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Rating: 
Summary: Rich in plot and surprises, one of the best Bond novels!
Review: Beginning with the murder of two members of a VERY well-organized spy ring known as Cabal, Bond teams up with another MI6 agent to try and find out what happened to the remaining members of the organization and find out who was behind it. Wow! John Gardner has a masterpiece this time. This is one of the best espionage novels I've read. Bond goes up against some of the most sinister and ruthless villains, and in this novel almost nobody can be trusted. The amount of double-crosses and plot twists is astounding, and unlike the more recent Bond movies, the plot is complex and (gasp) logical! As Bond unravels more clues as to who is killing Cabal's agents, he must use every means available to survive, and to stop a cataclysmic event orchestrated by a ruthless organization. Because of the rich and twisting plot, Death Is Forever captures the more sinister elements of the spy world with nothing short of brilliance. HIGHLY recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Gardner is as close as anyone's ever gotten to Fleming
Review: I'm not a "die-hard Bond fanatic" but I've seen the movies and read some of the novels, and after reading some of the other comments, mostly negative, about Gardner and his novels I thought I'd set down some thoughts on DEATH IS FOREVER. For me Gardner is as close as anyone's ever gotten to Fleming and not that far behind. DEATH IS FOREVER was an enthralling novel and the best Gardner I have read (with SCORPIUS a close second). Gardner's Bond, like Fleming's, is not a super-hero with rocket-boats and submarine cars never at a loss for humorous one-liners every time he kills a guy. He's a flesh-and-blood human being as vulnerable as anyone else who survives by using his head. Of all the movies, the two that are most faithful to Fleming's original conception of the Bond character are "From Russia with Love" and "Licence to Kill." In my opinion, needless to say, the two best Bond films. And this is the Bond of DEATH IS FOREVER and the Gardner novel series. As for the Benson novels, I've never understood why the head of the James Bond fan club was chosen to succeed Gardner as Bond writer and not an actual published novelist.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly gripping...
Review: Maybe I checked this out from the library expecting not to like it. (The Raymond Benson ones I got I really didn't like.) But as soon as I read the first page, I was hooked. It felt like I was reading another Fleming novel, with agents mysteriously dying with means that would have been used in his day. The more modern era and the relics of the past (the CABAL network and what it's up against) are blended together seamlessly. It kept me hooked until the very end. If you like the Fleming novels and plot-changing surprises, read this. If you prefer the new-millenium Bond, well, I can't say much for your taste, but whatever floats your boat...
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