It’s hard to believe that Ian Fleming’s James Bond franchise was built on the strength of 14 books --- 12 novels and two short story collections --- published between the early 1950s and mid-1960s. Film adaptations of those works (with great liberties taken, of course) continue to this day, as do the extension of the literary works with the approval of Fleming’s estate. TRIGGER MORTIS is the latest of these new novels, and it is a superlative effort, one of the best of the post-Fleming books and certainly worthy of a film of its own.

As has been noted elsewhere, TRIGGER MORTIS contains a bit of Fleming’s own handiwork, which is certainly enjoyable to encounter after so many years have passed since Fleming’s death. Author Anthony Horowitz blends it seamlessly into the story, which takes place immediately after GOLDFINGER. As one might expect, Bond has Pussy Galore in tow, though not for long. The ever-intrepid Bond is given an assignment to foil what appears to be the latest plan by SMERSH, the deadly Russian counterintelligence organization, to score a propaganda coup over England. It’s a bit of a stretch (though no more so than what one encounters in any of Fleming’s classic Bond works), but it provides a vehicle, if you will, to put Bond behind the wheel of a racecar in a prestigious but treacherous race through a mountainous German course.

"...a pitch-perfect addition to the Bond canon... You won’t read TRIGGER MORTIS without hearing the iconic James Bond movie theme playing in the back of your head."

It is here that Horowitz demonstrates for the first time not only his penchant for research but also his considerable chops as a thriller writer. I had neither interest in nor appreciation for auto racing before reading TRIGGER MORTIS, but Horowitz’s in-the-seat description of what takes place will have you white-knuckling your reading format of choice. Things don’t let up from there, as Bond meets and crosses swords for the first of several times with an enigmatic and highly successful Korean businessman named Jason Sin, who seems to be in league with the Russians in a plot directed against the United States.

Horowitz injects a bit of mystery into the tale, with Bond and a mysterious woman named Jeopardy Lane racing against the clock to first determine precisely what Sin and the Russians have planned and then prevent it, despite opposition from American authorities whose reaction is one of disbelief. Sin, of course, is cut from the same plot as numerous classic Bond villains, and the fate that he attempts to visit upon Bond is worth the price of admission and your time all by itself. It’s not so much that Bond prevails, but how he does so that carries the reader to the climax --- both of them, actually. And Sin? Let’s just say that he would have been better off if he had learned how to properly conduct himself.

TRIGGER MORTIS is written in the style of the era in which it takes place. A (very mild) warning regarding the effects of cigarette smoking can be found, as can a bit of tolerance for alternative lifestyles. Some of the stereotypes presented might lift an eyebrow or two, even for those of us who came of age during the late 1950s, but Horowitz is doing nothing more or less than presenting without comment an unvarnished presentation of that era. The result is a pitch-perfect addition to the Bond canon, one that no doubt would enjoy Fleming’s imprimatur and yours as well.

You won’t read TRIGGER MORTIS without hearing the iconic James Bond movie theme playing in the back of your head. And that is as it should be. Strongly recommended, particularly for Bond aficionados.