For Special Services

The story, without spoilers

A series of murders and hijackings suggests that SPECTRE has returned after Blofeld's death. Bond joins CIA agent Cedar Leiter, Felix Leiter's daughter, to investigate a threat to American defences. The enemy is both an old organisation and a new generation within it.

The family connection makes this more than a routine British-American partnership. Readers who know Felix will recognise the significance of Cedar's name, while the revived organisation gives Gardner a way to revisit a Fleming enemy without simply repeating an earlier mission.

Can I start here?

Start with Licence Renewed if you want Gardner in order. This mission has its own immediate threat, but familiarity with Fleming's SPECTRE books and Felix Leiter gives its returning connections more weight.

What stands out

Cedar Leiter is the distinctive reason to choose this instalment. It combines a new working partnership for Bond with the question of what happens to a criminal organisation after its famous leader is gone.

Who wrote it

Gardner had created the comic spy Boysie Oakes before the Fleming estate invited him to bring Bond into the 1980s; he later wrote For Special Services. His run contains fourteen original novels and two film adaptations.

Where it fits in Bond’s life

For Special Services is Gardner’s original Bond novel 2 of fourteen. In For Special Services, Gardner’s updated Bond operates after the original Fleming era. No precise neighbouring Fleming mission is given.

Content notes

Adult readers. Murders, hijacking, threatened military attacks and adult espionage.

Setting

• United States

Main characters

James Bond, Cedar Leiter, M, SPECTRE.