian crime family (the Tempestas) and a fanatical American militia/terrorist group called COLD (Children of the Last Days), led by a megalomaniacal general with far-right isolationist and religious extremist vibes.
• The plot involves transatlantic intrigue, betrayals, multiple Bond girls (as usual), and ties back to characters and threads from Gardner’s earlier books like SeaFire and Never Send Flowers.
• It also bridges toward the post-Gardner era by retiring the old M and hinting at a female successor (aligning with the films).
Reviews are mixed, as is common with Gardner’s Bond output. Some fans praise it as one of his stronger efforts—a solid wrap-up with exciting action, callbacks to his series, and a prescient villainous group evoking real-world extremist militias. Others criticize it for feeling rushed, predictable, overly reliant on sex and escapes, and portraying a somewhat dimmer Bond than Fleming’s sharper version. The four-year narrative gap in the middle (summarizing prior adventures) feels awkward to many, and the prose is seen as workmanlike rather than stylish.
It’s entertaining pulp espionage if you’re a completionist or enjoy ‘90s Bond vibes, but it lacks the elegance or tension of Fleming’s originals. Gardner’s Bonds are generally more formulaic potboilers than literary thrillers.
My rating: 3 out of 5.
A decent, middling finale—better than some of his weaker entries like SeaFire, but not top-tier Bond. Fun for fans, skippable otherwise.
Expanded Review of Cold by John Gardner
John Gardner’s Cold (1996) marks the end of his 16-novel run as the official James Bond continuation author, picking up where Ian Fleming left off. It’s a book that tries to tie up loose ends from his own series while delivering a high-stakes thriller, but it ultimately lands in the middle of the pack for Bond fans—hence my 3/5 rating. It’s competently entertaining as escapist spy fiction, with solid action sequences and some intriguing villainous concepts, but it suffers from pacing issues, formulaic elements, and a sense of being a bit too derivative of Gardner’s own tropes rather than elevating the Bond legacy. If you’re deep into the continuation novels, it’s a satisfying (if not spectacular) closer; otherwise, it feels like a skippable entry that doesn’t match the wit or depth of Fleming’s originals or even the best of Gardner’s earlier works like Licence Renewed or For Special Services.
Why a 3/5? Strengths and Weaknesses
On the positive side, Cold has moments of genuine excitement and relevance. The villains—a far-right American militia group called COLD (Children of the Last Days), led by the charismatic but deranged General Brutus Clay—feel eerily prescient in a post-1990s context, echoing real-world extremist movements with their blend of religious fanaticism, isolationism, and anti-government paranoia. Gardner weaves in transatlantic intrigue effectively, bouncing between the US and Europe, and includes callbacks to his previous books (e.g., recurring characters like Sukie Tempesta and threads from SeaFire). The action is pulp-y fun: high-speed chases, narrow escapes, and gadgetry that fits the Bond mold. It’s better than some of Gardner’s weaker efforts, like the convoluted SeaFire or the forgettable Death Is Forever, where plots meander without payoff.
However, the flaws drag it down to middling territory. The narrative is split into two parts (“Cold Front” and “Cold Conspiracy”), but it often feels rushed and predictable—Bond uncovers betrayals, beds multiple women (including a new flame, Beatrice Maria da Ricci, and the returning Sukie), and thwarts a grand scheme with little real tension. There’s an awkward four-year time jump midway through, which Gardner handwaves by summarizing off-page adventures, making the story feel disjointed and like a shortcut to wrap things up. Bond himself comes across as a bit dimmer and more reactive than Fleming’s cunning operative; he’s more of a blunt instrument here, relying on luck and brawn over sharp intellect. The prose is straightforward but lacks flair—workmanlike spy thriller stuff without the poetic edge or psychological insight that makes the best Bond books memorable. Critics at the time (and since) have noted it’s overly reliant on sex scenes and improbable escapes, which can feel dated or gratuitous. Overall, it’s a 3/5 because it’s functional Bond fare that entertains without innovating or lingering in your mind—solid for completists, but not essential.
Key Plot Points (Light Spoilers)
The book opens with a bang: a devastating crash of an Italian airliner at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., which seemingly kills Bond’s lover, Sukie Tempesta (from earlier Gardner novels). Bond, on assignment, dives into the investigation, suspecting foul play tied to Sukie’s powerful Italian crime family. This leads him to uncover COLD’s plot, which involves a conspiracy to ignite chaos through terrorism and manipulation, aiming to reshape global power dynamics. Along the way, Bond teams up with CIA and FBI agents (including a female operative who becomes a romantic interest), faces double-crosses within his own ranks, and confronts Clay in a climactic showdown. There’s a nod to Bond’s aging (he’s in his 50s here), with hints of retirement and a changing MI6—including the exit of the old M and setup for a female successor, mirroring the Pierce Brosnan film era. The plot ties back to Gardner’s continuity, like unresolved elements from Never Send Flowers, but it doesn’t require reading the whole series to follow.
Creative Liberties Taken by Gardner
Gardner, who took over the Bond novels in 1981 at the behest of the Fleming estate, had a mandate to update 007 for the modern era while staying true to the spirit. In Cold, he exercises several liberties that distinguish his take from Fleming’s colder, more introspective Bond:
• Modernization and Setting: Unlike Fleming’s mid-20th-century focus, Gardner sets this in the 1990s, incorporating contemporary issues like American militias (inspired by events like Waco or Ruby Ridge) and early hints of globalization fears. This makes COLD’s ideology feel timely, but it’s a liberty that sometimes veers into caricature—the villains are more over-the-top megalomaniacs than nuanced threats.
• Character Expansions and Inventions: Gardner freely invents recurring elements across his series, like Sukie’s family ties or Bond’s personal relationships, which add soap-opera drama not present in Fleming. He also dials up Bond’s romantic entanglements and makes him more of a team player with international agencies, softening the lone-wolf archetype. The female characters, while empowered in action roles, often fall into “Bond girl” tropes with liberties in their backstories (e.g., Beatrice’s mysterious past) that prioritize plot convenience over depth.
• Tonal Shifts and Series Continuity: Gardner builds his own canon, ignoring some Fleming purist elements (like Bond’s vintage Bentley in favor of modern Saabs) and introducing gadgets or scenarios that feel more cinematic than literary. In Cold, the prescient militia plot is a creative stretch, blending real-world politics with Bond’s world—liberties that work for thrills but can feel preachy or implausible. He also takes the liberty of “retiring” aspects of the old guard to pave the way for future authors, like Raymond Benson.
If you’re a Bond enthusiast, Cold is worth a read for closure on Gardner’s arc, but for casual fans, I’d recommend sticking to Fleming or the films. If you want recommendations for better continuation novels or comparisons to other authors, let me know!

[Clem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold Fall marked the end of the John Gardner authored James Bond books when it came out around 1997. After finishing this tale, I’m convinced that Gardner was aware it would be his last, and labored through with the sole intention of finishing up the book as quickly as he could.

This book has some interesting ideas, but never seems to really ever let much of a plot develop. It doesn’t help when the “story” takes a five year break in the middle of the book. The only reason that I can think the author does this is so he can make this a continuation (somewhat) from his last novel (Seafire), but he needed too big of a background to set it up properly. So the second half of this novel takes place at the conclusion of his last book.

Not that any of this really matters. The “continuation” I speak of revolves around his love interest from the last novel. The Bond Girl ends up pretty mangled in the last effort, and since Bond really “cares for this one”, we can’t really just let her fade off into the post-Bond Girl sunset. Speaking of Bond Girls, I think there’s a total of three former ones that show up in this story. I’m not entirely sure about that – as the books don’t stay in my memory as prevalently as the movies do. Plus, add one or two more consequential ladies to the story, and you have a lot of women running through the story with names like “Flicka” and “Sukie”.

The plot revolves around a terrorist group called C.O.L.D., which stands for Children of the Last Days. They’re one of those morally righteous groups that think the only way the earth can get any better is to bring mass destruction everywhere so society can essentially start over.

This book also is supposedly the last to feature the original M. M is getting old. He was pretty ill in the last book, and now the powers that be are pushing him towards retirement. There are hints of the new M. It’s a (gasp) female M. This is probably because this book came out right around the time the Pierce Brosnan movies started when Mme. Judi Dench reprised the role.

Had this book been fleshed out a bit more, it might have been more enduring. It’s very short in length, yet as I’ve mentioned, it seems like this is what the author was trying to do. When we finally get to that obligatory point in the Bond story where the villain is describing his plot to overthrow the world, the reader can’t help but notice that the book only has ten more pages of content. It can’t be that big of a deal if Bond only gets ten pages to save the universe. On a related note to James Bond villains everywhere: Don’t ever consciously keep James Bond in the room with all of the bad guys when you describing your fiendish plot. You see, this gives 007 an advantage as he’s trying to save the world since he’ll now know exactly what he needs to do.

Gardner had a pretty good run. Some of his books were really good, some of them were really not good, most were in between. This one could have been better had he put a bit more care into it.

[Padraic Ó Broin · Rating 1 out of 5]

John Gardner said that he would much rather be remembered for his own works than he would for Bond. After completing all 16 of his books, I can see why.

This book was dogged by lazy almost childlike writing. I'm not bothered writing on depth about his characters because, if you have read his Bond books you know they are bad. What annoyed me was the daft, infantile spy tropes. It was so basic and.... dumb.

COLD: an organisation set for domination. that's fine. what do they call their plan of action? Operation Blizzard. Right.
What are the authorities calling the counter-operatoon? Antifreeze. Oh very good.

The head of this is criminal gang is referred to as the Ice King and the Ice Queen... . it's like a script for the Ninja Turtles cartoon.

___

Another reviewer mentioned that one thing they can credit Gardner for is for creating his own Bond continuity and that's fair enough. However, I felt that it was used just to phone in the final book and be done with Bond. The characters brought back are all the same bland character and honestly, you could not tell the difference between them. You could say that for every female character on it. Then he just kills them off, sometimes multiple times

I believe Gardner was having health issues at this time wrapping up with Bond so that could have affected his story writing but it's not just this book, the final three of his books (Seafire, GoldenEye and COLD) all seemed phoned in compared to previous entries... none of which are amazing.

Out of all of his books my favourite pics were Icebreaker, Nobody Lives Forever (*because it's a good concept) and No Deals Mr.Bond (*because he spends times in my home town in Ireland and it's cool to see it in the Bond Universe). Those two asterixes are doing aot of heavy lifting.

In short, I'm glad I read the books. I wouldn't recommend them to even Bond fans and sadly, I'm not overly pushed about checking out Mr.Gardnes own works despite his wishes. But Never Say Never....

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A British plane crashes on landing at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. and James Bond is sent to investigate. He is incentivized to solve the crime because onboard was his old flame from Nobody Lives Forever, Sukie Tempesta. Bond gets involved in an FBI operation to capture Sukie's stepsons who are high level Italian mobsters. Bond goes to Italy with a hot FBI chick, then leaves the scenic and historical hills of Tuscany for the equally scenic and historical hills of Idaho to face down the head of a private militia who may be part of some group called the Children of the Last Days, COLD. COLD plans to take over the U.S. and turn it into a perfect police state. After some shooting and some splosions Bond goes to the hospital and then forgets all about COLD. For years.

Literally for years. The events of Never Send Flowers and Seafire take place before Bond is reminded about COLD. An old flame from Death is Forever calls him up and invites him into a trap. He goes, gets trapped, gets out, goes some more, gets trapped some more, gets out, and gets reprimanded for saving the world. The end.

A lot of people close to Bond get dead in this one. Some of them get better, but not all. It really looks like John Gardner knew this was to be his last Bond novel because he goes out of his way to call up references to past books, including the movie adaptation Goldeneye. Bond spends a good deal of time lamenting lost loves, but he does get a decent breakfast, does his lame exercise routine, and has a smoke for old times sake. It's a fair book by itself, and I always appreciate the effort to introduce a little fan service into something when it is coming to an end.

[Lee Penney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should start by saying that I listened to the abridged version, which didn’t do this any favours (it doesn’t any book). It did mean this was mercifully short though.

I was assuming this would be a thriller in the vein of the original Bond novels, where we delve into the world of super-villains and follow our hero across continents, visiting exotic locales and decadent venues.

Not so here. We do move around a lot, in fact it’s more like a pinball machine as we bounce from place to place. This is certainly not helped by the abridging. Characters are, likewise, introduced and thrown away at breakneck speed.

The story itself is weak, disorganised (we jump forward several years at one point) and populated with cardboard cut-outs. The women exist in large part of throw themselves at Bond. I’ve no idea why though, as he appears to be a bumbling incompetent.

He doesn’t fight, he doesn’t investigate. In fact, the whole story seems to progress through Bond’s historical connections to various people (largely old flames).

It’s read by Christopher Cazenove in a ridiculously clipped accent and many of the voices are so similar I had difficulty distinguishing one character from the next in several interchanges. There was also a persistent background hum.

I’m not sure when this was originally released (early 90s at a guess, before mobile phones were commonplace certainly) but it feels so dated. If any evidence were needed that the Bond franchise required freshening up, this is it.

[Andy Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bit of a mess. I read a few of the early Gardner Bond series as a teen and think I enjoyed them then but have few recollections. And I read the Goldeneye novelisation at some point. This is the last of his and I think the estate must have been right to move to other authors. The Jeffrey Deaver South Africa outing was pretty decent. The value Bond adds to this US mission is totally dubious. Something to do with a terrorist attack (not solved by Bond), dead Bond girl, an unnecessary Tuscan villa raid infiltration of an organised crime gang for no particular reason that fails instantly, a kidnap of M who is in Italy for no particular reason, a trip to America where M has been taken for no reason to rescue him, a gap where the novel Seafire happens, a comatosed Bond girl, a return to Italy, news of another dead Bond girl, then comatosed Bond girl also dies, goes back to already bugged and infiltrated villa for no discernable reason, meets one of the dead Bond girls who wasn't really dead but is now a psychotic lunatic who wants him to give her away at her wedding, overhears unfeasibly silly plot to take over American politics and set up a new puritan fascist State by planting a few bombs, mad Bond girl dies for real, Italian army has to save the day. Comic book plotting, cliche ridden phrases and some slightly un-Bondian references and jokes. The characters aren't entirely unappealing - there are a few reasonable action sequences, boats and jet skis, a stolen helicopter. Mostly hokum.

[Chrissy Brady · Rating 1 out of 5]

On one of my physical adventures this month I was cold and wet and simply took a time-out in the car while everyone else went on a hike. A bit of a toddler tantrum on my part I will admit, but happens to the best of us even past 40. Anyhoo, while I was drying out in the car without a cell phone (dead battery), I picked up a James Bond novel, Cold, that my husband was reading. But lo and behold, it was NOT written by Sir Ian Flemming! What sacrilege is this you ask? Apparently the publisher chose a successor who has been spitting out more Bond for the past 20 years or so. I was shocked! I was hoping for a good old-fashioned spy novel, one worthy of Bond's name, but John Gardner has disappointed me. There was a plot within a plot, at least three incomparable loves of Bond’s life, and a couple other others without continuity, and a really stupid wind-up. It stunk. I’ll give it back to hubby-dearest to see what he does with his stinkers. Stick to the originals.

[Russianwitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not like John Garder I have come to realize this very clearly while slogging through this book. The only reason I managed to get as far in it as I did, was because I had the audio version. It is very motivating on hikes as you try to run away from the nonsense plots and weird characterizations.
There are two parts to the book with a whole in between where, it seems, another one of Gardner's JB run books goes. There is no reason for this, though it has been suggested in a review I read that Gardner did this to kill off any of "his" characters who were still left so they could not be used in the future. This is the last book the man wrote and it shows in the writer's complete disinterest in the subject.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clearly Gardner was done with writing Bond with his last book in the series. Sometimes the text is so cheesy and cliche that it's a bit cringe to read. The relationships in this story were just plain silly and contrived, and the villains were comical. I finished it only because I am a completionist where James Bond is concerned.

SPOILER-ish

There is one chapter where Bond is sent to a villa in Italy to meet with an agent undercover and gather info but after getting there he almost immediately has to escape because one villain's wife tries to sexually assault Bond, causing her husband to try to shoot Bond resulting in an escape by boat with multiple henchmen getting blown up. He learns basically nothing about the plot except a name.

[Tony Drummond · Rating 3 out of 5]

The positive element of this novel is that we see Bond doing things that a normal MI6 agent would do: we first see him doing some admin; he has to hang around between missions; work with other country's agencies and actually does some spying.

The problem is that this is a bit dull. We have 3 rather tame action scenes with the finale being particularly under whelming. Several old flames are shoe horned into the narrative which makes it feel a bit disjointed.

This feels a good time for Gardner to finish his stint as the Bond author and allow others to follow on from his previously good books.

[Jamal Gorham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a Bond novel and overall I enjoyed it. Being used to the movies the pacing is much different and it unfolds much more like a mystery than an action which is a nice change of pace. I think they did a nice job setting the landscape for a globe trotting complex mystery but it possibly lacked the necessary development of the antagonist that I would have enjoyed. I will be checking out another entry in this series.

[Perry Van Wesel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gardner's last James Bond-book, and it doesn’t end on a high note. The mystery in the beginning is interesting and seemingly leads into a bigger conspiracy. But the time-jump in the middle takes away a lot of the excitement that needs to be built up again. The big bad is also just kinda there. No real special personality or anything. The Tempesta-family is a far more interesting adversary but dumped to soon for the general.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is, I think, the last John Gardner Bond novel. He went out with a bang, but a small one. Much (IMHO) of the book was taken up with the new M coming on (a woman to reflect the movies) and I did not get the sense that Bond was ever really in mortal danger.

To use a comparison, a strong Dalton Bond, but a medium Connery Bond.

Even so, read it!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the last Gardner 007 novel. I’ve enjoyed these - mostly because my brain needs a break and James Bond is usually reliable for shallow, vapid entertainment. Gardner course corrects after the last few novels where he was getting trying to stray from formula. He didn’t quite get back to the classic 007 form but it was a decent not for him to go out on.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second novel I have read from Gardner and as per the first (Scorpius) I thoroughly enjoyed it. A good plot, plenty twists and Bond was Bond. It also had some links and suggestions to how Bond is now played in the movies which I liked. Brutus is another great villain. Great Bond read.

[Alyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Bond’s action but more on the screen than in print. There were some technical, but necessary portions. Bond’s smooth and engaging personality was more effective on the screen. But overall, still a joy to read

[Katharine Ott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Cold Fall" - written by John Gardner and published in 1996 by Putnam Adult. It's James Bond, so that's good, but not an especially entertaining story.

[Benjamin Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adequate ending to a an average series by Gardner. Biggest complaint is that M retired and justified Judi Dench being cast in the role.

[Seth P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome