For Special Services
by John Gardner
John Gardner's Bond (book 2), James Bond Novels: Continuation Series (19), James Bond Novels (19)
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Bond teams up with CIA agent Cedar Leiter, daughter of his old friend Felix Leiter, to investigate Markus Bismaquer, who is suspected of reviving the notorious criminal organisation SPECTRE.Tags
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Member Reviews
Assuming that you are OFA with the John Gardner James Bond universe, unlike the fact that Gardner has updated bond to the 1980s you’ll probably like this. I don’t think it’s a bad continuation novel and for lovers of the James Bond role playing game this will make a very good scenario. There was a twist which was unexpected, there was also some cringe some misogynist moments and I’m not sure that the references to Felix Leite’s daughter were appropriate.
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For Special Services by John Gardner is the second entry of the author into the James Bond literary universe. Mr. Gardner was an English novelist, known for his Bond Books, as well as books featuring Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
James Bond, agent 007, teams up with CIA agent Cedar Leiter, daughter of Felix, to investigate a SPECTRE agent. Markus Bismaquer, an ice cream tycoon from Texas, is suspected to be involved with the criminal organization.
Bond realizes that his old enemy, Blofeld is back, even though he knows he killed him. Leiter and Bond discover a sinister plot to take over NORAD headquarters so SPECTRE can gain control of America’s show more military satellite network.
This was one of the more enjoyable James Bond books I read, and if I’m not mistaken several scenes, and themes were adapted into scenes in different movies. I really enjoy 80s Bond, and even though I read this book as a teenager, I enjoyed it much more as an adult.
The plot is preposterous, the villains are demonic, and the women are exotic. So… a James Bond novel, but less original. Seems like the author was more interested in pleasing the fans, than simply writing a good story. He brings back former allies and enemies, and an older Bond to align, I assume with an older Roger Moore starring in the 80s movies.
Despite all that, For Special Services by John Gardner works and the ridiculousness of it can be quickly forgiven. SPECTRE is a formidable enemy with resources to match governments, and the over-the-top plot is fun, however predictable.
I have only two major complaints. The first is that the demise of the new Blofeld was done prematurely. The character was one of my favorites and it would have been nice to have an arc before they kick the bucket. The second is the character of Cedar Leiter is a fun, yet unbelievable even in the Bond universe. A 20-year-old woman, acting her age, does not make a good CIA agent and the fact that her father, Felix, almost encourages her to have sex with his best English friend comes off very cringy, to say the least.
The strong plot in the first half of the book is very enjoyable but loses it in a bizarre second half. I enjoyed it very much even though the book never seems to be able to decide on its tone. show less
For Special Services by John Gardner is the second entry of the author into the James Bond literary universe. Mr. Gardner was an English novelist, known for his Bond Books, as well as books featuring Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
James Bond, agent 007, teams up with CIA agent Cedar Leiter, daughter of Felix, to investigate a SPECTRE agent. Markus Bismaquer, an ice cream tycoon from Texas, is suspected to be involved with the criminal organization.
Bond realizes that his old enemy, Blofeld is back, even though he knows he killed him. Leiter and Bond discover a sinister plot to take over NORAD headquarters so SPECTRE can gain control of America’s show more military satellite network.
This was one of the more enjoyable James Bond books I read, and if I’m not mistaken several scenes, and themes were adapted into scenes in different movies. I really enjoy 80s Bond, and even though I read this book as a teenager, I enjoyed it much more as an adult.
The plot is preposterous, the villains are demonic, and the women are exotic. So… a James Bond novel, but less original. Seems like the author was more interested in pleasing the fans, than simply writing a good story. He brings back former allies and enemies, and an older Bond to align, I assume with an older Roger Moore starring in the 80s movies.
Despite all that, For Special Services by John Gardner works and the ridiculousness of it can be quickly forgiven. SPECTRE is a formidable enemy with resources to match governments, and the over-the-top plot is fun, however predictable.
I have only two major complaints. The first is that the demise of the new Blofeld was done prematurely. The character was one of my favorites and it would have been nice to have an arc before they kick the bucket. The second is the character of Cedar Leiter is a fun, yet unbelievable even in the Bond universe. A 20-year-old woman, acting her age, does not make a good CIA agent and the fact that her father, Felix, almost encourages her to have sex with his best English friend comes off very cringy, to say the least.
The strong plot in the first half of the book is very enjoyable but loses it in a bizarre second half. I enjoyed it very much even though the book never seems to be able to decide on its tone. show less
I was looking forward to this as I enjoy James Bond, however while it has plenty to offer to the normal Bond fan (nice flashbacks and tie-ins) I wasn't thrilled with James tossing it all to the wind and being an idiot by blowing his cover so early on and then continuing to be so. I guess I expect him to be a bit more savvy.
Not as boring as its predecessor, given that the villains have more flair, but it is even more retrograde in its views of women.
Enjoyed the attempted hijacking scene at the beginning, the concept of ice cream as a mind altering food and the part where Bond plays the part of a drugged inspector general. The rest was just not as exciting as I had hoped a 007 book would be. His ideas of women were not even romantically interesting.
I liked it because it was James Bond, but unfortunately, this novel was extremely sophomoric and silly. In this novel Blofeld appears to be back, and Spectre appears to be back as well, and only James Bond can stop them. There is lots of action and gadgets and sex as well as Felix Leiter's daughter. The problem lies with the story. The story is straightforward and predictable, yes it is James Bond, but I need something to keep me intrigued.
Long time James Bond fan. John Gardner does a good job with his continuation novels. Enjoyed this as features SPECTRE.
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Stanley Ellin's most recent book is ''The Specialty of the House and Other Stories, 1948-1978.'' FOR SPECIAL SERVICES By John Gardner. 298 pp. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. $9.95. THE ENGLISH LADY By William Harrington. 408 pp. New York: Seaview Books. $13.95.
KAMAL By D.W. Arathorn. 351 pp. New York: Harper & Row. $14.50. By STANLEY ELLIN
The reviepoliceman's, is not always a happy one. show more Putting these three novels to the test, I was pleased to discover that two were very good. Then I was plunged from elation to depression by the realization that the third was a dud, and for reasons having nothing to do with the author's well-proven talent.
The book in question is ''For Special Services,'' by John Gardner. It is a James Bond story - Mr. Gardner's second try at rattling those moldering bones - and, as the author's foreword suggests, it was inspired not by any of the nine Muses but rather by a consortium of 007's copyright holders and publishers, along with the Saab motor car company of Sweden, which now provides Bond with his transportation.
At this point I will say that, after considering the extraliterary alliance associated with the venture, I don't believe any writer could have done better with this curious project than John Gardner, but it is simply a defeating project to start with. Ian Fleming was a dreadful writer, a creator of books for grown-up boys, a practitioner of tin-eared prose. As evidenced by his writings, he was also by nature a ferocious and humorless snob, a political primitive, a chauvinist in every possible area whose ideas about sexuality apparently were implanted by fevered readings of ''Lady Chatterly's Lover.''
John Gardner, creator of the inimitable and delightful Boysie Oakes among other characters, is the antithesis to all this, a writer of style and wit with a sharp-eyed, acidulous and yet appreciative view of humanity and its foibles. Fleming's shoes are simply too tight and misshapen for Mr. Gardner to wear comfortably. Fleming, however, did offer the reader one thing no imitator can possibly duplicate: total identification with and commitment to his hero and his works as the products of an uninhibited wish fulfillment.
When, on film, Bond was transmuted into the charismatic and sardonic Sean Connery, we were getting a different 007 altogether; it is this cinematic Bond that Mr. Gardner, his risibilities not always in control, presents to us off and on. How else to explain a 30-foot python that is not only capable of ingesting a full-grown man but also of carefully removing the victim's indigestible shoes before doing so? Or the fact that ice cream, no special flavor noted, is the device by which the villains, having dosed gallons of it with the ultimate tranquilizer, will sieze control of the American forces guarding NORAD and, consequently, the killer satellite it operates? Yes, I did say ice cream.
To put it in a nutshell, or ice-cream cone, the story is largely set in America, where Bond, partnered now by the luscious daughter of old C.I.A. opposite number Felix Leiter, is once again up against SPECTRE, dominated by what appears to be the shade of that long-dead evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld. There are some good things among the zany proceedings: an automobile road race described to nerveracking effect; the amusing relationship between the aging Bond and the youthful Cedar Leiter; a climax where Bond is drugged into imagining he is the woolly-headed Gen. James A. Banker, U.S.A. - all pure John Gardner at his Boysie Oakes best. This still doesn't compensate for the awkwardness of the whole project. The reader will do better to head for anything by Mr. Gardner that isn't imitation Fleming. As pure Gardner, he is quite a writer. * show less
KAMAL By D.W. Arathorn. 351 pp. New York: Harper & Row. $14.50. By STANLEY ELLIN
The reviepoliceman's, is not always a happy one. show more Putting these three novels to the test, I was pleased to discover that two were very good. Then I was plunged from elation to depression by the realization that the third was a dud, and for reasons having nothing to do with the author's well-proven talent.
The book in question is ''For Special Services,'' by John Gardner. It is a James Bond story - Mr. Gardner's second try at rattling those moldering bones - and, as the author's foreword suggests, it was inspired not by any of the nine Muses but rather by a consortium of 007's copyright holders and publishers, along with the Saab motor car company of Sweden, which now provides Bond with his transportation.
At this point I will say that, after considering the extraliterary alliance associated with the venture, I don't believe any writer could have done better with this curious project than John Gardner, but it is simply a defeating project to start with. Ian Fleming was a dreadful writer, a creator of books for grown-up boys, a practitioner of tin-eared prose. As evidenced by his writings, he was also by nature a ferocious and humorless snob, a political primitive, a chauvinist in every possible area whose ideas about sexuality apparently were implanted by fevered readings of ''Lady Chatterly's Lover.''
John Gardner, creator of the inimitable and delightful Boysie Oakes among other characters, is the antithesis to all this, a writer of style and wit with a sharp-eyed, acidulous and yet appreciative view of humanity and its foibles. Fleming's shoes are simply too tight and misshapen for Mr. Gardner to wear comfortably. Fleming, however, did offer the reader one thing no imitator can possibly duplicate: total identification with and commitment to his hero and his works as the products of an uninhibited wish fulfillment.
When, on film, Bond was transmuted into the charismatic and sardonic Sean Connery, we were getting a different 007 altogether; it is this cinematic Bond that Mr. Gardner, his risibilities not always in control, presents to us off and on. How else to explain a 30-foot python that is not only capable of ingesting a full-grown man but also of carefully removing the victim's indigestible shoes before doing so? Or the fact that ice cream, no special flavor noted, is the device by which the villains, having dosed gallons of it with the ultimate tranquilizer, will sieze control of the American forces guarding NORAD and, consequently, the killer satellite it operates? Yes, I did say ice cream.
To put it in a nutshell, or ice-cream cone, the story is largely set in America, where Bond, partnered now by the luscious daughter of old C.I.A. opposite number Felix Leiter, is once again up against SPECTRE, dominated by what appears to be the shade of that long-dead evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld. There are some good things among the zany proceedings: an automobile road race described to nerveracking effect; the amusing relationship between the aging Bond and the youthful Cedar Leiter; a climax where Bond is drugged into imagining he is the woolly-headed Gen. James A. Banker, U.S.A. - all pure John Gardner at his Boysie Oakes best. This still doesn't compensate for the awkwardness of the whole project. The reader will do better to head for anything by Mr. Gardner that isn't imitation Fleming. As pure Gardner, he is quite a writer. * show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- For Special Services
- Original title
- For special services
- Original publication date
- 1982
- People/Characters
- James Bond; M; Miss Moneypenny; Cedar Leiter; Q; Markus Bismaquer (show all 11); Bill Tanner; Walter Luxor; Mike Mazzard; Nena Bismaquer; Felix Leiter
- Important places
- Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, England, UK; Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; London, England, UK; New York, New York, USA; Washington, D.C., USA; Amarillo, Texas, USA
- Dedication
- For Desmond Elloitt
- First words
- Euro Air Traffic Control Centre, at Maastricht on the Belgian-Dutch border, passed British Airways Flight 12 over to London Control, at West Drayton, just as the aircraft cleared the coast a few miles from Ostend.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In his cab heading for the airport, Felix Leiter chuckled to himself.
- Original language
- English
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Statistics
- Members
- 613
- Popularity
- 47,394
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (3.00)
- Languages
- 7 — Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 34
- ASINs
- 13
