Modesty Blaise

This book was recommended by an author who said it had been one of the major influences on her writing. Peter O'Donnell began writing this series in the mid-60's based on a comic strip he scripted from 1963 until 2001. It was at about the same time that Ian Fleming introduced the world to James Bond. Modesty is like a female version of James Bond but comes from a very different background. Orphaned at a young age and scratching out a living in the Middle East doing whatever would put food in her mouth made her tough. As she got older, she began using her intelligence and beauty to manipulate those with power until she became powerful in her own right--as a criminal boss with "employees" all over the world. I bought the 50th anniversary reprint of the first in the series of 13 books featuring Modesty and her loyal lieutenant, Willie Garvin. Modesty has technically retired from the "business" after attaining enough money to live on the rest of her life in the style to which she had become accustomed. But she is pressured into undertaking an assignment for British Intelligence when they tell her that Willie has been caught and is imprisoned by rebels in some unnamed country, where is due to be executed. Complete with gadgets, car chases and glamour, this series has been called "seminal" in British crime novels (Crime Time). Several movies were made based on his books and although O'Donnell never had a website, there is an authorized site, https://www.modestyblaiseltd.com/, which expands on his work. There is a more detailed "biography" of Modesty in Wikipedia. A list of the Modesty Blaise books, in order, is here.