Another interview.
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Picked up my copy this morning and will start reading later today. It’s thinner than I expected, but I just know its going to be dynamite. I’ll share my thoughts when I’m finished.
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Thanks for sharing!
Could you tell me the time-stamp for when the interview starts?
Well, I finished reading With A Mind To Kill.
The following is spoiler free:
It’s a very entertaining novel–more a suspense thriller than an action/adventure. Anthony Horowitz hits another home run. He’s pretty much three for three in his Bond novels. I’ll be sorry to see him go. He gets Bond. And who knows when we’ll get another Bond author, much less one who gets 007 as well as Horowitz does.
Before hearing the WAMTK premise, I didn’t think there were any missing stories in Bond’s history. But I was wrong. WAMTK is the story I didn’t know I needed or wanted. But I’m glad and grateful to Horowitz for cranking this story out and concluding a very important chapter of Bond’s life.
The villains are great, the girl is interesting, and the action is entertaining. The plot is suspenseful and Bond goes through a lot–both physically and mentally–to accomplish his mission. And once he is in place to achieve success or utter failure, it is done in a unique and very satisfying way.
My only quibble is the very end of the novel. I would have liked something different/more. But other than that, WAMTK is a very pleasing Bond adventure that is unlike any before it. Once again Bond is back. 
Unfortunately, after this, the same cannot be said for Horowitz. 
But at least he went out on a high note. Thank you Mr. Horowitz.
My Anthony Horowitz 007 rankings:
- Trigger Mortis
- With A Mind To Kill
- Forever And A Day
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With A Mind to Kill is a very different story where Bond is regularly in a state of disadvantage and rarely gets to communicate his true personality. The plot is focused on its central premise in an uncompromising way.
The are a number of callbacks to previous Fleming stories, but I put that down to Horowitz wrapping up this timeline and reflecting on the overall journey as his book is placed right at the end.
Summary
Horowitz opposes the decision to kill Bond in NTTD, and he didn’t want to kill a character he didn’t create. But I think the last chapter validates NTTD in the sense Bond potentially doesn’t get a happy ending. At the end of the book, Bond is absolutely done being a spy to the point I think this ignores Colonel Sun. It does everything but show him being shot - he’s still alive when we leave him on the last page, but for how long?
I concur with @Double-OhAgent that it completes a chapter of Bond’s story, making The Man With The Golden Gun more meaningful. It’s not my favourite of his three, but it’s high quality and a fine addition to the series. Thanks for everything, Anthony. You did a great job.
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Just finished the novel. I will write up a full review at some point in the next few days but for now I will say that I am feeling extremely grateful to Mr. Horowitz for this and his other two efforts.
The book is far from perfect. In some ways it is perhaps more flawed than Trigger Mortis and Forever and a Day. Yet I am happier that this story has been told more so than the other two and I believe Anthony was perfect person to tell it.
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I agree, and would rank the other two ahead of it. With A Mind to Kill feels like an extended short story.
Summary
I lament the fact we didn’t get to see M’s reaction to the death of Colonel Boris, M’s death being revealed as faked or Bond’s name being cleared. In some ways that makes the book seem unfinished to me. But the ending Horowitz chose can’t allow for those details. He can’t show the world after the death of Colonel Boris because he needs Bond’s fate to remain uncertain.
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Agreed on the lack of a “wrap-up” with M etc. being a bit of a letdown.
However, I really admire the ending as a brilliant piece of writing. It is rare for an ambiguous ending to have so many simultaneously compelling alternatives. It is a true duck-rabbit illusion with at least three faces.
It is the rare stroke in a Bond novel that helps momentarily elevate it and in this case deepens our sense of Bond’s internal conflict and the tragedy that all of his possible futures are untenable.
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Just finished it. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, Horowitz has produced three superb additions to the Bond catalogue, and it’s a shame that there likely will be no more from him.
I agree that With a Mind To Kill feels a bit like an extended short story. I feel like it really could be expanded, or have an additional part. It flew by, but the plot, subject matter, and chance to examine Bond really could’ve leant itself to a longer product (I really don’t like quantity for quantitys sake, but there are a few instances here where I really would’ve liked something expanded on, or scenes seem to be missing - between chapters 22 and 23 immediately comes to mind).
I love that we now have a story that expands on the brilliant opening to TMWTGG. Upon my read through of Fleming, how much I enjoyed TMWTGG was one of my most pleasant surprises and the brainwashed Bond scenes were incredible. It was disappointing that it was so quickly dropped in that story, so kudos to Horowitz for delving into that plot and producing a sequel to TMWTGG.
With a Mind To Kill is interesting in that it doesn’t have much of the Bondian hallmarkes - being in the Soviet Union for so much of the story it is quite drab with little description of luxury or indulgences. The action is also quite sparce. This isn’t a bad thing, but for Horowitz’s farewell it’s a bold choice to ‘break the mold’ as it were.
And regarding the ending - I liked it. The novel really was tense until the last moment!
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I’ll keep this relatively spoiler free for now. I absolutely tore through this one, finishing it in less than a day. It’s an interesting book and it’s a story that I’m thrilled was told by Horowitz. It’s tough for me to criticize the decisions that he ultimately made with respect to both story and character here. Every time I think that maybe something could have been expanded upon or resolved differently, I can’t imagine getting anything more worthwhile than what we already got, but with the added heft of some shoe leather that clearly wasn’t needed. This thing is just so efficient and it gets to the point without fuss time and again. It’s incredibly light on its feet, which I get is going to be polarizing. Are some things maybe resolved in a way that’s slightly anti climactic? Yes, though you could argue that’s kind of the point. I think Horowitz very neatly lays out Bond’s eternal dilemma which lends itself quite well to how everything pans out in this book. He really is just living in a vicious, lonely cycle of violence and pain. I’ll need to think about my ranking for a little while. I definitely put this ahead of Trigger Mortis. In any event, we’re lucky to have had Horowitz for three novels. He did great work time and again, and I’m excited to see who gets the gig next.
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Finished WAMTK earlier this week and overall I really enjoyed it. Here are some of my reflections:
- As with TM and FAAD, I found Horowitz’s prose particularly engaging. Felt Bondian albeit different than Fleming. Here’s my controversial opinion: Fleming sometimes overindulged in his descriptions of the Bond lifestyle (read: lengthy descriptions of meals and wines, hotels etc…), and I appreciate that Horowitz doesn’t overdo it in that regard. Makes for a bit of a smoother read. To be clear: Fleming is still clearly the stronger writer, but I’m not always in the mood for those aspects of his novels. Horowitz does a better job keeping the story moving.
- The novel was littered with references to prior adventures, all of which felt appropriate to the given situation and not forced (meaning, they didn’t feel like needless fan-service). In addition to tying up the loose ends from TMWTGG, these callbacks give this work and the Fleming canon as a whole some closure. Horowitz did an admirable job wrapping everything up.
- Characters were compelling, although I found Bond’s romance with Katya a bit rushed.
- I very much appreciated the espionage feel of the book, despite (or perhaps because of?) the fact that the whole adventure felt more lowkey than many other Bond novels. Similar in that sense to CR or FRWL.
- Having finished his trilogy spanning the stretch of Bond’s career as a 00, Horowitz is 3/3. He is without a doubt my favorite continuation author, and I appreciate that his books feel simultaneously distinct from one another yet very much in the same universe / timeline. He will be missed, and I hope whoever succeeds him is up to the challenge.
I’d also like to discuss the ending, but I haven’t quite figured out how to use spoiler tags…
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Summary
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I think that dynamic was all it could be given it wasn’t a traditional romance. Bond was trying to play a role the entire time and would still have harboured contempt for who she was, and what she did.
But what we receive is top tier. The encounter at the train station would make for a great film sequence, dripping with tension and ingenuity. Bond’s last act before making a run for it would also qualify.
As for the ending, I see five possible outcomes:
Summary
The siren was a false alarm or an exercise.
Someone else was identified.
I think these are more likely:
Bond makes it across the border, and the Russians reluctantly lower their guns.
Bond makes it across the border, the Russians open fire, but Bond escapes.
Bond is shot dead by the Russians before crossing the border.
It really is a fast-paced thrill ride, much shorter than I expected. Probably very brutally edited to the essentials - but that is exactly what is needed these days. Not padded out “epics” which drag themselves from one highlight to the other by giving too much time in between establishing “mood” (which too often is just an excuse for a lack of plot ideas).
Of all three Horowitz-Bond-novels I enjoyed this the most. He has got the Fleming style pretty well emulated, and since this really follows the interesting question “what if” Bond had been sent back to Russia after TMWTGG I felt the character was done justice to.
What I did not really like:
Summary
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The whole first chapter with M´s funeral. Since we know that M was not assassinated it has no dramatic reason other than to be exposition for those who have not read TMWTGG. If we did not know about MPs fate it would have been a fantastic and tense first chapter - oh, man, Bond really did kill M?
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Horowitz has the tendency to end a chapter on a cliffhanger and then get a really cheap explanation why Bond got out of that situation. In “Trigger Mortis” it was the acid thrown into Bond´s face… and then, hah, hey, it was only water! Here it is the man with the black hair comma and the scar opens the door… but it is not Bond, only someone who was quickly put in his room so Bond would not be identified and executed.
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Also, the finale: Colonel Boris does not fear that Bond will shoot him? He really thinks that the conditioned Bond can be turned on with one small gesture (over that distance)? And even if Bond at first really is reacting to the program he also can deprogram himself by inflicting pain on himself? I guess, yeah, maybe that is how this can work. Plotwise and character-wise it makes for poetic justice, and it all fits. But again, I would have wished for a better development here.
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And while I love open endings it felt a bit truncated here since this is Horowitz´ last Bond novel. As if he did not know himself how to end this story.
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In general: a bit too much info on previous Bond missions and villains is woven into passages, a bit like “oh, do you remember that time when…” Again, for those who are not familiar with Fleming, fine. For anybody else (and I guess we are the intended target audience) it feels like that guy at parties constantly being Captain Obvious.
In any event, I would not mind the next author to pick things up where this one ends and stay in this timeline.
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I haven’t had the time to read it yet, so I’m not opening the spoiler tag, but this is good to know
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He will be missed.
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Received my copy of With a Mind to Kill, yesterday. Avoiding any spoilers as the Horowitz books have been near on par with some of the best Flemings. I’m excited to read it.
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Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Horowitz went out on top, and it feels like a good way to say goodbye to the Fleming timeline in general really.
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Finished WAMTK today. I really enjoyed it, thought it was paced really well and I loved the references to Bond’s previous missions.
It is a low-key adventure this time but I felt that it was all the better for it. I thought Horowitz’s description of Russian streets were very evocative- I felt I was really there with Bond, walking the dull pavements.
Overall Horowitz has been a brilliant continuation author. 3 books, 3 big thumbs up from me!
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Just finished With a Mind to Kill and I must say, it was a little bittersweet to think this is the end of Horowitz’s run with Bond. In my mind, he has been the best continuation author of the run. All 3 of his books have fit perfectly in with Fleming’s original canon and, outside of some things that definitely show they were written in the 2010s, could have been penned by the OG himself.
Minor spoilers ahead
WAMTK is a very different type of Bond story compared to most and is much more of a true spy novel a la FRWL or OHMSS.
Summary
The story picks up from the end of TMWTGG and has M fake his death to make the Russians think their plan to have Bond assassinate him has succeeded. This is one of my few minor gripes with the novel. I’d have liked this part to have been more ambiguous as opposed to just telling us immediately that it is a ruse and, unlike Bond/M in FRWL, the villains fall for it hook, line, and sinker. It works, but I think it could have been interesting to wonder if the brainwashing had taken hold.
Overall, if this is truly Horowitz’s final Bond novel, I think he went out with a bang. The novel is gripping throughout right up until the final word. I think that this also is a great bookend to the Fleming timeline and, unless Horowitz/IFP change their mind and he writes a 4th, I’d like to see the next Bond novel tackle a different time period. Until then, I’ll be excited to re-read WAMTK to see if I’ve missed anything.
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