There Are No Spies by Bill Granger

(hb; 1986: seventh novel in The November Man series)


From the inside flap:

"The time is early March. The place is Lausanne, the Swiss city with a university and a cathedral, an easy place to live. The name is Devereaux, also known as November, the American field officer with ultrasecret R Section who has gone to ground above the shores of Lake Geneva.

"He does not know that a beautiful KGB agent with a talent for murder and making love has been ordered to stalk two Novembers -- and kill them both.

"He does not know that Hanley, the man who has been his control for nineteen years in R Section, has had a nervous breakdown -- and is currently in a government-subsidized asylum for people who have too many secrets.

"He does not know that Hanley's desperate message 'There are no spies' will activate him back into service -- and into a mission to save both his own life and R Section itself.

"And he does not know that zero hour ticks closer for Nutcracker, the top-secret plan to lure the Soviets' master spy into the fold of the West with himself as the designated pawn. When Devereaux emerges, reluctantly, out of concealment, he will find himself alone and betrayed inside an international free-fire zone. Here morality comes, if at all, at the end of the game -- when there is no victory, only the absence of defeat."


Review:

Spies is a solid and entertaining -- if sometimes chatty -- read, with plenty of Cold War-conspiratorial action livening up the storyline. It runs a bit long near the end, but it's still worth your time if you can overlook those relatively minor flaws, and if you check it out from the library.

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The resulting, better-than-the-book film, The November Man, was released stateside on August 27, 2014. Roger Donaldson directed the film, from a script by Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek.

Pierce Brosnan played Devereaux. Luke Bracey played Mason. Olga Kurylenko played Alice. Bill Smitrovich played Hanley. Amila Terzimehic played Alexa.

Lazar Ristovski played Arkady Federov. Mediha Musliovic played Natalia Ulanova. Eliza Taylor played Sarah. Will Patton, billed as William Patton, played Perry Weinstein. Caterina Scorsone played Celia.

For Your Eyes Only, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1959, 1960: story anthology -- eighth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

Overall review:

Good, quirky-for-the-author anthology, with some revealing side-stories (about Bond and M, Bond's boss).

Review, story by story:

“From A View To A Kill”: When a British military dispatch driver is murdered and his documents stolen, Bond investigates the murder/theft. Bond gets tangled up in intradepartmental rivalries and Luger-carrying killers. Okay story, with a lackluster female protagonist, Mary Ann Russell.

“For Your Eyes Only”: In Jamaica, Cuban gunmen in the employ of an ex-Gestapo (von Hammerstein) kill an older couple, friends of M's. Bond volunteers to mete out “rough justice” (Bond's term); along the way, he encounters Judy Havelock, the murdered couple's daughter, who's also bent on revenge.

While the female-seeking-revenge plot set-up is familiar – Fleming used it in the preceding Bond book, Goldfinger – the author's capable writing keeps it thrilling.

“Quantum of Solace”: At a boring Nassau party, surrounded by the filthy rich, the island Governor tells Bond about a government employee (Phillip Masters), his wife (Rhoda), and their spectacularly destructive marriage. All the violence in this chatty tale is second-hand and emotional. Philosophical, honest and different (for a Bond tale), with a dovetail ending.

“Risico”: Less than a year after the events of Goldfinger, Bond goes to Rome to smash up a drug ring. Exciting blast-read, with some cool twists.

“The Hildebrand Rarity”: Bond, stuck on a five-day boat trip with an insufferable, wife-beating American (Milton Crest) who hunts nearly-extinct animals, struggles to keep his cool. Unsettling – on multiple levels – story, with a chilling finish: a welcome variation on the usual Bond adventure, and one not easily forgotten.

Followed by the novel, Thunderball.

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Three films resulted from this anthology; the only thing they share with the stories are the titles, and some characters.

For Your Eyes Only came out in 1981. It used characters (who appear in altered form) from another anthology story, “Risico,” but the movie is way different than its title- and character-sourced stories.

Roger Moore reprised his role of James Bond. Carole Bouquet played Melina Havelock (story name: Judy Havelock). Topol played Milos Columbo (a variation on Enrico Colombo, from the story “Risico”). Julian Glover played Aristotle Kristatos (another “Risico” character). Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson co-scripted. John Glen directed. (Glen has directed five of the James Bond films, the most times any director has done so.)

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A View To A Kill came out in 1985. Roger Moore reprised his role of James Bond. Christopher Walken played Max Zorin – a cinematic add-on character. Tanya Roberts played Stacy Sutton, another cinematic add-on character. Grace Jones played May Day, another cinematic add-on character. Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson returned as co-scripters. John Glen returned as director.

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Quantum of Solace, whose only link to its source story seems to be the title, is set for a November 7, 2008 theatrical release. Daniel Craig reprises his role of James Bond. Mattieu Amalric plays Dominic Greene (I can't remember if that character is actually in the story: will have to re-read it sometime). Jeffrey Wright reprises his role of Felix Leiter. Olga Kurylenko plays Camille, a cinematic add-on character. Giancarlo Giannini reprises his role of René Mathis. Gemma Arterton plays Strawberry Fields, another cinematic add-on character. Judi Dench reprises her role of M. Marc Forster is set to direct, from a script by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis.

An interesting note on Quantum of Solace. . . this, from www.imdb.com: "The producers and writers of Quantum of Solace have stated that the action of the film picks up 'almost an hour after the close of Casino Royale'. They have also said it will be a continuation of the story established in Casino Royale. In this way it can be regarded as a true sequel to Royale and, like that film, is separate in continuity to any of the previous Bond films to come before. While sharing the same continuity of the character, the previous Bond films were more 'stand-alone' adventures of the super spy than sequels that told one ongoing story. It is not clear how long the producers intend to continue this ret-con of Bond films in this manner, but they have already openly stated that they do not intend to re-visit or remake any of the material from the previously released series of Bond films."