Book Review: Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell

In my last review I discovered that Madeleine Brent was the pseudonym of writer Peter O'Donnell. Since I enjoyed Brent's novels I thought I would try one of O'Donnell's Modesty Blaisebooks. Curiously, a trip to the library revealed a number of graphic novels but no books so, in the end, I decided to order a copy of the first Modesty Blaise bookfrom Amazon.I must confess I didn't know whether I would enjoy the book or not so it was a bit a of a risk, however, in the end it was a risk worth taking as I enjoyed it immensely.

Modesty Blaise is a former child refugee who took over a small criminal gang and, with the help of her friend and comrade in arms, Willie Garvin, built it up into a powerful criminal organisation called The Network. They were such a successful criminals that Modesty was able to retire in her mid twenties as a very wealthy woman, and Willie was able to buy the pub of his dreams. However, the former criminals find time weighing heavily on their hands; and now Willie is in trouble.

Sir Gerald Tarrant, the head of British Intelligence, uses Willie's situation to try and recruit Modesty for a particular operation involving the security of a £10,000,000 consignment of diamonds. The diamonds are being used to buy oil concessions for Britain from Sheik Abu-Tahir, the ruler of a small middle eastern country, and Sir Gerald fears that there may be a plot to steal them.

There is indeed a plot, one formulated by the evil Gabriel, a criminal mastermind, and his gang of villains; the Scot, McWhirter;  Borg, who strangles his victims with piano wire; and the rather unpleasant Mrs. Fothergill. Unfortunately, the agents Tarrant sent to investigate Gabriel have died and Sir Gerald believes that only Modesty's talents will uncover the plot and protect the shipment.

What follows is a whirlwind adventure that starts in the south of France, where Modesty and Willie meet some old friends, then on to Egypt where the pair finally track down Gabriel's gang. Finally there is a showdown at Gabriel's hideout on a small island in the Mediterranean.

The book is well written with a lot of visual imagery, possibly as a result of Modesty Blaise first appearing as a comic strip character (which also might explain the number of graphic novels). The other reason might be that the book was based on the author's original screenplay for the 1966 movie. Sadly O'Donnell's screenplay was substantially rewritten and YouTube clips of the resultant film make it look like a second rate version of an Austen Powers movie.

One aspect of the book which I thought was excellent was the way the author weaves Modesty's and Willie's backstories into the book. This is done so well that it doesn't intrude on the main story but rather adds and enhances it. Even at the end there are surprising insights into Modesty and her relationship to Willie. The effect of this is to create two very likeable characters that the reader cares about.

The Modesty Blaise book has a very different feel from those written under the author's nom-de-plume of Madeleine Brent. This may be partly due to the fact that the Madeleine Brent books are always written in the first person, while the Modesty Blaise series is written in the third person. Nevertheless, there are a number of similarities too; a strong action driven plot with a number of twists and turns; and a strong independent female heroine.

If I have any criticism it is that the adventure was a little too fast paced, and the story was over before I was ready. Also, occasionally, some of the technical descriptions were a little too technical and I found myself bleeping over them. Nevertheless, neither of these criticisms marred my enjoyment of the book and I am looking forward to reading the next one.