''Trigger Mortis'' is a 2015
James Bond novel written by
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony John Horowitz, (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense.
His works for children and young adult readers include ''The Diamond Brothers'' series, the ''Alex Rider'' series, and ''T ...
, and commissioned by the estate of Bond's creator
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
, which was published on 8 September 2015.
Plot
The book is set in 1957 against the backdrop of the
Space Race
The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
, and begins two weeks after the events of ''
Goldfinger''. The novel is the third in the current-era literary series to be set during the original timeline created by Fleming since 1968's ''
Colonel Sun
''Colonel Sun'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis published by Jonathan Cape on 28 March 1968 under the pseudonym "Robert Markham". ''Colonel Sun'' is the first James Bond continuation novel published after Ian Fleming's 1964 death. Before writing th ...
'' (following ''
Devil May Care'' by
Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...
and ''
Solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Comics
* ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series
* Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
'' by
William Boyd) and sees the return of
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
Pussy Galore
Pussy Galore is a fictional character in the 1959 Ian Fleming James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and the 1964 film of the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. The character returns in the 2015 Bond continuation novel ''Trigg ...
, who made her debut in ''Goldfinger''.
Background
''Trigger Mortis'' was announced in October 2014. It contains ''Murder on Wheels'', previously unpublished material written by Fleming for an unfilmed television series, which Horowitz used to write the opening chapter. The book title was revealed on 28 May 2015 to coincide with Fleming's 107th birthday.
Critical reception
Sarah Ditum
Sarah Ditum is an English opinion columnist and freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications including ''The Guardian'', ''New Statesman, The Times'', and ''UnHerd''. She is based in Bath, Somerset, Bath. Ditum's writing has covered i ...
from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' noted that Horowitz's previous experience with the
Alex Rider
''Alex Rider'' is a series of spy novels written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around a teenage spy named Alex Rider and is primarily aimed towards young adults. The series currently comprises thirteen novels, as well ...
series had allowed him to "
lip
The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...
in almost seamlessly" into the "Fleming chapter", allowing him to deliver the "tersely precise prose that makes Bond so compelling" and supply "touches of Fleming’s cruel poetry". She felt that problems only arose when Horowitz "deviates from the model", especially with
Pussy Galore
Pussy Galore is a fictional character in the 1959 Ian Fleming James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and the 1964 film of the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. The character returns in the 2015 Bond continuation novel ''Trigg ...
's substantial backstory and Bond's personality divergence from the previous books.
Barry Forshaw
Barry Forshaw is a writer, broadcaster and journalist whose books include '' British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia'', '' The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction'', '' Brit Noir'', '' British Gothic Cinema'', ''Nordic Noir'', '' Sex and Film'', '' Euro N ...
of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' described the book as a "clever and enjoyable
pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
" which manages to "press many of the buttons that were the purview of
leming
Leming is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Atascosa County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 946. This was a new CDP for the 2010 census. The community is part of the San Antonio Metrop ...
. Writing for ''
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'',
Nicholas Lezard Nicholas Andrew Selwyn LezardThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991, Cambridge University Press, p. 814 is an English journalist, author and literary critic.
Background and education
The Lezard family went from London to Ki ...
took delight in the "bonkers but hugely enjoyable" story, which has "everything in it we want from Bond
... Lezard complimented the villain's "plausible backstory" and Bond's escape scenes, which had him "appropriately, given his situation, gasping for breath". Scott Murray from ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' compared Horowitz's writing style to Fleming, stating: "Mostly, he writes as if he were Fleming.
..''Trigger Mortis'' is a Bond novel no one else could have conceived and written except for Fleming in his prime." He noticed that after the "gripping and tense" Grand Prix scenes, the book "hardly takes a breath or allows the reader the time or desire to look for misjudgments", while only suffering from a few description errors with Bond's observations.
Simon Schama
Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University.
He fir ...
, writing for the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'', praised the "humdinger of a Bond story, so cunningly crafted and thrillingly paced that 007's creator would have been happy to have owned it", and described it as a "Loving Tribute" to Fleming.
Felix Salmon
Felix Salmon (born 1972) is a financial journalist, formerly of ''Portfolio Magazine'' and ''Euromoney'' and a former finance blogger for Reuters, where he analyzed economic and occasionally social issues in addition to financial commentary. In Apr ...
from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' observed that Horowitz's setting of Bond, notably with his personality, "isn't — could never be — the same Bond" as Fleming's original. He also noticed that the novel was bogged down with "dutiful" descriptions of technology and lack of research in certain parts of the prose, but nevertheless complimented the story's plot which "should be more than good enough for the fans." On the other hand, Muriel Dobbin of ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'' praised the technical detail in the daredevil car racing and space rocket scenes, noting that "Mr. Horowitz obviously did his technical homework". She particularly enjoyed the story's ending, writing: "
..Bond shines. And so does his Bentley. It’s all great fun." ''
The Daily Telegraph's'' Jake Kerridge praised the "authentically Fleming-esque storyline" of the book, notably the SMERSH racing storyline, but felt that the book's formulaic
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
and villain ultimately proved underwhelming.
Adaptations
In August 2015 it was announced that an
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
of the novel would be narrated by actor
David Oyelowo
David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, ...
.
The
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
drama series ''
Book at Bedtime
''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00.
The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...
'' broadcast a serialized reading by
Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in '' Spooks'', Clive Reader in ''Silk'', DI Joseph Chandler in ''Whitechapel'', and Mr Quinlan in the American horror series ''The ...
in October and November 2015.
References
{{Authority control
2015 British novels
James Bond books
Novels by Anthony Horowitz
Cold War spy novels
Fiction set in 1957
Novels set in the 1950s
Novels adapted into radio programs
Orion Books books