30 years ago it was NO DEALS, MR. BOND

This has been a big month for anniversaries, so how about another! It was 30 years ago that John Gardner's sixth Bond novel, No Deals, Mr. Bond, was released by Putnam. Unlike most of the Bonds, this one first appeared in the U.S. I'm not sure of the exact date of publication, but the ad below appeared in the April 19, 1987 Los Angeles Times Book Review, so we'll let today be the anniversary.

My own recollection of No Deals Mr. Bond was finding it in the University Village Waldenbooks during my second semester at USC. I was so involved in school, I didn't even know when this one was coming! Sorry to say it was not one of my favorite Gardner books, then or now, but each Gardner title holds a special place in my memory, and looking at the cover of No Deals still brings me back 30 years.

U.S. edition from Putnam (left). UK edition from Jonathan Cape (right).

No Deals, Mr. Bond is available in a new reprinted edition via Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Two more JOHN GARDNER covers by Michael Gillette

Simon Gardner has shared on Facebook two more Michael Gillette covers for new German editions of John Gardner's No Deals, Mr. Bond and Scorpius. No release dates yet.

No Deals, Mr. Bond.

Scorpius

Gillette did the cover art for the 2008 Centenary editions of the Fleming Bond novels, and well as a German reprint of Colonel Sun.

Thanks to Simon Gardner.

Another title, MISTER Gardner?

This is a proof edition of John Gardner's fifth original James Bond novel. Made for reviewers and not for sale, proofs are collectible as they are technically the true first printings and can sometimes contains differences from the final book. This is the only Gardner proof I own. I got this because there is a major difference from the released book right on the cover. Can you spot what it is?

The difference is the title. Here it is, No Deals, Mister Bond, with "Mister" spelled out. When the book was released the title read, No Deals, Mr. Bond, using the abbreviation. Exciting, isn't it?

Of course, No Deals, Mr. Bond is generally considered the worst title of any James Bond book. Gardner's working title, which he shared in an interview with The Armchair Detective (Vol. 19, No. 3), was Tomorrow Always Comes, which is certainly better. I've also always thought the villain's name, Blackfriar, would have made a decent title. How they arrived at No Deals, Mr. Bond is a mystery to me.

"The sixth Bond synopsis has been accepted. And I think it will probably be called Tomorrow Always Comes." - John Gardner, November 20, 1985

Visit The Book Bond's special Gardner Renewed page for links to all the John Gardner James Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

NO DEALS, MR. CONNERY

Here's a 1994 Italian paperback edition of John Gardner's sixth original Bond novel, No Deals, Mr. Bond. I like this cover for several reasons.

First, you gotta love that Bond is depicted as a 1970s Diamonds-era Sean Connery. I also really like that it showcases the Hong Kong locations of this book. I can't think of another No Deals cover that does that. It's also very much a modern pulp cover, capturing Bond in a moment of vulnerable bloody action. And speaking of blood, I'm wondering if this is the only Bond cover that actually shows 007 bleeding?

All the John Gardner James Bond novels were recently reprinted. Visit The Book Bond's special Gardner Renewed page for links to all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Pegasus NO DEALS MR. BOND U.S. paperback ships early

The new U.S. paperback edition of John Gardner's No Deals Mr. Bond from Pegasus has been released early. Originally scheduled for October 15, Amazon shows the book as in stock now.

Scorpius was also announced for October 15. So far that release date is holding. My question/concern is whether Pegasus will actually release all the Gardner books in the U.S. as Orion has done in the UK. So far they've not announced any books beyond Scorpius. Also, Orion's UK editions are now listing on the U.S. Amazon.

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for links and release date updates for all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Thanks to Neil Bulk for the alert.

UPDATE: Word is Scorpius is now shipping as well.

Orion releases NO DEALS, MR. BOND and BROKENCLAW

The next two John Gardner James Bond reprint from Orion have been released in the UK. No Deals, Mr. Bond and Brokenclaw are now shipping from Amazon.co.uk.

That's right, I said Brokenclaw. For whatever reason, Orion has jumped the release of Brokenclaw ahead of Scorpius, Win Lose or Die, and Licence To Kill. I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining. I've always considered Brokenclaw to be one of the most underrated of all the Gardner Bonds. In fact, I think it's the best of his later books.

The next wave of five Gardner releases will be on August 2. Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for links and release date updates for all the Gardner-James Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

The Most Dangerous Covers Ever...

We've been talking a lot about James Bond cover silhouettes lately; from the U.S. silhouettes of the 1980s to the alleged "Brosnan" silhouette of 1990 to the move away from silhouettes on the new Classic covers from Vintage. So I thought it was time to post up these reprints of the first six John Gardner books in the UK by Coronet (No Deals, Mr. Bond was a first). These were released in 1987 and I always thought the new cover silhouette looked like Timothy Dalton, who was reigning as "The Most Dangerous Bond Ever" at the time. Look at the looser cut of his tux and the longer hair... I don't know, says Timmy D to me.

Oh course, Timothy Dalton would only make two Bond films, The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989), and Coronet would revamp the Gardner (and Fleming) covers in the 1990s. So even if these silhouettes aren't inspired by Dalton, these were the books on the shelves during his era, so I will always think of these as "the Dalton editions."

Making NO DEALS in 1987

Okay, after being preempted by the big news last week of the new William Boyd James Bond novel, lets continue on with our look back at vintage John Gardner newspaper adverts. Here is an April 19, 1987 ad from the Sunday Los Angeles Times Book Review section for Gardner's sixth original James Bond novel, No Deals, Mr. Bond.

Unfortunately, I don't have an ad like the above for 1986's Nobody Lives Forever. Either I missed it, or one was never done. The only ad I have for Gardner's fifth Bond is this ad by Crown Books. Crown was an aggressive discount book chain that would eventually knock off Waldenbooks and B. Dalton.

No Deals, Mr. Bond and Nobody Lives Forever will both be released as part of the John Gardner reissues in the U.S. and UK this year. Click here for dates and pre-order links.

Also see:

• Bond on ROLE in 1984
• Breaking the ICE in 1983
• FOR SPECIAL SERVICES 30th Anniversary

Pegasus sets release date for two more JOHN GARDNER U.S. paperbacks

Amazon.com is now listing two more U.S. John Gardner James Bond paperback reprints from Pegasus. No Deals, Mr. Bond and Scorpius will be released on October 15, 2012.

The good folks at Pegasus have kindly given me a sneak peek at the Dan Mogford cover art for both books. What's nice is this gives us our first look at what will likely be the UK cover art for Scoprius as well. I like!

• Pre-order No Deals Mr. Bond on Amazon
• Pre-order Scorpius on Amazon

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for links and release date updates for all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Fleming in the '80s and the case of the curious Casino

With the rebirth of the literary James Bond in 1981 with John Gardner's License Renewed, the time was right to refresh the original Ian Fleming series in the USA. (Previous Fleming paperbacks had sported the attractive but somewhat dated cover paintings by Barnett Plotkin.) What we got were these ten paperbacks from Berkley with cover art in the same series style as the Gardner books (the rights to the final four books were still held by Signet). These new paperbacks rolled out between May and August 1982 and would be reprinted until 1987. Later editions would carry the Charter publishing brand (the photos below are all Charter editions).

There are a few things to note if you're looking to collect this series. First, the odd book out was definitely Moonraker, which for some reason didn't make its appearance until August 1984. Why it was delayed I have no idea. I bought all these back in the day so I've never had to do a search for them, but I suspect Moonraker might be the hardest of these to find today, especially in its first Berkley edition.

Also, there are at least three cover variations of For Your Eyes Only. The first is the regular Berkley edition published in August 1982. Then there is the 1985 movie tie-in edition with a notation below the title saying it features the short story "From A View To A Kill", as well as a cover band promoting the Roger Moore Bond film, A View To A Kill. The later Charter edition would drop the movie band, but keep the "From A View To A Kill" short story notation (that edition is pictured above).

And then there is the case of the curious Casino Royale (left), dated October 1986. You'll note that it is different from the regular Casino, sporting a yellow cover and the 007 silhouette from the License Renewed paperback. It also has no price or publisher information. That's because this particular Casino Royale was given away as a promotional freebie with the purchase of the U.S. hardcover edition of John Gardner's No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987).

Of course, no set of these can be considered complete without this unique Casino giveaway. The good news is this book has not really become a hard-to-find collectible (despite what I thought at the time). I'm surprised how many I see on used bookstore shelves and on eBay.

These covers would stand throughout the '90s, which was the first decade to not see a Fleming cover refresh in the USA. The next time Fleming hit bookstores shelves in the U.S. would be in 2002 with the retro style covers by Richie Fahey.

Berkley U.S. paperback publication order:

Casino Royale - May 1982
Live And Let Die - May 1982
Diamonds Are Forever - May 1982
From Russia With Love - May 1982
Doctor No - May 1982
Goldfinger - May 1982
Thunderball - June 1982
The Spy Who Loved Me - July 1982
For Your Eyes Only - August 1982
Moonraker - August 1984
Casino Royale (No Deals Mr. Bond tie-in freebie) - October 1986

MORE JOHN GARDNER PAPERBACK COVER ART REVEALED

More cover art for the new UK paperback editions of John Gardner's James Bond novels have been revealed on Amazon.co.uk. This time we get a first look at Role of Honour, Nobody Lives Forever, and No Deals, Mr. Bond.

Click to enlarge

I love that Role of Honour has a blimp on the cover, and the mace on No Deals is appropriate, but a scorpion on Nobody Lives Forever? I don't recall a scorpion in the book -- I was hoping for a vampire bat (the book contains a terrific sequence in which a vampire bat is dropped into the shower with Bond). But this is probably because the original UK hardcover featured a scorpion on the cover, so...

These three books are due out on May 10, 2012. Check out our special Gardner Renewed page for pre-order links and the latest release date information on all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.