I'm happy to report that this collection of Modesty Blaise short stories is just as outrageously entertaining as the novels and comic strips. Whether Modesty and Willie Garvin are smuggling a defecting scientist out of East Germany ("The Giggle-Wrecker") or whether Willie is rescuing Modesty (with plenty of help from her, of course, once he arrives on the scene) and destroying half of Glencroft Castle in the process ("I Had a Date with Lady Janet"), you're in for swell storytelling, humor, and nearly always a neat twist or to or three at the end. Highly recommended. Reading these stories reminded me once again of how much fun the novels are, and I think I might go back and reread one of the early ones. Not having read it in 40 years or more, I should find it pretty much just like a new one.
Table of Contents:
A better day to die
The giggle-wrecker
I had a date with Lady Janet
A perfect night to break your neck
Salamander four
The soo girl charity
10 comments:
It's been 40 years since I read a Modesty Blaise novel. Now, I want to drop everything and re-read one!
I hadn't realized there were any short stories. Wonder how outrageous the book is on the market...checking now...
Not too bad for a cult-interest item (albeit the ardor has probably largely cooled...Modesty Adamant? Did she hang out with Austin Showers?
I used to buy the story collection when I saw a copy on our trips around Britain. I could have sworn I'd read this one but it isn't on my list, so I guess not.
My favorite series of all time, slightly ahead of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee books. POM was a paperback original, unlike the other 12 books; it was not issued in hardcover until the Mysterious Press did so in 1986. There are in fact two collections of short stories; the final book in the series, COBRA TRAP, came out in 1996, though the newspaper strip continued until 2001. (Warning: do not read COBRA TRAP until you've read all the other books, though.)
Cobra Trap was also a good collection, and yes we learn how Modesty and Willie die, but it's a story worth reading.
I am reading A TASTE FOR DEATH right now and I am thoroughly impressed by O'Donnell's absolute control on the material, how well paced it is, and, no kidding, how well he writes.
All true, Fred. He was a master.
Speaking of mastery: http://linkis.com/blogspot.co.uk/wlVwN
Thanks, Todd.
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