Donald E. Westlake is a benchmark for crime fiction. Whether writing under his own name or as Richard Stark, Westlake delivers compelling, tightly-written thrillers that refuse to be put down. While Forever and a Death makes much of its genesis as a James Bond screenplay, its cinematic origin has very little impact on the final novel (apart, perhaps, from its relentless pace). The story is told from multiple perspectives, and the villains are given as much inner life and motivation as the heroes (and some of the latter are questionable at best). An afterword by movie producer Jeff Kleeman provides an entertaining account of how Westlake became involved with the Bond project. Kleeman is a huge Westlake fan, and has read more of his work than I have, which is perhaps why he is a little over-critical of the final novel. Highly recommended. ( )

Donald Westlake was commissioned to come up with an idea for a Bond film to be released in 1997, so his thoughts turned to the turnover of Hong Kong. His version of the film was never made, as the afterword explains, so Westlake, unbeknownst to many, repurposed (and reworked) the plot into a post-takeover story about a HK businessman seeking revenge by destroying Hong Kong's central business district (on Hong Kong Island) and stealing tons of gold in the process. It's a great idea, and this posthumously-rediscovered and published book is a lot of fun. It is, however, weakened by the occasional stupidity of characters who seem to do things that don't make sense or not do what does make sense solely so the plot can be kept on track. Perhaps if Westlake had done another draft, he might have worked some of the issues out. The villain in the piece is far and away the most interesting character, although the female diver is also intriguing. Mostly what stands out is the use of locations--Brisbane, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Australian outback, and so on. These are well done and add a lot of flavor to the story that help make it satisfying despite its flaws. There is also a lot of technical detail--how much is true (which must have required some research) and how much is just make up, I don't know. In any case, it works well enough for a thriller. The book also lacks the face-to-face confrontation between the hero and the villain that usually marks the climax of a Bond film--or a lot of other good stories of this type. While the ending is logical and rather fitting, I also found it a bit of a letdown.

(Wow! Just realized this is my 2000th review on LibraryThing.) ( )

Kind of disappointing, probably the first thing only Westlake I wouldn’t re-read ( )

Westlake Writes Bond -Sort Of

Forever and a Death was originally a treatment by Westlake for a new Bond movie in the mid 90's to follow Goldeneye. Although the movie was not made, Westlake turned the treatment into a novelization. Now finally Hard Case Crime has posthumously published Westlake's novel as one of its infamous lost novels.

Westlake put a lot of different elements into this story starting with a Bond-type mega-villain who runs a corporate empire and has hundreds of guys working to bring his mad schemes to fruition. It is probably a bit light on the Bond girls with the only female character being a young environmentalist and diver, Kim. There's mad scientist schemes, revenge schemes, man on the run themes, a sardonic sense of humor, and a race against time to the climax at the end.

It is quite readable although it suffers from unnecessary length. A shorter, more terse, compact story would probably have been more satisfying. Part of the length though is the circumstances of it having been developed out of a movie treatment rather than having been conceived as a novel in the first place. ( )

So, apparently, Donald Westlake was once asked to write a screenplay for a Bond film. When it was done, it hit some political nerves, so was not used. Westlake turned it into a novel, but never published it. Now, 10 years after his death, it is published.

Westlake's Dortmunder series is one of my absolute favorite ones (the books, not the movies made from them.) His other novels are hit and miss for me, though he pretty consistently won all kinds of awards for them. The man could write. Forever and a Death is in the non-Dortmunder part of Westlake's repertoire, and so far, has not won me over. I like Westlake. I like James Bond. Hopefully, at some point, the combo will click for me.