Saturday, July 15, 2023

NEVER SEND FLOWERS blooms at 30

It's another anniversary day. This time it's Never Send Flowers by John Gardner, released in the UK on July 15, 1993. To mark the occasion, here's a review from back in the day.

I've always liked Never Send Flowers. For me, it was a step up after The Man From Barbarossa and Death is Forever. I've always suspected Gardner was influenced by Silence of the Lambs and initially decided to write a James Bond horror novel. He seems to really be going for horror atmosphere. But he's not a horror writer, and after a few chapters he seems to give up on that approach and the book turns into a tale of James Bond in the world of make believe and the theatrical, culminating with a climax in EuroDisney. People poke fun at the idea of 007 at Disneyland. But I think the climax works and is in keeping with the theatrical theme. I also liked that the U.S. edition (released in May) went with black for their cover color this time.


If you want to give Never Send Flowers a try, you can buy the 2015 reprints at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

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