Summary

The second James Bond novel from John Gardner, published in 1982.

007 is back again, on secret loan to the U.S. government in this ultra-Bond thriller. His partner? None other than the tough-minded and gorgeous Cedar, daughter of his old friend Felix Leiter. His enemy? The legendary SPECTRE – the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – a SPECTRE whose strength has grown in the new secret war waged in the grey corridors of political power.

Bond and Cedar make a potent team, as they must, for they face an unending series of terrifying situations – from a skyjacking, to a plunging Washington, D.C., elevator, to armies of killer ants, to confrontation on a speeding monorail. Inexorably they work their way to the remote and ultra-luxurious ranch of the ambitious Texan tycoon Markus Bismaquer, where Bond comes face to face – and more – with Bismaquer’s young French wife, Nena, and has experiences of a different kind with the tycoon’s sinister, skull-faced partner, Walter Luxor. Political scandal and intrigue, military murder and mayhem, follow Bond, yet some final nagging questions continue to elude him until the last great revelation: who is SPECTRE’s new leader, who calls himself Blofeld? And what is the final aim of SPECTRE’s secret Heavenly Wolf operation?

With Licence Renewed, John Gardner brought back James Bond, the world’s most famous spy. Now, in For Special Services, Bond is here to stay, in a super-thriller filled with the suspense, intrigue, humour and sprawling action that has made Agent 007 a delight to millions of readers throughout the world.

John Gardner was a British journalist and best-selling author who published over 50 books.  He died in Hampshire in 2007.