John Gardner

John Gardner was a British novelist, playwright and former Royal Marine who became one of the most prolific and successful continuation authors in thriller fiction. His novel For Special Services is one of the James Bond continuation novels he was commissioned to write following the death of Ian Fleming. Gardner wrote fourteen original Bond novels and two film novelisations between 1981 and 1996, the longest tenure of any Bond continuation author. Before taking on the Bond franchise, Gardner had established himself as a successful thriller writer with his own original series, including the Doktor Doktor novels and the Herbie Kruger spy series. He also wrote continuation novels in the Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty universes. Born in 1926, Gardner served in the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force before becoming a journalist and then a full-time novelist. His Bond novels respected Fleming's creation while bringing the character into the modern era of espionage. Gardner's extensive body of work, available in audiobook format, spans decades of thriller writing and continues to entertain listeners worldwide.