Bond's own head. "Gardner weaves swift, outrageous coincidences into a preposterous plot that is quite fun to follow as it hops from the Tyrolean Alps to Salzburg to Key West. All in all, Gardner avoids some of the giganticism of the Bond flicks but certain climactic cliches – granted Bond's megalomaniacal villains – by now seem unavoidable, Even so, one dismisses the cliches for the amusement." Frank Stilley, in a review for the Associated Press syndicated throughout the United States, said Gardner "lacks nothing" of Ian Fleming's gift for "conveying agaonizing suspense" and that "the yarn is a cinch" to please "James Bond's countless fans". Don O'Briant, books editor for The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, said the book was an "exciting adventure" and noted it in his roundup of the year's best books. Future Bond author Raymond Benson said "This is far and away John Gardner's best James Bond novel, and it is precisely because it is such a personal plot for the leading character. It's a plot reminiscent of From Russia, With Love, and it moves along excitingly! The chase idea was splendid indeed, and the reader is chased along with Bond throughout the book." Benson praised the story's "many surprising turns" and believed that if it were a film it would "have much of the same tension that something like Hitchcock's North by Northwest had." Benson's only complaint was the lack of a central villain, though he praised the "well-written female characters (Sukie Tempesta and Nannie Norrich)" who accompany Bond. See also Outline of James Bond References 1986 British novels James Bond books Novels by John Gardner (British writer) Jonathan Cape books Novels set in Austria Novels set in Florida Novels set in France