With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz
In “With a Mind to Kill,” Anthony Horowitz’s James Bond trilogy comes to an end.
In “Forever and a Day,” Horowitz spun a tale of Bond’s first assignment. With “Trigger Mortis,” the author takes Bond on a mid-career adventure with the super spy in his prime.
Horowitz shares a peek into what could be the final days of Bond’s career in “With a Mind to Kill.”
In a short prologue, Horowitz recaps the plot of “The Man with the Golden Gun,” Bond creator Ian Fleming’s 12th and last Bond novel. There, Bond had fallen into the hands of the Soviet Union where he was tortured and brainwashed to kill M, his organizational leader. Bond fails in the attempt and is deprogrammed. He is “sent to Jamaica to kill the freelance assassin ‘Pistols’ Scaramanga.”
“With a Mind to Kill” picks up after “The Man with the Golden Gun.” British intelligence fakes M’s death, pretending that Bond was successful in his assassination attempt. Bond is reinserted into the Soviet Union where his tormentors want to ensure he is ready to commit another political assassination.
He meets a Russian femme fatale. He encounters a sinister villain. He must keep his sanity and identity while in the hands of the people who once manipulated his mind into betraying his supervisor and country.
Readers should note this is not the James Bond from the movies. This is a take on the James Bond from the Ian Fleming books. For example, all three of Horowitz’s books are set in the 1950s and early 1960s – the same time period as Fleming’s books.
While the movies are often non-stop action, the books are more cerebral. Book Bond is more likely to think his way or gut his way through a dangerous situation where Movie Bond will punch or shoot his way out of trouble. Plenty of action in the books but nothing as constant or as a brash as the movies.
The Horowitz Bond books have been fun to read during the past several years. Shame there aren’t more planned.
Wolverine: Sabretooth War Parts 1 & 2
Benjamin Percy concludes his nearly four-year run of writing the monthly “Wolverine” comic book with the epic and ambitious “Sabretooth War.”
Readers should note this is not the Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman, even in the R-rated movies. The cover of each issue of this tale carried the warning: “Parental Advisory! Not for Kids!” The cover of the first issue contained the additional warning: “The Most Violent Wolverine Story Ever Told!”
Take these warnings seriously. This is a savage Wolverine and an even more savage Sabretooth.
Sabretooth has been Wolverine’s arch-enemy for decades. Percy touches upon many of the highlights from that relationship from past story arcs. The number of Wolverine’s loved ones killed by Sabretooth, the times that Sabretooth has physically damaged or hurt Wolverine, the era when they worked together as paid assassins, etc.
This time, Sabretooth wants to end their long dance once and for all. To ensure he defeats Wolverine, Sabretooth recruits his parallel “Sabreteeth” from other worlds in the multiverse. Together, the Sabretooth team attacks Wolverine by targeting loved ones and teammates.
“Sabretooth War” stretched across 10 issues of the regular “Wolverine” title. With the issues being released twice monthly, a team of artists worked with Percy to present the storyline. The full story has been collected in two trade paperback editions.
While it may well be the most violent Wolverine story ever told, it is arguably not the greatest Wolverine story, nor even the greatest story told in Percy’s enjoyable run on “Wolverine.” “Sabretooth War” depends on the “Sabreteeth” from multiple worlds much too soon after the recent Beast story arc which involved multiple Beast clones and Wolverine clones. “The Beast Agenda” was also a better story.
That said, if you’re old enough, “Sabertooth War” is an interesting read, but if you have only so much money to spend on Wolverine – beside the movie money to see “Deadpool & Wolverine” in the theatre, check out the Beast story arc.