Posted 11 July 2008 - 08:25 AM
Gardner, as usual, starts with an intriguing new idea: Bond hunting a psychopathic serial killer - 007 meets Hannibal Leckter. The setting is vintage Gardner Bond - a Swiss alpine start, a German Schloss (named Drache - Drax's original German name) and a finale in EuroDisney (much ridiculed but not as silly as it sounds).
Bond's female squeeze, Flicka von GrĂ¼sse, a Swiss agent, becomes his amorata in the next novel as well. This new twist - a steady girlfriend - works although she is a typical Gardner Euro-Sloane.
The antagonist, Dragonpol aka The Man With The Glass Head is an actor of high esteem and makes for an intriguing villain. His castle contains a theatrical museum, which is a fun setting for an action sequence. John Gardner was a theatre critic in Stratford-upon-Avon and very knowledgable about the world of the boards. This background in the book seems to be written with enthusiasm and insight and works better for it. (Gardner's best novel, for me, is his superb fictional account of a theatrical festival called "Every Night's A Bullfight").
However, as usual by this stage of Gardner Bond, the story and characters to take improbable yet familiar turns. The big plot reveal left me feeling "So what?" There is no real threat to it and, worse, no logic.
The previous Gardner Bond, Death Is Forever, was an action-packed and enthralling re-run of No Deals Mr Bond. Never Send Flowers is a Scorpius-esque procedural Bond adventure. Always worth reading, with tons of original ideas, NSF is a mixed bag.