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Bond was being abused and he thoughts of quitting. He should quit. Let someone else who hasn’t suffered so much to carry on this work. Being good at his work should make him feel appreciate and treasured as a good employee. When it is not worth it. Or at least no one convince him that it is all worth it. It is a form of exploitation. I am glad that he wants to quit and I hope he did at the end of this book.
When the plot gets going it consists of steals from From Russia With Love (James Bond #5 - 1957) (including SMERSH type thugs & assassins, the conflicted Russian femme fatale and a train ride) and then even from other authors such as Len Deighton's The Ipcress File (1962) (the Russian brainwashing techniques), Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate (1959) (the unknowing, brainwashed assassin) and Le Carre's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1963) (the doomed and cynical spy). After the final reveal, it pretty much fizzles out. After Bond survives yet another test of faith, he is given his big mission from the KGB. It involves a visit to Berlin, where he is to assassinate a well-known figure who threatens the very future of Russia and the Cold War.Whenever I read a James Bond novel, I always wonder which version of 007 I will see. Once I understood the timeline of WITH A MIND TO KILL, which wraps up Anthony Horowitz’s Bond trilogy, I had my answer. False Flag Operation: Stalnaya Ruska's plan involves sending Bond to assassinate Nikita Khruschev in East Berlin. Their goal is to implicate the West in the murder of a Soviet leader, which will be a massive propaganda victory for them, while simultaneously clearing the way for a more hardline, uncompromising Stalinist leader to take Khruschev's place and lead Russia to glory. The rest of the novel plays out at an uninteresting, plodding pace with an underwhelming finale. It reads so workmanlike, like Horowitz was fulfilling a contract obligation, not because he was inspired. Which is a shame as he seems to have a good handle on Bond as a character. Anthony Horowitz has written another solid Bond novel. This is more of a 2 1/2 star book. Horowitz's writing is as griping as it usually is and I loved the way all his Bond books are set within the Fleming universe. But this one coming straight after The Man with the Golden Gun was a little hard to get into due to the plot being a little preposterous. Most Bond plots are a little preposterous but this one really pushed the envelope. It was a good read and a nice end to Horowitz's trilogy.
This is set a couple of weeks after Fleming’s “Man with the Golder Gun”, Bond is recovering from brainwashing and an intense ordeal, and he is very much a damaged man. But a mission arises that may be vital to the safety of the Western world and, despite not being ready, Bond volunteers to put himself in the hands of the Russians, acting if the brainwashing is still in place. On the other hand there is some terrific action. Early on Bond is forced to flee after being captured. The writing is genuinely exciting. Later on there is more action, Bond forced to fight for his life and continue his mission. And the finale when he must return to the west. In these moments the book is hard to put down. But I don’t really buy Bond’s mission and all the mind control. It worked in The Man With The Golden Gun because Fleming didn’t elaborate too much. While Horowitz has researched mind control methods I just didn’t believe it. So it was a downbeat end for the Horowitz Bond trilogy, maybe even qualifying for an Unsatisfactory Ending Alert™. I am rather more hopeful for the new Kim Sherwood Double-00 trilogy which started off with Double or Nothing (September 2022) [4 **** stars] even if it is set up as an intentional icon-breaker.My only real criticsim is the author's constant references to a huge amount of previous Bond adventures by Ian Fleming. Some of these are essential to the story, but many are unnecessary & somewhat laboured. Other Bond continuation novelist like John Gardner & Raymond Benson had the same problem. These endless references to 007's past did irritate me at times, but the last four chapters of With A Mind To Kill are so sublime that (once again!) I'll forgive him. A significant chunk of the novel is taken up with Bond and Katya on a seemingly never-ending first date that develops predictably and is never once compelling. What’s worse is that Horowitz’s usually strong characterisation seems to regress considerably to portray Katya as the worst kind of stereotypical damsel-in-distress. She goes from being an independent, intelligent woman to a simpering, clingy bimbo in no time, existing only to be used by Bond, and Horowitz too, when the narrative suits. Deconstruction: This novel arguably serves as one for the typical Bond story. After spending time in Soviet Russia, Bond comes to realize that his heroic defeats of megalomaniacal villains like Dr. No or Goldfinger ultimately will not make much of a difference in the outcome of the Cold War and that only the Russian people can free themselves from the tyranny of Soviet rule. He also reflects on how the years of physical and psychological trauma that he's suffered as a secret agent have permanently damaged him. The conventional notion of Bond being The Casanova is also deconstructed by Katya Leonova - contrary to popular belief, Bond does genuinely have feelings for all the women he's been involved with and treats them well during the relationship. It's just that the relationships don't last since he's too emotionally damaged to make a long-term commitment. At the same time, he knew, deep down, that love from Mary Goodnight, or from any other woman, was not enough for him. It would be like taking "a room with a view". For James Bond, the same view would always pall.
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