Death Is Forever

Last updated

Death Is Forever
DeathIsForever.jpg
First edition
Author John Gardner
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series James Bond
Genre Spy fiction
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date
1992
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages224 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN 0-340-54816-9 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC 26721121

Death Is Forever, first published in 1992, was the twelfth novel by John Gardner to feature Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond (including Gardner's novelization of Licence to Kill ). Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

Contents

Death Is Forever is significant as the first James Bond novel to be published after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, two elements that were part and parcel of Bond's creation 40 years earlier.

More than most other Gardner novels, Death Is Forever is grounded in contemporary events, with the fallout from the end of the Cold War and the failed 1991 Russian coup being important backdrops to the story. The Eurotunnel connecting England and France, which was still under construction at the time the book was written, also serves as a major setting.

Plot summary

In Frankfurt, a veteran spy codenamed Vanya is killed, and a week later another codenamed Eagle is killed in Berlin, both in ways reminiscent of old-time assassinations. Both were also parts of a now defunct spy network, the Cabal. Bond, along with American desk agent Elizabeth Zara St. John, M and Bill Tanner go through Vanya and Eagle's last days, to understand how they could be tracked down.

To find out if any of the remaining members of the Cabal are traitors, Bond and Easy must take on the roles of Vanya and Eagle and travel to Berlin. In the shadows, villain Wolfgang Wiesen plans reintroducing Josef Stalin's type of communism.

Bond soon discovers he is being followed, but is interrupted when Easy is caught off guard by one of the few remaining Cabal members, Oscar Vomburg. They manage to convince him that they are harmless and that he needs to put them in touch with Praxi Simeon, who was the Cabal's coordinator. While Vomburg tries to get hold of Simeon, Bond and Easy manage to avoid food that is full of "fiddleback" spiders.

Soon after, Vomburg is found dead, and the next Cabal member, Harry Spraker, makes contact. They ride the Ost-West Express train towards Paris. After successfully breaking free from two of Wiesen's men on the train, Bond decides he doesn't trust Spraker and they split up at the Paris station. Bond shadows Spraker and sees him meeting an unknown man, but is captured by two French agents, who do not want foreign agents on their soil. He is released on condition that he leaves the country and goes straight to Simeon, where the real Spraker is also found.

Simeon, Spraker and a third Cabal member, Bruin, know that one of Wiesen's bases is in Venice, and that he has sworn revenge on the Cabal. They head there, separately. Bond then meets another Cabal member, Gus Wimper, with whom he forms a temporary alliance when Easy, Simeon, Spraker and Bruin are captured by Wiesen's men. Bond and Wimper try to free the four, but are captured themselves, whereupon Bond is taken to Wiesen and interrogated.

Afterwards, he is taken to a cell in the basement, where the entire gang is to be killed before Wiesen and his men depart and carry out their grand plan. Bond manages to free them and capture Wiesen, though not without Easy being killed. They take Wiesen towards Calais, where his plan is to take place, but additional henchmen attack them and carry off the sedated Wiesen, with only Bond and Simeon surviving.

Bond realizes that the plan involves the not-yet-completed Channel Tunnel between France and Great Britain, where the EU's twelve prime ministers will meet at the premiere of the Eurostar. With the help of French GIGN soldiers, Bond succeeds in preventing the plan to blow up the train and kill the dignitaries, preventing a political vacuum.

Once home, Bond is attacked by Wiesen's wife, but manages to escape after an even knife fight.

Publication history

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Scorpius</i> (novel) Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Scorpius, first published in 1988, is the seventh novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>Zero Minus Ten</i> Novel by Raymond Benson

Zero Minus Ten, published in 1997, is the first novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's James Bond following John Gardner's departure in 1996. Published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in America by Putnam, the book is set in Hong Kong, China, Jamaica, England and some parts of Western Australia.

<i>Licence Renewed</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Licence Renewed, first published in 1981, is the first novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. It was the first proper James Bond novel since Kingsley Amis's Colonel Sun in 1968. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Richard Marek, a G. P. Putnam's Sons imprint.

<i>For Special Services</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

For Special Services, first published in 1982, was the second novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. Cover designed by Bill Botten.

<i>Icebreaker</i> (novel) Novel by John Gardner

Icebreaker, first published in 1983, was the third novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and is the first Bond novel to be published in the United States by Putnam, beginning a long-standing association. Part of the book takes place in Northern Europe, including Finland; to make his book as authentic as possible, Gardner even visited Finland.

<i>Role of Honour</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Role of Honour, first published in 1984, was the fourth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>Nobody Lives for Ever</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Nobody Lives for Ever, first published in 1986, was the fifth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>No Deals, Mr. Bond</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

No Deals, Mr. Bond, first published in 1987, was the sixth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Putnam. It was the last Bond novel to be published in Britain by Jonathan Cape, ending an association dating back to the first Bond novel, Casino Royale in 1953.

<i>Win, Lose or Die</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Win, Lose or Die, first published in 1989, was the eighth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>Brokenclaw</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Brokenclaw, first published in 1990, was the tenth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam. The book title is sometimes presented as two words, but is correctly one word since it is a character name.

<i>The Man from Barbarossa</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

The Man from Barbarossa, first published in 1991, was the eleventh novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>Never Send Flowers</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Never Send Flowers, first published in 1993, was the thirteenth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>SeaFire</i> Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

SeaFire, first published in 1994, was the fourteenth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>Cold</i> (novel) Novel by John Gardner (British writer)

Cold, first published in 1996, was the sixteenth and final novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>The Facts of Death</i> Novel by Raymond Benson

The Facts of Death, first published in 1998, was the third novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright—the final James Bond novel to do so—it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>High Time to Kill</i> Novel by Raymond Benson

High Time to Kill, published in 1999, is the fourth novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. This is the first James Bond novel copyrighted by Ian Fleming Publications. It was published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam. The novel's working title was A Better Way to Die.

<i>DoubleShot</i> Novel by Raymond Benson

DoubleShot, first published in 2000, was the sixth novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Ian Fleming Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam. The novel's working title was Doppelganger.

<i>Never Dream of Dying</i> 2001 novel by Raymond Benson

Never Dream of Dying, first published in 2001, was the seventh novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Ian Fleming Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

<i>The Man with the Red Tattoo</i> Novel by Raymond Benson

The Man with the Red Tattoo, first published in 2002, was the sixth and final original novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's character James Bond. Carrying the Ian Fleming Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam. It was later published in Japan in 2003. The novel's working title was Red Widow Dawn.

<i>The Looking Glass War</i> 1965 novel by John le Carré

The Looking Glass War is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Written in response to the positive public reaction to his previous novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, the book explores the unglamorous nature of espionage and the danger of nostalgia. The book tells the story of an incompetent British military intelligence agency known as The Department and its multiple botched attempts to verify a Communist defector's story of a Soviet missile buildup in East Germany. Some editions hyphenate "Looking Glass".

References

    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.