Trigger Mortis

The story, without spoilers

Soon after his encounter with Goldfinger, Bond is drawn into a Soviet plan to sabotage a Grand Prix race. A suspicious meeting brings Korean millionaire Jai Seong Sin into view. With American agent Jeopardy Lane, Bond follows the danger beyond the racetrack.

Pussy Galore returns from Fleming's novel, making the connection more immediate than a general period setting. The motor-racing opening then leads into a different technological contest between the Soviet Union and the West, giving Horowitz's first Bond book its own mission.

Can I start here?

Read Goldfinger first. Its ending supplies the relationship carried into this book. You can then follow Horowitz in publication order, or use the hub's story chronology to place his other two novels.

What stands out

This is the most direct mid-career bridge back into Fleming among Horowitz's three books. The racing premise and Pussy Galore's return are the reasons to choose it immediately after Goldfinger.

Who wrote it

Horowitz, the Alex Rider author and Foyle’s War creator, was commissioned to write three Bond novels, including Trigger Mortis. Fleming’s original material informed his approach to the commission.

More about Anthony Horowitz

Where it fits in Bond’s life

Set in 1957, just after Goldfinger; Pussy Galore returns. This is a deliberately placed Fleming-era mission, rather than a modern reboot.

Fleming connection

The publisher says Horowitz used previously unseen Fleming material in Trigger Mortis. The novel combines that material with a newly written mission following Goldfinger.

Content notes

Adult readers. Sabotage, killings, threatened large-scale harm and adult relationships.

Setting

• The Nürburgring, Germany
• An international Cold War mission

Main characters

James Bond, Pussy Galore, Jeopardy Lane, Jai Seong Sin, SMERSH.