Anthony Horowitz delivers one last 007 adventure, this one set after the last novel in the Ian Fleming series, The Man with the Golden Gun. James Bond had been brainwashed by the Russians and sent to kill M, something he almost did. But after some rehabilitation, 007 proved himself once again by going after Scaramanga.

With a Mind to Kill picks up a couple of weeks after that. And there’s a plan in action; send Bond back into Russia to smash a new security service headed by one of the doctors, Boris, who turned him. They fake M’s death and send 007 on his way.

Throughout the book there seem to be little nods to not only the literary Bond, but also the cinematic version as well, but this installment plays out like a straightforward Cold War thriller.

Bond is busted out of the UK by a special team, and escorted behind the Iron Curtain. There he confronts past events as he is returned to the same hospital where he was broken and programmed. Is he prepared enough to resist it this time?

Boris and Bond begin a cat-and-mouse game as 007 attempts to prove his loyalty to Russia. Boris even sends a long a beautiful young woman to get close to the British agent and report on him.

Can he keep up the front? And how far will he go to maintain his cover? And if he does prove himself, will he be ready for one last gambit that could save the world from devolving into World War III even as it restores Russia to its former glory?

Horowitz doles out a crisp thriller married with the detail and punchy prose one would expect from an Ian Fleming story. His story is also incredibly faithful to the literary Bond and sets up a possible exit from the service once and for all as it comes to a close.

I quite enjoyed this one. There aren’t any big action beats, it’s more lowkey, but undeniably Bond, and Horowitz like Benson really has a handle on the characters and the storytelling style of the literary Bond.

But it’s not over yet.

There is still more 007 to come. There’s the Young Bond series, as well as a couple of spin-off novels set in the Bond universe. And I’m sure now that Amazon has their claws in it, there may be all manner of tales to come, both literary and cinematic, and perhaps a crossing of the two.

Nonetheless, James Bond will return in… On His Majesty’s Secret Service.