The Hero: James Bond; The Villian :Father Valentine; The Bond Girl: Harriet Horner; Supporting Characters: Pearle Pearlman, Trilby Shrivenham; Locations covered: London Countryside, Washington D.C. First Published: 1988

Scorpius opens with the death of a prominent London figure`s daughter in the Thames River. A known drug addict, her parents had tried to get her out of using before it was too late. It was too late. Her possessions were few. An address book and a strange credit card. The Special Branch, MI5, passes on the job, and MI6 grabs it, selecting 007 for the job.

Things begin to fall in place when it is revealed that the only number in her address book belongs to James Bond and that her only Credit Card, named “Avante Carte” is bogus. This is all explained in tremendous detail in the first FIVE chapters. (Personally, Fleming could have had it done in one, or two at the very most!)

The villian of the book is Vladimir Scorpius, a Russian Arms dealer who is hiding out in America under the assumed name of Father Valentine. He runs a religious group named The Society of The Meek Ones. Honestly, his character is so poorly written that I doubt he could run run a 7-11. His main plan, which I had to read another reviewer`s analysis to figure out, is to brainwash his followers into assassinating politcians and celebrities.

There are three Bond girls in this one. Two minor and a major one. Emma Dupre and Trilby Shrivenham are the two minor ones in the novel and do have some depth as the brain-washed followers of Father Valentine. These two are in an out quickly as Dupre is “the floater” who would have done a decent job as the girl in the book, but instead is wasted . Trilby is not as good as Emma, but is average at best as a strung out youngster with a wallet full of cash from her parents.

The other Bond Girl is Harriett Horner, a CIA agent who is assigned to Bond. She is one of the stereo typical Bond girls of the past: uninteresting and window dressing. She doesn’t have a brain in her head! Some of the other girls as previously mentioned are great in the novel, but in and out too quickly.

Pearle Pearlman is Bond’s only friend throughout the entire novel. But, he does pull a few of Gardner’s standard double and triple crosses. I was expecting them because its his style. He is a bit more interesting than most other characters in the novel. His character is an MI6 agent, but his way of doing things are way out of left field.

Gone from Ian Fleming’s novels are the title of 007, Bond’s drinking “habit”, his classic cigarettes, the beautiful and outragous car, either his Bentley or an Aston Martin from Q Branch.

Other Bond elements such as the villians luxurious hideout, and cryptic henchmen are not availible in this novel. Scorpius has a dense goon or two, but they don’t add anything to this novel.

Under Gardner, James Bond had begun to change from a raw, rogue secret agent into a man who has gotten into the job and stays with it mainly because it has a paycheque as well as a comfortable retirement. It is a “competent” novel, and I say that because I don’t think that it is particularly good in any area. The action scenes are average at best, with the only highlights being a rather impressive car chase scene, and the climactic scene.