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With a Mind to Kill: A James Bond Novel    by Anthony Horowitz Amazon.com order for
With a Mind to Kill
by Anthony Horowitz
Order:  USA  Can
Harper, 2022 (2022)
Hardcover, CD, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Anthony Horowitz has (authorized by the Ian Fleming Estate) continued to write of James Bond's exploits in Trigger Mortis and Forever and a Day. Now he brings fans With a Mind to Kill, reminiscent in some ways of The Manchurian Candidate.

It opens on M's funeral (watched by the Soviets). Bond is absent, in custody after pulling the trigger! What could have led to this? Apparently the Russians brainwashed 007, then released him to return home and do the deed. Though he didn't, they don't know that, and Bond needs to be sent back to Russia to foil the latest plot against 'the safety and security of the West' by a new Russian organization that calls itself the Steel Hand.

All goes as planned and Bond, pretending to be still brainwashed, is taken to Moscow. There he undergoes some of the same treatments from Colonel Boris that almost worked the first time, but is better prepared to withstand the horrors. Boris also orders the lovely Katya to get close to the spy. If she believes he is faking, he'll be killed. As we expect from a Bond thriller, she does form a strong relationship with our hero, one that later saves him.

There's the usual constant action that fans expect, as well as a question that pulls reader interest throughout. Boris has implanted a strong trigger signal deep in Bond's consciousness - when push comes to shove, will be be able to resist it?

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