Starts off very well, with the first encounter of Brokenclaw, then Bond's adventures in Chinatown. Then theirs like 40-50 pages of briefing and plot and backstory (I liked Wanda's story, but it's not like she goes on to be a major character), M being so frustratingly coy about revealing the details does help. But it quickly gets good again as Bond and Chi-Chi go off on their mission. I like how their undercover mission is played out, how they could potentially be reveals as not who they claim to be at any moment, and they way they have to place themselves entirely in Brokenclaw's hands, being led into the unknown (the scene were Bond looks out the window and sees the mountains of West Virginia or wherever it was best shows this).
Brokenclaw Lee is such a good character, his caper really isn't worthy of him. He's got a Mr. Big-esque aura, and a Dr. No-esque self-assurance, but he needs an Auric Goldfinger-esque caper. He needs, no, he deserves a scheme with a little more finessee.
Anyway, I found Brokenclaw a real smooth ride. Fast and fun. Apparently it's rated as one of the worst, and that rating is probably not unjustified, but hell, I enjoyed it. Enough to rekindle an interest in the continuation novels and go seek out the five or six Gardners I still haven't read anyway.
