Nobody Lives Forever (1986)

Author: John Gardner Published: June 1986 MI6 Rating: Data Stream Villains: Tamil Rahani of SPECTRE, Steve Quinn, Dr Kirchtum, Der Haken Plot: James Bond becomes the target of a winner-takes-all manhunt as SPECTRE place a 10 million Swiss franc bounty on his head. Bond Girls: Principessa Sukie Tempesta, Nannie Norrich Allies: May, Moneypenny Locations: Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Key West (Florida) Highlights: Sea journey, clinic assault, final battle on Shark island Capsule Synopsis Someone wants James bond's head on a silver platter, literally. All you have to do is deliver Bond to one of the most sinister criminals in the world, and earn ten million Swiss francs for your trouble. But there's stiff competition. And soon 007's motoring holiday turns into an odyssey of treachery as he becomes the target in a winner-take-all manhunt.

Above: British 1st edition Jonathan Cape hardback.

Official Blurb (First Edition USA Hardback)
Many have tried; few have succeeded.
Not even James Bond's most desperate adversaries, not even all the global resources of a SMERSH or a SPECTRE under the diabolical leadership of Ernst Stavro Blofeld or, in more recent days, Colonel Tamil Rahani, have managed to defeat 007.
But is it because no one has discovered 007's soft spot?
It all starts innocently enough: the suave James Bond is on leave in Europe, motoring across France in his Bentley Mulsanne Turbo on his way to visit friends in Italy, then to a sanitorium in Austria, where his devoted housekeeper, May, is convalescing from a serious illness. Soon enough, however, ominous events begin to take place: Sudden death strikes at least four people who come close to Bond during his journey. Coincidences? Perhaps. But is Bond's encounter with the wealthy and beauteous brown-eyed Sukie Tempesta, known as "La Principessa", or her cohort, the equally charming "Nannie" Norwich, who heads the world's only female bodyguard service, truly a coincidence?
Then a phone call comes, from May's doctor at the sanitorium: Bond's housekeeper has been kidnapped, and with her a familiar visitor, M's secretary and Bond's longtime (if discreet) admirer, Miss Moneypenny.
Soon enough Bond realizes what has happened. There is a contract out in the espionage world: ten million Swiss francs for James Bond's head literally severed and delivered on a silver charger. The donor: none other than Tamil Rahani himself, who was last seen (in John Gardner's Role Of Honour) plummeting from an airship in Lake Geneva.
Nobody Lives Forever is vintage Bond and the best of the best selling cycle of James Bond novels created by John Gardner, which began with Licence Renewed, Told at a breakneck pace, marked by unforeseen pitfalls and twisting turns that confound Bond as much as his readers, it propels us from the winding roads of the Tyrolean Alps to a shark-defended island off the coast of Key West and a locked room that contains but a slant-bladed device long favoured by head-severer's: the guillotine.
Filled with double-crosses that will throw off even the most seasoned Bond hand, this is high-tech, high-tension thriller writing at its very best, proving once more and for all that Nobody Lives Forever.

Official Blurb (First Edition US Paperback)
Someone wants James bond's head on a silver platter, literally. All you have to do is deliver Bond to one of the most sinister criminals in the world, and earn ten million Swiss francs for your trouble. But there's stiff competition. And soon 007's motoring holiday turns into an odyssey of treachery as he becomes the target in a winner-take-all manhunt.

Chapter Listing No Way to Start a Vacation The Poison Dwarf Sukie The Head Hunt Nannie The NUB The Hook Under Discipline Vampire The Mozart Man Hawk's Wing and Macabre England Expects Good Evening, Mr. Boldman Frost-Free City The Price for a Life Going Down Tonight Shark Island Madame Awaits Death and Destruction Cheers and Applause

Excerpt
Taking a deep breath, he raised the ASP. He was only a few steps away from Rahani's head. One squeeze of the trigger and it would be obliterated, and, with luck and cunning, he could be away - hiding up in the grounds - until he found a method of getting off the island. He began to squeeze the trigger, and as he did so thought he felt a small gust of air on the back of his head. "I don't think so, James. We've brought you too far to let you do what God's going to do soon enough." The voice came from behind him. "Just drop the gun, James. Drop it, or you'll be dead before you can even move>" He was stunned by the voice. The ASP fell, with a noisy thump, to the floor and Tamil Rahani stirred and groaned in his sleep. "Okay, you can turn around now. I'm sorry it had to be like this, James. You lived up to your reputation." "Not as sorry as I am." Bond allowed himself a smile..

Trivia
Author John Gardner apparently concocted the plot based on feedback from his friends when asked what they would like to see in the next adventure: a personal story won over a regular spy mission. The book was given the working title "You Only Die Once" by Gardner, a play on Fleming's opus "You Only Live Twice". Regular first edition artist Richard Chopping again provided the cover, but this was his last in the Bond series.