Nobody Lives For Ever
Encyclopedia
Nobody Lives for Ever first published in 1986
1986 in literature
The year 1986 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Michael Grade. Controller of BBC One, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.-New books:*Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils...

, was the fifth novel by John Gardner
John Gardner (thriller writer)
John Edmund Gardner was an English spy novelist, most notably for the James Bond series.-Early life:Gardner was born in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland. He graduated from St John's College, Cambridge and did postgraduate study at Oxford...

 featuring Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...

's secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...

, James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...

 and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Putnam
G. P. Putnam's Sons
G. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...

.

Plot summary

En route to retrieve his faithful housekeeper, May, from a European health clinic where she is recovering from an illness, Bond is warned by the British Secret Service that Tamil Rahani, the current leader of SPECTRE
SPECTRE
SPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games...

, now dying from wounds suffered due to his last encounter with Bond (as described in Role of Honour
Role of Honour
Role of Honour , first published in 1984, was the fourth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond...

), has put a price on Bond's head. "Trust no one," Bond is warned. Soon after, May and Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny
Jane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...

, who had been visiting his housekeeper are reported missing, and Bond finds himself dodging would-be assassins while searching for his friends, assisted by a young débutante and her capable, yet mysterious, female bodyguard.

The price on Bond's head is a competition orchestrated by Rahani and SPECTRE known as 'The Head Hunt', and is an open contest to anyone willing to capture, kill, or present Bond to Rahani, where he would be subsequently decapitated by guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...

. Along Bond's journey of attempting to rescue Moneypenny and May, Bond is betrayed and chased by a number of people and organisations, including his own British Secret Service ally, Steve Quinn who has defected to the KGB, corrupted police officers, and agents of SPECTRE in disguise.

Characters

  • James Bond
    James Bond
    James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

  • M
    M (James Bond)
    M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...

  • Miss Moneypenny
    Miss Moneypenny
    Jane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...

  • May Maxwell

  • Principessa Sukie Tempesta: is an Italian
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

     Princess
    Princess
    Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....

     whom Bond saves while driving to check up on his Scottish
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

     housekeeper, May. He later sees her again and offers to drive her home to Rome
    Rome
    Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

    ; however, these plans are cut short after Bond learns of the price on his head. She stays with Bond acting as a hostage and later refusing to leave his side in his moment of need. She is accompanied after her second meeting with Bond by her friend and bodyguard, Nannie.

  • Nannette 'Nannie' Norrich: is the head of an all-female bodyguard organisation, NUB, tasked to protect Sukie. The two are good friends; however, Sukie is unaware that Nannie has entered the competition as freelance and has promised Rahani of delivering Bond to him.

  • Herr Doktor Kirchtum: is the doctor who was overseeing May while she was at the clinic. After Moneypenny and May were kidnapped, Kirchtum was taken captive by Steve Quinn and forced to send instructions to Bond. Bond later frees Kirchtum only to learn later that Kirchtum was actually in league with Quinn. Kirchtum is subsequently killed by either Nannie or Sukie (the identity is never given) upon attempting to rescue 007 from Kirchtum and Quinn's clutches.

  • Steve Quinn: is the British Secret Service's man in Rome. He is sent by M to assist Bond in fleeing mainland Europe so that Bond can return to London. Unbeknownst to everyone, Quinn has defected to the KGB and currently works for SMERSH (currently called Department Eight). Quinn is assisted in capturing Bond by Doktor Kirchtum, who likewise to Kirchtum is subsequently killed by either Nannie or Sukie (the identity is never given) upon attempting to rescue 007 from Kirchtum and Quinn's clutches.

  • Tamil Rahani: is the leader of SPECTRE, previously in Role of Honour
    Role of Honour
    Role of Honour , first published in 1984, was the fourth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond...

    . After parachuting from an airship at the end of Role of Honour to escape capture by Bond, he landed badly and injured his spine causing an incurable disease. Throughout the book Rahani is said to only have days to live. Knowing the end is near Rahani creates a competitive contest, the 'Head Hunt', for any person or organisation willing to capture James Bond. Rahani is killed by Bond after having his bed rigged to detonate upon pushing a button that would normally allow Rahani's bed to raise up.

Cover Art

Nobody Lives for Ever is the last time (to date) the trademark 'wood grain' cover art has been used on a Bond novel. It was first seen on From Russia, with Love in 1957.

Publication history

  • UK first hardback edition: June 1986 Jonathan Cape
    Jonathan Cape
    Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...

  • U.S. first hardback edition: May 1986 Putnam
    G. P. Putnam's Sons
    G. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...

  • Thai language first edition: December 1986 Kangaroo (Jing Jo) Press
  • UK first paperback edition: August 1987 Coronet Books
  • U.S. first paperback edition: July 1987 Charter Books
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