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John Gardner's Bond #11
The Man from Barbarossa
A deadly case of mistaken identities places 007 in direct conflict with a new breed of international terrorist in this Bond thriller.
307 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1991
38 people are currently reading
777 people want to read
About the author
John Gardner
113 books178 followersBefore 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
July 2, 2014
Gardner's 007 novels really peaked with "Nobody Lives Forever" and "Icebreaker", but, at this point, those are several stories ago. "The Man From Barbarossa" continues Bond's post-Cold War plights amidst new twists on old enemies. As is the case with many Gardner Bond books, there is significant detail, a lot of time spent on buildup, but I don't care about the non traditional Bond characters (Bond, M and Tanner are great because I know them, but the rest just don't matter) and the climax that I feel like we're building toward just fizzles. There is a great plot device three-quarters of the way through (you'll know when you get there) but it just feels like it could have been exploited more or longer. Where Fleming would make every scene come alive and Bond would stroll in, light his cigarette and swill his martini, Gardner's Bond just seems less exciting and a little more bland. Don't get me wrong - I still recognize him from time to time, but I cannot understand why such painstaking effort is taken to Americanize a character that is in no way American. 3 out of 5 stars.
January 17, 2018
Reading the Gardner Bonds is quite a bumpy ride overall, but reading this particular one makes one really long for any motion whatsoever. Book #10, Brokenclaw, still holds the unflattering position as the Mariana Trench-lowpoint, but this almost rivals that one's embarrassing storyline and character actions by pure boredom.
The story, as such, starts somehow during the late stages of WWII, but then we're in familiar territory once Bond, once again, finds himself collaborating with former enemies and rivals in a joint mission between different countries intelligence agencies in the post-cold war world we're in. Again, we don't know who's a double or a triple or who will turn on who and who will end up in bed with who. Or, wait, we do know that. Anyway, I confess to not following this too well as the entire story is told by people talking. Talking about what happened a long time ago and talking about what just happened. And what might happen and what will happen and what probably happened.
At one point in the book (when I was on the verge of dropping it all together), much of the cast went to Stockholm and I looked forward to reading Gardner's impressions and views on my dear city. Unfortunately, I didn't get to, as the characters had too much do discuss to squeeze in more than the fact that they were in Stockholm. This miffed me for a chapter or so, but then I was mightily awarded with great amusement when Bond and M dines fine on ølebrød ("the treacherous beer soup so popular in Stockholm"). Now the first clue to this being off is that the letter ø does not exist in the Swedish language, but only in Danish, Norwegian and Faroese. The second part is that "brød" is - of course - bread, and beer and bread to make soup does sound weird. Looking it up (on the Internet, you need to be James Bond to find a restaurant in Sweden that serves it), it is, more or less, a quite intimidating Danish specialty - something between soup and porridge - produced by boiling rye bread for 20 minutes, adding beer, boiling another 10 minutes and serving with whipped cream. I would certainly need some of that special Swedish rowanberry-flavored aquavit to wash that down (but the only one I could find was made in Poland, unfortunately).
After this refreshing interlude, it was back to trying to stay awake. And I did - the only reason I finished this though, is my on-going attempt at reading all the books in the series. This may or may not work out, quite remarkably, Gardner was trusted with 5(!) more books following this one. The next, Death Is Forever, I have read before, but not rated or reviewed, since I cannot remember anything about it. That doesn't bode well, of course, but at leas it is quite a short one...
The story, as such, starts somehow during the late stages of WWII, but then we're in familiar territory once Bond, once again, finds himself collaborating with former enemies and rivals in a joint mission between different countries intelligence agencies in the post-cold war world we're in. Again, we don't know who's a double or a triple or who will turn on who and who will end up in bed with who. Or, wait, we do know that. Anyway, I confess to not following this too well as the entire story is told by people talking. Talking about what happened a long time ago and talking about what just happened. And what might happen and what will happen and what probably happened.
At one point in the book (when I was on the verge of dropping it all together), much of the cast went to Stockholm and I looked forward to reading Gardner's impressions and views on my dear city. Unfortunately, I didn't get to, as the characters had too much do discuss to squeeze in more than the fact that they were in Stockholm. This miffed me for a chapter or so, but then I was mightily awarded with great amusement when Bond and M dines fine on ølebrød ("the treacherous beer soup so popular in Stockholm"). Now the first clue to this being off is that the letter ø does not exist in the Swedish language, but only in Danish, Norwegian and Faroese. The second part is that "brød" is - of course - bread, and beer and bread to make soup does sound weird. Looking it up (on the Internet, you need to be James Bond to find a restaurant in Sweden that serves it), it is, more or less, a quite intimidating Danish specialty - something between soup and porridge - produced by boiling rye bread for 20 minutes, adding beer, boiling another 10 minutes and serving with whipped cream. I would certainly need some of that special Swedish rowanberry-flavored aquavit to wash that down (but the only one I could find was made in Poland, unfortunately).
After this refreshing interlude, it was back to trying to stay awake. And I did - the only reason I finished this though, is my on-going attempt at reading all the books in the series. This may or may not work out, quite remarkably, Gardner was trusted with 5(!) more books following this one. The next, Death Is Forever, I have read before, but not rated or reviewed, since I cannot remember anything about it. That doesn't bode well, of course, but at leas it is quite a short one...
July 25, 2017
Gardner's Bond novels received pretty mixed reactions from Bond fans, and I can understand people's disappointment if they read his books expecting a big adventure like the Bond movies or the original Fleming novels. The majority of Gardner's novels don't follow the standard Bond formula. Rather than have Bond investigate some billionaire whose planning something evil, Gardner frequently has Bond embroiled in complex espionage plots and pitted against assorted communist agents and terrorists. And instead of describing food and locations in minute detail, Gardner gives details of real-life intelligence agencies, weapons, tradecraft, and the political climate of the time.
All of these elements are especially evident in The Man From Barbarossa. Bond is reluctantly assigned to an operation run by the KGB, along with Israeli and French agents. Posing as a camera crew set to film a mock war crimes trial, their mission is to infiltrate of the high echelons of the Scales of Justice, an underground group responsible for spreading a wave of terrorism across the crumbling Soviet Union. Of course, not is all as it seems, and Bond unravels a plot by a rogue Russian general to seize power in the Kremlin and supply Iraq with nuclear weapons on the eve of the First Persian Gulf War, as well as wipe out Washington, DC. Along the way, Bond confronts traitors on his team and a battalion of Russian spetsnaz.
There's very little action in this book, and it all comes at the end of the book. But Gardner still weaves a complex and intriguing plot that slowly unravels and reveals itself through the three hundred pages. While holding the reader's attention, you'll also never really be quite sure where the story is going next and will keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.
On the downside, the characters are not particularly well drawn out. The problem is that there are probably too many characters crammed into too small a book. Most characters simply aren't given enough time to develop or stand out. This is due mostly to the structure of the story. characters come in for a section of the book, then disappear for a large chunk of it, before being re-introduced.
If you want to read a good book, do not read this. All James Bond does in it is walk around Russia wearing Mukluks. The book could have been made a lot better if it had some decent action scenes in it to sustain it, but all it has is a part where James Bond rolls over the bonnet of a car and stuffs up his shoulder, a short gun battle at a chalet in Russia which is hardly worth mentioning and a final skirmish in my home town of Baku, which is at least some violent relief for us. The plot makes no sense, as do some characters that change sides later on in the story. Why? Why?
All of these elements are especially evident in The Man From Barbarossa. Bond is reluctantly assigned to an operation run by the KGB, along with Israeli and French agents. Posing as a camera crew set to film a mock war crimes trial, their mission is to infiltrate of the high echelons of the Scales of Justice, an underground group responsible for spreading a wave of terrorism across the crumbling Soviet Union. Of course, not is all as it seems, and Bond unravels a plot by a rogue Russian general to seize power in the Kremlin and supply Iraq with nuclear weapons on the eve of the First Persian Gulf War, as well as wipe out Washington, DC. Along the way, Bond confronts traitors on his team and a battalion of Russian spetsnaz.
There's very little action in this book, and it all comes at the end of the book. But Gardner still weaves a complex and intriguing plot that slowly unravels and reveals itself through the three hundred pages. While holding the reader's attention, you'll also never really be quite sure where the story is going next and will keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.
On the downside, the characters are not particularly well drawn out. The problem is that there are probably too many characters crammed into too small a book. Most characters simply aren't given enough time to develop or stand out. This is due mostly to the structure of the story. characters come in for a section of the book, then disappear for a large chunk of it, before being re-introduced.
If you want to read a good book, do not read this. All James Bond does in it is walk around Russia wearing Mukluks. The book could have been made a lot better if it had some decent action scenes in it to sustain it, but all it has is a part where James Bond rolls over the bonnet of a car and stuffs up his shoulder, a short gun battle at a chalet in Russia which is hardly worth mentioning and a final skirmish in my home town of Baku, which is at least some violent relief for us. The plot makes no sense, as do some characters that change sides later on in the story. Why? Why?
November 3, 2024
When a seemingly cold case comes to the surface, 007 must use all his skills to prevent a megalomaniac from taking over. I know; it sounds like a familiar plot, but trust me, this book is very much a page turner. I have read all the Anthony Horowitz Bond books, as well as the modernized one written by Kim Sherwood. This book ranks somewhat above Sherwood's Double or Nothing and below Horowitz's trilogy. A very worthy effort.
March 26, 2019
A friend described this as Gardner writing the book he wanted to write and bolting Bond on to it, which is a fair summary of a fairly odd plot. Gardner's not an awful writer (though he's also not a good one); my main issue is that his Bond doesn't speak and act the way Fleming's does.
March 2, 2019
Not one of John Gardner's better efforts. The labyrinthine, over-the-top plot and lots of double and triple crossing make it a confusing read.
June 19, 2017
Disappointing to say the least.
James Bond...no longer 007...no Q Branch goodies...non-smoker...no martini shaken not stirred...watered down spy...What's next? Turn Bond into a Woman?
James Bond...no longer 007...no Q Branch goodies...non-smoker...no martini shaken not stirred...watered down spy...What's next? Turn Bond into a Woman?
August 1, 2011
In John Gardner’s tenth addition to the James Bond series we see the hero join forces with Mossad and the KGB to confront a Russian terrorist organisation. The Scales of Justice have kidnapped an elderly man that they claim is the notorious war criminal Josif Vorontsov who was responsible for the Babi Yar massacre before moving on to the industrialised killing at the Sobibor death camp. They insist that the Soviet leaders put this man on trial to put an end to the systematic and institutionalised anti-Semitism of the government otherwise they will begin assassinating important members of the Supreme Soviet. There is just one problem; the Scales of Justice have got the wrong man. Bond and a Mossad agent have been called in at the express wishes of Boris Stepakov of the KGB to find out just what the Scales of Justice are really after.
Even by the standards of the Bond canon this is one that is hard to suspend the disbelief that the KGB would specifically ask for their arch nemesis to come on board to crush the terrorists.
Even by the standards of the Bond canon this is one that is hard to suspend the disbelief that the KGB would specifically ask for their arch nemesis to come on board to crush the terrorists.
Read
October 1, 2021Despite my complaints about its predecessor, I tend to think this one reclaims a bit of Gardner's early form in continuing the Bond series. Don't really know why I feel this way because, ultimately, we have, again, a single madman who wants to rule the world -- despite a lot of good disguise about terrorist cells for hire and so on. Perhaps it's all the doubling and tripling of agents, the roles played by Bibikova and her parents especially, but it just seems to work for me in a way that most of the later Gardners no longer do.
September 9, 2017
The more John Gardner James Bond novels you read, the more you realize that Gardner really retreads ideas. In addition to retreading ideas, he deliberately fills the book with red herrings and misdirections which become both confusing and frustrating. Further, a great deal of the book takes place away from James Bond which severely minimizes his importance in the novel.
February 16, 2014
This book really misses the mark. Story line never seems to develop into an interesting storyline. No significant moments of excitement throughout the book. This is the worst Bond novel I have read thus far.
October 7, 2019
James Bond is not dead, but he's not terribly lively either. John Gardner, taking over from Ian Fleming, writes a solid, well-researched thriller, but it lacks the zing, wit and kinkiness of true Bond. The enemies are more realistic, the plot more believable, but the edge is gone.
January 4, 2024
Bond just before Iraqi war, USSR in the final days, more a political thriler then traditional 007 adventure.
December 5, 2018
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”.
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”.
November 7, 2023
In the days before the First Gulf War, a Nazi war criminal from Ukrainia is kidnapped in New Jersey. A previously unknown group called the Scales of Justice demand that the Soviet government hold a public trial to prosecute him. The Scales of Justice declare they will execute a Soviet official every day until this happens. Because they can't trust that they haven't been infiltrated the KGB calls in the SIS, and the French. On top of it all, MOSSAD reveals that the terrorists have the wrong guy.
The KGB has found that the Scales of Justice intend to film their own trial, and James Bond along with a MOSSAD guy are sent to impersonate the camera crew. They meet some hot Russian chicks, some moles, and visit an Arctic Circle vacation resort. They film a Nazi war trial, take lots of showers, and then SPOILER James Bond gets killed. For which he gets a posthumous award.
This is an interesting Bond story without the cartoonish Bond villain we normally see. The whole trail thing is just strange and it is not clear just what the Scales of Justice is trying to accomplish. I was ready to give this one 2 stars or less for a dumb plot until suddenly it wasn't. The climactic plot is still crazy but it is credible that the villains would actually expect it to work. Others might not appreciate it but I liked the ultimate plot twist quite a lot.
The KGB has found that the Scales of Justice intend to film their own trial, and James Bond along with a MOSSAD guy are sent to impersonate the camera crew. They meet some hot Russian chicks, some moles, and visit an Arctic Circle vacation resort. They film a Nazi war trial, take lots of showers, and then SPOILER James Bond gets killed. For which he gets a posthumous award.
This is an interesting Bond story without the cartoonish Bond villain we normally see. The whole trail thing is just strange and it is not clear just what the Scales of Justice is trying to accomplish. I was ready to give this one 2 stars or less for a dumb plot until suddenly it wasn't. The climactic plot is still crazy but it is credible that the villains would actually expect it to work. Others might not appreciate it but I liked the ultimate plot twist quite a lot.
March 23, 2022
This book was originally reviewed on The Reel Bits for my 007 Case Files. Here's a spoiler-free extract:
Gardner distinguishes THE MAN FROM BARBAROSSA from his previous ten outings in a number of unique ways. Along with updating some of the chronological references, making it unlikely Bond was operating as a 00 agent in 1960s, it is consciously set outside the typical world of Bond. Here, 007 takes his orders not from M but the KGB. This is a world on the brink of war, filled with more political manoeuvring than straight-up action...
...The last time that a Bond book attempted to take a completely experimental approach with the Bond formula was Fleming’s own The Spy Who Loved Me, a book told entirely from the perspective of a woman who only had a brief connection to Bond. Some fans have compared the two books, and there is much to be said for this. Like The Spy Who Loved Me, this volume is also the most sexually explicit of the Bond stories to this point, with several distinct sex scenes that would make the fans of the film series blush.
December 4, 2019
The best of Gardner's Bond series.
This was the first of John Gardner's Bond books I thought was written with some actual style, which made the prose more Flemingeque than Gardner's previous books, where I would describe the prose as serviceable, but dry. This book also had a big question mark hanging over most of the story as the reader is in the dark about the Scales of Justice, who are more sinister, menacing and realistic than some of the other organizations Bond had gone up against in Gardner's series.
That's not to say the book is not without flaws. The French agents Bond continuously crosses paths with are basically pointless, especially the Henri Rampart character, who I expected to have more of an arc. Without getting into spoilers, I'll just mention I found the ending anti-climactic.
If I had to recommend only one of Gardner's Bond books, this would be it.
This was the first of John Gardner's Bond books I thought was written with some actual style, which made the prose more Flemingeque than Gardner's previous books, where I would describe the prose as serviceable, but dry. This book also had a big question mark hanging over most of the story as the reader is in the dark about the Scales of Justice, who are more sinister, menacing and realistic than some of the other organizations Bond had gone up against in Gardner's series.
That's not to say the book is not without flaws. The French agents Bond continuously crosses paths with are basically pointless, especially the Henri Rampart character, who I expected to have more of an arc. Without getting into spoilers, I'll just mention I found the ending anti-climactic.
If I had to recommend only one of Gardner's Bond books, this would be it.
July 15, 2025
It was published and takes place in 1990. The book had a lot of Holocaust history, Ukrainian history, and Cold War history. The Soviet Union is ending and there is chaos and egomaniacs that want new power. There are egomaniacs that want to keep power. Iran and Iraq ended their war and are looking for a place on the world stage.
It starts with a simple kidnapping premise. Everything I noted above comes into play. The author invents the BlackBerry decades ahead of its release.
There are fake outs, double spies, sleeper cell spies.
I don’t know if the story came first and Bond was inserted or the other way. The story just felt different from the past books from this author. The exposition is not boring. I was 25% through in no time.
As it’s a Bond book it rates breakfast foods. Bond claims not to like eggs. That contradicts the past 20 books.
Double turns.
Name changes.
It starts with a simple kidnapping premise. Everything I noted above comes into play. The author invents the BlackBerry decades ahead of its release.
There are fake outs, double spies, sleeper cell spies.
I don’t know if the story came first and Bond was inserted or the other way. The story just felt different from the past books from this author. The exposition is not boring. I was 25% through in no time.
As it’s a Bond book it rates breakfast foods. Bond claims not to like eggs. That contradicts the past 20 books.
Double turns.
Name changes.
August 20, 2017
I'm really getting tired of Gardner's Bond, and at this point am wondering if I should just give up on the rest of the series. I was really excited when this book started to return to World War II war criminals going to trial.
However, the requirement of two British agents posing as a film crew, returning to the Finnish/Russian border just like in Icebreaker, a much better book by the way.
Really this is just Bond walking around in the snow. A big disappointment, and at this point 28 Bond novels under my belt, and just 5 Gardner novels to go, one being the film Goldeneye novelized. I keep telling myself he should have one more good Bond story in him, but at this point I would say stop reading at Icebreaker or Nobody Lives Forever.
Overall rating of book series:
1 - Casino Royale / On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2 - Goldfinger
3 - From Russia with Love
4 - Live and Let Die
5 - Diamonds are Forever / Dr. No / For Special Services
6 - Moonraker / Scorpius
7 - License Renewed
8 - Thunderball
9 - Colonel Sun
10 - You Only Live Twice / Icebreaker
11 - James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (Wood)
12 - For Your Eyes Only / Octopussy & The Living Daylights
13 - The Man with the Golden Gun
14 - The Spy Who Loved Me
15 - Nobody Lives Forever
16 - No Deals, Mr. Bond
17 - James Bond and Moonraker (Wood)
18 - The Man from Barbarossa
19 - Win, Lose or Die
20 - Role of Honor / Brokenclaw
21 - Licence to Kill
However, the requirement of two British agents posing as a film crew, returning to the Finnish/Russian border just like in Icebreaker, a much better book by the way.
Really this is just Bond walking around in the snow. A big disappointment, and at this point 28 Bond novels under my belt, and just 5 Gardner novels to go, one being the film Goldeneye novelized. I keep telling myself he should have one more good Bond story in him, but at this point I would say stop reading at Icebreaker or Nobody Lives Forever.
Overall rating of book series:
1 - Casino Royale / On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2 - Goldfinger
3 - From Russia with Love
4 - Live and Let Die
5 - Diamonds are Forever / Dr. No / For Special Services
6 - Moonraker / Scorpius
7 - License Renewed
8 - Thunderball
9 - Colonel Sun
10 - You Only Live Twice / Icebreaker
11 - James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (Wood)
12 - For Your Eyes Only / Octopussy & The Living Daylights
13 - The Man with the Golden Gun
14 - The Spy Who Loved Me
15 - Nobody Lives Forever
16 - No Deals, Mr. Bond
17 - James Bond and Moonraker (Wood)
18 - The Man from Barbarossa
19 - Win, Lose or Die
20 - Role of Honor / Brokenclaw
21 - Licence to Kill
March 10, 2019
Gardner’s infamous low point. So little takes place in this book past the first quarter that you could sum up the remainder of the story in a chapter or two and not miss much detail. John goes way, way, way overboard with the worded illustrations of simple and mundane conversations between characters. Where my disappointment is with these later novels is that John’s writing was like candy. Easy to swallow and tastes great, but the only problem was that the plot here dwindles so quickly that you’ll wonder why it’s even worth it to continue forward. I’m pressing through to finish his extended series from a completionist standpoint and with how bad this one was, I’m really hoping that the others are at least more tolerable to not make it seem like a total waste of time.
May 1, 2023
Intriguing if dated-1991-Gorbachev-the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union-Desert Storm
Intriguing Bond novel by the imaginative John Gardner. Would have been a timely novel back in 1991, Gorbachev, the beginning of the Soviet Union, the United States’ bombing of Iraq during Desert Storm from their attack on Kuwait. Still, it is entertaining espionage story, with an attempted coup by rogue USSR generals who sought to set off nuclear bombs in Iraq and detonate another over Washington, D.C., under the cover of a terrorist group. Gardner’s research of spycraft and military weaponry make his writing compelling. He created a fine plot and, as always his narrative and dialogue is clear and tight. He was a master at his craft.
Intriguing Bond novel by the imaginative John Gardner. Would have been a timely novel back in 1991, Gorbachev, the beginning of the Soviet Union, the United States’ bombing of Iraq during Desert Storm from their attack on Kuwait. Still, it is entertaining espionage story, with an attempted coup by rogue USSR generals who sought to set off nuclear bombs in Iraq and detonate another over Washington, D.C., under the cover of a terrorist group. Gardner’s research of spycraft and military weaponry make his writing compelling. He created a fine plot and, as always his narrative and dialogue is clear and tight. He was a master at his craft.
August 1, 2025
I gave this book two stars simply because it is James Bond.
Now, you wouldn't know it is Bond based on how little Bond is actually in this book but it is still James Bond.
Remember that incredible Bond movie where they talked for three quarters of the movie and then everything got resolved in the last 15 minutes? Yeah, they made that movie based on this novel. Around about page 250 out of 303 things finally started to happen that wasn't a group of people sitting around talking about this, that and the other.
If you like your Bond as a inactive listener then this is the Bond book for you.
Gardner is really making it difficult for me to continue with his novels in my complete read through of the Bond literary series.
Now, you wouldn't know it is Bond based on how little Bond is actually in this book but it is still James Bond.
Remember that incredible Bond movie where they talked for three quarters of the movie and then everything got resolved in the last 15 minutes? Yeah, they made that movie based on this novel. Around about page 250 out of 303 things finally started to happen that wasn't a group of people sitting around talking about this, that and the other.
If you like your Bond as a inactive listener then this is the Bond book for you.
Gardner is really making it difficult for me to continue with his novels in my complete read through of the Bond literary series.
April 7, 2018
This is an average to good thriller, with an interesting premise and a lively start. Unfortunately it is not suited to the Bond series. It seems that Gardner realised the absurdity of a secret agent active in the 1950s still being around in the 1990s, with most of his cronies. The world has moved on, evinced by the background of the USSR dissolving and the first Iraq war, but the British Secret Service has stood still. That strains belief. The real Bond may have searched for Nazi war criminals thirty years earlier and should have been replaced by a more modern character.
June 21, 2021
This is the poorest of the John Gardner Bond books so far in his series.
We have a plot that when you think about it, it doesn't make much sense and a novel that has very few Bondian elements. Although Bond does actually do some spying, we have little action until the final few chapters.
You feel that this was a decent short story that has been padded out to make a novel. There is also a strange habit that Gardner has developed where he has Bond/M using Americanisms and then adding "as they say in America."
Lets hope the next one is better.
We have a plot that when you think about it, it doesn't make much sense and a novel that has very few Bondian elements. Although Bond does actually do some spying, we have little action until the final few chapters.
You feel that this was a decent short story that has been padded out to make a novel. There is also a strange habit that Gardner has developed where he has Bond/M using Americanisms and then adding "as they say in America."
Lets hope the next one is better.
May 4, 2021
This isn't the worst of the Gardner Bond novels, that is still "For Special Services," but this is really bad. It is slow, with all of the action taking place at the end. The plot gets to be needlessly complex. Including the novelizations, Gardner wrote more Bond books than Ian Fleming did. Some people actually prefer Gardner. But some people thought Pierce Brosnan was the best Bond, so grain of salt.
August 3, 2024
It was very enjoyable but not quite a 007 book. It was…a tad bit too realistic to provide the level of escapism that you want from Bond. My other quibble is that Gardner at some point made Bond a captain. It’s Commander Bond. I’m sure he deserves the promotion but that’s not how 007 world works. Gardner is a great story teller and even if his later Bond is becoming a bit too serious, this is still a fun read.
February 7, 2020
Πόσα ακόμα βιβλία του John Gardner με ήρωα το James Bond υπάρχουν ακόμα είπαμε...;
Δεν... Απλά δεν... Ιστορία τραβηγμένη από τα μαλλιά, χαρακτήρες μονοδιάστατοι και τελικά ένα βιβλίο, του οποίου την πλοκή θα έχω ξεχάσει μέσα σε μια εβδομάδα... Σε κάθε περίπτωση, το The man from Barbarossa με έκανε να σκεφτώ: Να συνεχίσω να διαβάζω τα υπόλοιπα βιβλία της σειράς ή όχι...;
2 αστεράκια.
Δεν... Απλά δεν... Ιστορία τραβηγμένη από τα μαλλιά, χαρακτήρες μονοδιάστατοι και τελικά ένα βιβλίο, του οποίου την πλοκή θα έχω ξεχάσει μέσα σε μια εβδομάδα... Σε κάθε περίπτωση, το The man from Barbarossa με έκανε να σκεφτώ: Να συνεχίσω να διαβάζω τα υπόλοιπα βιβλία της σειράς ή όχι...;
2 αστεράκια.
May 10, 2020
Some other reviewers state that this felt like a story Gardner had into which he shoehorned Bond. It did read that way.
OTOH Wikipedia has a quote from Gardner saying he thought it the best Bond continuation novel he did.
Who knows?
Five more Gardner Bond books in this read through of the continuation novels.
OTOH Wikipedia has a quote from Gardner saying he thought it the best Bond continuation novel he did.
Who knows?
Five more Gardner Bond books in this read through of the continuation novels.
June 21, 2019
Nice, streamlined post Cold War thriller with just the right amount of red herrings and predictability. A few clunky parts where an editor really should have caught the gaffe, but otherwise one of Gardner's stronger efforts in the series.
July 31, 2020
I read that this was John Gardner's favorite Bond book. I had a hard time trying to figure out what was going on in this one. It seemed to be that more time was needed for character development and the overall story.
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