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Rating: 
Summary: Yeah, baby!
Review: Again, Fleming delivers. Good, clean fun from the Cold War 50s. If you can get past Fleming's assumptions that all blacks in America are somehow interconnected by a mysterious communications web, and Fleming's comfort in using the "N"- word, then you'll enjoy this second installment in the Bond series. There's far more action than the first in the series, Casino Royale, what with Bond battling sharks and barracudas and whatnot. A hair-raisingly scary episode takes place as Bond makes his way underwater to the golden lair of Mr. Big, but rest assured, dear reader, that our Mr. Bond makes it through to the end of the book, safe and alive, albeit without a chunk of shoulder muscle, but that's neither here nor there. And wassup with Felix Leiter? Does he have all his body parts or not? Fleming kind of dropped the ball, so to speak, with letting us know whether or not Leiter was to survive for another adventure.
The Fleming series is undoubtedly addictive... Hardy Boys for the adults. On to "Moonraker" for me, baby.
Rating:
Summary: Yeah, baby!
Review: Again, Fleming delivers. Good, clean fun from the Cold War 50s. If you can get past Fleming's assumptions that all blacks in America are somehow interconnected by a mysterious communications web, and Fleming's comfort in using the "N"- word, then you'll enjoy this second installment in the Bond series. There's far more action than the first in the series, Casino Royale, what with Bond battling sharks and barracudas and whatnot. A hair-raisingly scary episode takes place as Bond makes his way underwater to the golden lair of Mr. Big, but rest assured, dear reader, that our Mr. Bond makes it through to the end of the book, safe and alive, albeit without a chunk of shoulder muscle, but that's neither here nor there. And wassup with Felix Leiter? Does he have all his body parts or not? Fleming kind of dropped the ball, so to speak, with letting us know whether or not Leiter was to survive for another adventure.
The Fleming series is undoubtedly addictive... Hardy Boys for the adults. On to "Moonraker" for me, baby.
Rating: 
Summary: The first of the great evil Bond characters, but?
Review: I plan to read the stories in sequence, which is a good thing otherwise I would have later wondered about the character of Felix Leiter when he appears in upcoming stories. As a believer that Sean Connery is the only true Bond, I also believe that Ian Fleming is the only true Bond author. However, this book is the first to expose some of Fleming's less desired qualities. He was a strong racist, and he gives this character flaw to James Bond. It was not as much the use of the N_____ word, but the author's philosophizing about the black person's place in society. And heaven forbid if the female of Bond's desire for this book were actually a full blooded black. If this were a different book, I probably would not have continued especially after the chapter titled, N____ Heaven. However, I saw this book much as a did when I read Gone With the Wind. It's an excellent book for its genre, mixed with the author's ignorance of sociological/historical issues. It's like when I attend a prize fight. I know that it's wrong, but darn I like it. That said, the story line is fast paced, and I enjoyed reading about the character's observations of the U.S. Atlantic coast region from the 1950's perspective. There is a lot of death and Bond and his friends do not escape from much of this brutality. What is particularly appealing is the development of Bond's first great evil antagonist, Mr. Big. The story gives the reader better insight into Bond's abilities and vulnerabilities. This is what I like from the books that are not much noticed in the movies. Overall, a good read, but with a lower rating from me due to the racism.
Rating:
Summary: The first of the great evil Bond characters, but¿
Review: I plan to read the stories in sequence, which is a good thing otherwise I would have later wondered about the character of Felix Leiter when he appears in upcoming stories. As a believer that Sean Connery is the only true Bond, I also believe that Ian Fleming is the only true Bond author. However, this book is the first to expose some of Fleming's less desired qualities. He was a strong racist, and he gives this character flaw to James Bond. It was not as much the use of the N_____ word, but the author's philosophizing about the black person's place in society. And heaven forbid if the female of Bond's desire for this book were actually a full blooded black. If this were a different book, I probably would not have continued especially after the chapter titled, N____ Heaven. However, I saw this book much as a did when I read Gone With the Wind. It's an excellent book for its genre, mixed with the author's ignorance of sociological/historical issues. It's like when I attend a prize fight. I know that it's wrong, but darn I like it. That said, the story line is fast paced, and I enjoyed reading about the character's observations of the U.S. Atlantic coast region from the 1950's perspective. There is a lot of death and Bond and his friends do not escape from much of this brutality. What is particularly appealing is the development of Bond's first great evil antagonist, Mr. Big. The story gives the reader better insight into Bond's abilities and vulnerabilities. This is what I like from the books that are not much noticed in the movies. Overall, a good read, but with a lower rating from me due to the racism.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Spy Fiction
Review: Ian Fleming readers will know what they are getting, and fans of the movie may not. This is the second Bond outing in novel form, the first being CASINO ROYALE. But like the movies, it's unnecessary to see or read them in order. There are a few references to the first novel, mostly vague "from the Royale incident" statements, but nothing major.
Bond is darker, less suave than the movie version, and it comes out in this dark novel. It's actually has more to do with the movie For your eyes Only than LIVE AND LET DIE. There's an ocean motif in this one, lots of sharks and underwater perils.
Vivid and exciting. good stuff
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Big --- the first of the great Bond villains
Review: Let me get this out of the way first -- if you can be easily offended by racial slurs, this is not the book for you. One must recall this was written in the mid 50s when racial insensitivity was unfortunately still quite prominent. Still, if you can put all that aside, you will find an enjoyable adventure story.
Mr. Big is the first of 007's "super-villains" and deservedly so -- he is portrayed as a criminal intellect that would warm even the heart of Hannibal Lechter. Bond, as in the prior novel, "Casino Royale" is portrayed as a human being and not the Connery/Moore/Brosnan superman most know from the movies, though if you watch carefully, you will spot a couple of death traps that were used in two of the films: Felix Leiter's fate as portrayed in "Licence to Kill" is directly from the "off-camera" action of this book; and the climactic attempt to feed Bond and Solitare to the sharks was directly adapted in the film version of "For Your Eyes Only."
The story itself involves 007 globetrotting from New York to Florida to the Caribbean in an attempt to destroy the crime syndicate of Mr. Big, a believed SMERSH opperative. Along the way he ends up a little the worse for wear (broken finger; mangled shoulder) but he still manages to get the girl, the nubile Solitare; and encounter the first of his many deathtraps. And as a Florida resident, I've been to some of the places Fleming generalized about and was amused by some of the things he said.
For those who have seen the film of the same name, there are similar nuances (Whisper and Tee-hee make brief appearances), but the book is very different from the movie. Again, some may find some of the content abraisive, to say the least, but if that can be overcome, the story is enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Action and adventure delivered in true Bond style!
Review: Live And Let Die was the second James Bond novel by Ian Fleming. It is one of my personal favorites of his. The new reprint of the novel is the first ever in US printing history to include the original title of Chap.5 and the somewhat "harsh" material regarding African Americans. One of the best plots yet... The novel begins with James Bond arriving in New York and meeting up with his old CIA pal, Felix Leiter. Bond has been sent to investigate Mr. Big. A soviet SMERSH agent who is also the voodoo "God" of Harlem. He has been smuggling gold coins from Bloody Morgan's cove in Jamaica and using the money to finance SMERSH. He runs Harlem with his hundreds of men that patrol every part of the city and keep a close eye on Bond. After Bond reads up on the horrible voodoo rituals, he goes with Felix to a local bar that Mr. Big operates out of. Bond and Felix are captured and Felix is taken away, to be hurten and then later released. Bond is questioned by Mr. Big and his henchman Teehee. Mr. Big brings in Miss Solitare, a beautiful girl with supernatural powers. She is ordered to tell if Bond is lying. She covers up for him and says he tells the truth. Mr. Big believes this and allows Bond to leave, warning him that if he ever returns, he will die. Bond leaves, killing Teehee in the process and adding to the rage of Mr. Big. Bond then meets up with Felix. He gets a call from Solitare, who says she wants to escape from him because she hates the secluded lifestyle of working for Mr. Big. Bond agrees to travel with her on train to go down into Florida, (another operating place of Mr. Big.) (Felix flies down.) Bond and Solitare become good friends. When they arrive in Florida, their identity is quickly noticed and Solitare is captured. Bond and Felix meet The Robber, a worker for Mr. Big. Felix is later captured by The Robber and is tortured by being partly fed to a shark. (He survives.) Bond is enraged and goes and kills the Robber. He then goes down to Jamaica and meets Quarrel, a helpful local fisherman who trains him for the great challenge that lies ahead. Mr. Big is loading his boat, The Secatur, with the gold goins to make one final journey with all of the money. Bond must swim at night across the great reef underwater and get to the to rescue Solitare and kill Mr. Big. Bond eventually makes it, he attaches a limpet mine to the hull of the ship that will explode at 6am. Bond is then captured and taken to be tied together with Solitare. Mr. Big explains to them that they will be keel-hauled from the ship across the coral reef. This will result in great pain to their skin and they will eventually killed by sharks. The time slowly ticks down to the detonation. Bond and Solitare are finally thrown in the water for the haul, as Big watches from aboard the boat. Bond and Solitare are only yards away from the perilous coral when the ship explodes and Big is killed along with the rest of his men. Bond and Solitare are rescued and they finally enjoy a vacation. The story is exciting, adventerous and laced with action and voodoo scares. One of the best Bond books ever!
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