By Ian Fleming
In this sequel to the popular James Bond book, Casino Royale, Bond must take down a gold-smuggler who works for SMERSH, that secret hand of the Soviet Union. But the trouble is, the gold-smuggler, or Mr. Big, is very powerful indeed...
The novel begins with Bond arriving in America, where he finds Felix Leiter in his hotel room. Leiter tells him that he has been sent by the CIA to work together on the job. Then Bond flashes back to his conversation with M., in which M. told him about a ton of gold coins turning up in the market, the money traced back to Mr. Big, a negro gangster. Also, information says that all the profits from the coins have been sent to Russia, to SMERSH. M. sends Bond on the case to take down Mr. Big.
Then a small bomb is sent to Bond during his next breakfast, a small harmless one with the message warning Bond that the sender could stop Bond's heart. Bond and Leiter gain more information that Mr. Big operates from a small warehouse and sends fish tanks to a small island in Jamaica. They go down to Harlem, to check out Mr. Big. Leiter finds out where he is going to be, and they head there. Suddenly, they are captured and Bond is sent to Mr. Big himself. Bond meets Mr. Big's soon-to-be wife, Solitaire, who is supposed to be a lie detector. Luckily for Bond, she lies and says that he is telling the truth, when in fact he is not. Mr. Big decides for Bond to be hurt and then thrown out, and orders Bond to get out of the country by the next day.
Luckily, Bond escapes to his hotel, where he phones Leiter. Leiter tells him all about the events that had happened to him, and the fact that the FBI is furious with them both. Bond notifies M. about the recent events and M. promises to sort it out. Then, he receives a call from Solitaire, saying that she needs him to help her to escape from Mr. Big. He arranges a meet up at the train Leiter had booked for him, where he would be going down to St. Petersburg, where Mr. Big's warehouse is. An attendant warns Bond about the possibility of one of Mr. Big's men being inside in the train and gives him some wooden window wedges to help lock the door firmly. Then, in the middle of the night, a paper is slipped under the door of their compartment. Bond wakes up just in time to catch a man flying down the corridor and escaping. The paper is a threatening message for Bond.
The next day they escape at Jacksonville and wait for the next train. Arriving at St. Petersburg, Leiter tells them of the attack on the train they had taken just after Jacksonville. The carriage in which they had slept was shot at and bombed. Leiter and Bond visit Mr. Big's warehouse, where a person named 'the Robber' is obviously not pleased to see them. He kills a pelican as a warning and disappears inside. Meanwhile, when they return, Solitaire has been taken. Early next morning, Leiter goes to check out the warehouse again, but a call says that he's been injured and at a hospital. Bond rushes over there but there is no record of a patient named Leiter. Worried, he returns to the villa, where Leiter is lying on a bed, covered in bandages, barely alive. A note is inserted in his mouth: 'He disagreed with something that ate him'. Bond notifies the police but nothing can be found in the warehouse. The doctor says that Leiter has lost half an arm and a leg and removes him immediately.
Bond breaks in to the warehouse and discovers that the gold coins are hidden in soil at the bottom of fish tanks that contain poisonous fish. Just then, the Robber comes in and fires at Bond. After a serious firefight, the Robber drops through a secret trapdoor in the floor, which leads to the shark tank below. He barely holds on, but Bond kicks him and he falls.
He then travels to Jamaica, where Mr. Big's private island is. He trains with a Jamaican named Quarrel and readies himself to make a raid on Mr. Big's private yacht, the Secatur, and finish the job once and for all. The Secatur seems to be taking every single tank (or container of gold coins) off with her, and Bond knows this is his last chance.
In this night he leaves for the island, swimming through the reef. He places a limpet mine on the bottom of the Secatur, but then a barracuda attacks him and his shoulder is hurt. Knowing that if the sharks and barracudas smell his blood, he'll die, Bond makes for a small hidden cave. Suddenly, he is captured and Mr. Big sends him to a cave with Solitaire to wait for their death. He tells them that they are to be dragged along the reef until they are bleeding, then the sharks will come for them. They are sent up in the morning, where the island is decamping. Tied together, they are trailed behind the yacht. Then the mine explodes and Bond and Solitaire are flung back to the reef. He makes for a small rock to rest, and watches as the entire crew of the Secatur are eaten by sharks and barracudas. Mr. Big almost escapes, but in the end he, too, is eaten.
M. gives Bond a break with Solitaire and congratulates him on a job well done.
A thrilling adventure in which Bond nearly dies several times, it keeps you on your toes for every single page and the chilling Mr. Big is perfected until you may get nightmares.
Ian Fleming has certainly learnt his lesson after the drab story that was Casino Royale, and so serves up some of the best action scenes and mysteries of the James Bond series. First up, a major point that he improved on was Bond's coldness, his indifference to the people working with him (well, except for Leiter) and his enemies. Fleming fleshes out the secret agent and the cold-hearted beast erupts. The tension in this book is far more suspended and the prolonged anticipation is beautifully played out, although there are some parts where the descriptions are draggy. Live and Let Die, the name of the novel itself suggests Bond's willingness to kill his enemies while trying to stay alive (Stayin' Alive?).
Racial tension is explored in this story, where Bond and Leiter suddenly are antagonized in Harlem, a reversal of the discrimination the negroes had suffered from the whites. Voodoo is excellently explored and brings a certain degree of mystery to Mr. Big.
Solitaire is yet another interesting character, because although Fleming never explained exactly how she got her powers of 'lie detecting', she represents, not a damsel in distress, but rather one that is willing to break free from Mr. Big, risking her own life in the process. While it may seem that she is just another object to Bond, she actually has her own personality, one feels, but this is not so explored by Fleming.
The sharks and barracudas, in my opinion, are the secondary villains, things with no regard for humans, but no brains, and this makes them far more threatening and evil than the fallible humans. They are obsessed with eating, and this singular objective, this carnivorous aspect of animals, is brilliant. If only one could have a spy novel with Bond up against a shark!
Mr. Big, while he may not be Ernst Stavro Blofeld, certainly is a villain worthy of defeat by Bond. The descriptions of a giant, even the name itself, suggests a menacing person who will stop at nothing to serve SMERSH. It certainly is fitting that because he caused the deaths of so many people, his own deaths at the hands (or teeth) at a shark is violent and cruel.
The suspense in this novel slowly leads up to the climax, which may leave some readers feeling bored with all the 'filly-in' bits provided by Fleming just to satisfy you until he reaches the end. The climax is just one small paragraph at the end, and the result really is more of luck than of Bond's skill. Perhaps a deus-ex-machina, and Fleming must have felt disappointed.
The whole thing feels like a small teaser trailer of Bond's future, greater adventures, instead of a standalone novel of itself. Bond fulfills those tense action scenes that we all know and love, but Fleming only lets us see Mr. Big twice, which leaves us wanting more of that evil person.
While this may not be the best Bond book, it certainly is a fun romp through new grounds for the readers, and one can almost hear destiny chiming for Mr. Fleming.
Rating: 8.3/10
Advice: A fitting sequel and definitely worth your time.
Bond. A Bond Reviewer. A Blonde Reviewer. The Reviewer is actually none of the previous. However, he certainly promises action! He hopes you can comment and enjoy!
In the next post: I explore J.R.R. Tolkien's first book, 'The Hobbit', where a simple ring is more than it seems...
Luckily, Bond escapes to his hotel, where he phones Leiter. Leiter tells him all about the events that had happened to him, and the fact that the FBI is furious with them both. Bond notifies M. about the recent events and M. promises to sort it out. Then, he receives a call from Solitaire, saying that she needs him to help her to escape from Mr. Big. He arranges a meet up at the train Leiter had booked for him, where he would be going down to St. Petersburg, where Mr. Big's warehouse is. An attendant warns Bond about the possibility of one of Mr. Big's men being inside in the train and gives him some wooden window wedges to help lock the door firmly. Then, in the middle of the night, a paper is slipped under the door of their compartment. Bond wakes up just in time to catch a man flying down the corridor and escaping. The paper is a threatening message for Bond.
The next day they escape at Jacksonville and wait for the next train. Arriving at St. Petersburg, Leiter tells them of the attack on the train they had taken just after Jacksonville. The carriage in which they had slept was shot at and bombed. Leiter and Bond visit Mr. Big's warehouse, where a person named 'the Robber' is obviously not pleased to see them. He kills a pelican as a warning and disappears inside. Meanwhile, when they return, Solitaire has been taken. Early next morning, Leiter goes to check out the warehouse again, but a call says that he's been injured and at a hospital. Bond rushes over there but there is no record of a patient named Leiter. Worried, he returns to the villa, where Leiter is lying on a bed, covered in bandages, barely alive. A note is inserted in his mouth: 'He disagreed with something that ate him'. Bond notifies the police but nothing can be found in the warehouse. The doctor says that Leiter has lost half an arm and a leg and removes him immediately.
Bond breaks in to the warehouse and discovers that the gold coins are hidden in soil at the bottom of fish tanks that contain poisonous fish. Just then, the Robber comes in and fires at Bond. After a serious firefight, the Robber drops through a secret trapdoor in the floor, which leads to the shark tank below. He barely holds on, but Bond kicks him and he falls.
He then travels to Jamaica, where Mr. Big's private island is. He trains with a Jamaican named Quarrel and readies himself to make a raid on Mr. Big's private yacht, the Secatur, and finish the job once and for all. The Secatur seems to be taking every single tank (or container of gold coins) off with her, and Bond knows this is his last chance.
In this night he leaves for the island, swimming through the reef. He places a limpet mine on the bottom of the Secatur, but then a barracuda attacks him and his shoulder is hurt. Knowing that if the sharks and barracudas smell his blood, he'll die, Bond makes for a small hidden cave. Suddenly, he is captured and Mr. Big sends him to a cave with Solitaire to wait for their death. He tells them that they are to be dragged along the reef until they are bleeding, then the sharks will come for them. They are sent up in the morning, where the island is decamping. Tied together, they are trailed behind the yacht. Then the mine explodes and Bond and Solitaire are flung back to the reef. He makes for a small rock to rest, and watches as the entire crew of the Secatur are eaten by sharks and barracudas. Mr. Big almost escapes, but in the end he, too, is eaten.
M. gives Bond a break with Solitaire and congratulates him on a job well done.
A thrilling adventure in which Bond nearly dies several times, it keeps you on your toes for every single page and the chilling Mr. Big is perfected until you may get nightmares.Ian Fleming has certainly learnt his lesson after the drab story that was Casino Royale, and so serves up some of the best action scenes and mysteries of the James Bond series. First up, a major point that he improved on was Bond's coldness, his indifference to the people working with him (well, except for Leiter) and his enemies. Fleming fleshes out the secret agent and the cold-hearted beast erupts. The tension in this book is far more suspended and the prolonged anticipation is beautifully played out, although there are some parts where the descriptions are draggy. Live and Let Die, the name of the novel itself suggests Bond's willingness to kill his enemies while trying to stay alive (Stayin' Alive?).
Racial tension is explored in this story, where Bond and Leiter suddenly are antagonized in Harlem, a reversal of the discrimination the negroes had suffered from the whites. Voodoo is excellently explored and brings a certain degree of mystery to Mr. Big.
Solitaire is yet another interesting character, because although Fleming never explained exactly how she got her powers of 'lie detecting', she represents, not a damsel in distress, but rather one that is willing to break free from Mr. Big, risking her own life in the process. While it may seem that she is just another object to Bond, she actually has her own personality, one feels, but this is not so explored by Fleming.
The sharks and barracudas, in my opinion, are the secondary villains, things with no regard for humans, but no brains, and this makes them far more threatening and evil than the fallible humans. They are obsessed with eating, and this singular objective, this carnivorous aspect of animals, is brilliant. If only one could have a spy novel with Bond up against a shark!
Mr. Big, while he may not be Ernst Stavro Blofeld, certainly is a villain worthy of defeat by Bond. The descriptions of a giant, even the name itself, suggests a menacing person who will stop at nothing to serve SMERSH. It certainly is fitting that because he caused the deaths of so many people, his own deaths at the hands (or teeth) at a shark is violent and cruel.
The suspense in this novel slowly leads up to the climax, which may leave some readers feeling bored with all the 'filly-in' bits provided by Fleming just to satisfy you until he reaches the end. The climax is just one small paragraph at the end, and the result really is more of luck than of Bond's skill. Perhaps a deus-ex-machina, and Fleming must have felt disappointed.
The whole thing feels like a small teaser trailer of Bond's future, greater adventures, instead of a standalone novel of itself. Bond fulfills those tense action scenes that we all know and love, but Fleming only lets us see Mr. Big twice, which leaves us wanting more of that evil person.
While this may not be the best Bond book, it certainly is a fun romp through new grounds for the readers, and one can almost hear destiny chiming for Mr. Fleming.
Rating: 8.3/10
Advice: A fitting sequel and definitely worth your time.
Bond. A Bond Reviewer. A Blonde Reviewer. The Reviewer is actually none of the previous. However, he certainly promises action! He hopes you can comment and enjoy!
In the next post: I explore J.R.R. Tolkien's first book, 'The Hobbit', where a simple ring is more than it seems...
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