[In Licence Renewed the] licence is the immortal James Bond's, but the failure to renew the spirit of Ian Fleming's classic thrillers rests with author Gardner. Bond has been amusingly updated for the conservation-conscious 80s…. But these innovations do not begin to atone for a dreadfully static plot and a decidedly tame collection of villains. Gardner has a good grasp of Bond's character and may well make better use of it in the future, but his first attempt at reviving the 007 legend is a crashing bore.

Paul Stuewe, "Talk of the Devil … Musical Memoirs … A Duo on Dance," in Quill and Quire, Vol. 47, No. 8, August, 1981, p. 31.∗