SMERSH, Russia's "murder department", are out toget 007 killed. A lure is laid in the form of avivacious lady, who later switches sides to become the Bond Girl. A murderous, herculean maniac and a dedicated head of execution are hell bent on Bond's blood. Plotted in a turmoiled Turkey, it is many a difficulty Bond has to face to save himself, or rather save what he can of himself!

This is one of my favorites! Bond vs. SMERSH. The book is wonderful I had trouble putting it down.Kerim Bey is a great character and the plot for Bond and Tatania to meet up so SMERSH can kill Bond is great. The Orient Express is where most of the action is but the highlights in this is the fight at the gypsy camp, when Kerim kills Krilencu, the fight with Bond and Grant on the Orient Express and when Bond and Klebb fight in the hotel room. Great book and one of the best in the series! Highly Recommended!!!

The 'Illustrated' 007 is faithful to the Fleming book series, which is fine by this reader, since Fleming's portrayal of 007 was the original and best. John McLusky's image of James Bond bears an amazing resemblance to Sean Connery - and this was drawn before he took the role of 007 in 1962!

This reader's disappointment is only that the complete set of Illustrated 007 episodes for all of Fleming's novels aren't available.

This book contains comic book adaptations of three of Ian Fleming's popular James Bond novels: Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Diamonds are forever. These stories are faithful adaptations of the original novels, with minor variations in the plot. Richly illustrated by John Mcluskey, these strips appeared in the Daily Express newspaper in London as well as many other newspapers all over the world. The plot of these stories are well known to most people in the world due to the enormous popularity of James Bond, and these comic strips present a whole new way of experiencing these stories again. Highly recommended.

FOR BOND FANS, THIS IS MUST. BUT DON'T EXPECT THE MODERN SLAM-BAM. BASED ON A SHORT FLEMMING STORY, NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE. SET IN 1961 BERLIN, TYPICAL BOND OF THAT ERA. SHORT (I.E. - 1 CASSETTE STORY - BUT AT THIS PRICE, WHY NOT)? TITLE PROVES TO BE A FUN SUPRISE AT THE END....

One of Ian Fleming's best James Bond stories!!! With this short story, Fleming gives us an interesting view of Bond and his opinions on his cold, lonely profession. While many of the typical 007 trappings are missing, Fleming conceives a perfectly written story that keeps the reader's (or listener's) attention throughout. One of the best elements is that Fleming dispenses with the fantasy and makes the premise very beleivable. The story is very moody and the narrative paints vivid portraits of the action in Cold War Berlin (The Perfect Location for a Perfect Spy Story) and the man that is James Bond. Fleming's descriptions of Bond's feeling about his chief "distraction" from duty are masterful. This particular audio book perfectly captures the spirit of the story. Anthony Valentine's narration is very soothing and helps the listener to visualize the action as it develops. Valentine's clear voice and well-timed inflections make this interpretation the best of all of the audio book versions of Bond novels currently available in the U.S.

Unlike the "official" James Bond compendiums written before it, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" offers a broader, more objective view of the history of the James Bond film franchise. While the finished product could have used a polish from a real editor (there are typos everywhere,) the raw material contained here is worth the read alone. Everything from Fleming's early failed attempts to bring his hero to film, to Saltzman and Broccoli's instrumental casting of Sean Connery as the first James Bond is documented and seemingly well researched. Each film production receives it's own chapter, From "Dr. No" to "Tomorrow Never Dies" including the non-Eon produced "Casino Royale" and "Never Say Never Again." All chapters open with production stories as recollected by the cast and crew and includes initial reviews by film critics (a real plus here) who reflect on the sexual and moral perversion that audiences succumb to when viewing a James Bond film. The authors close each chapter with a 10 point fan-boy rating system, grading everything from the opening sequence and titles to the girls and gadgets. Overall the book is a quite refreshing and insightful companion. There aren't a lot of photos in the book, but the ones that are included aren't ones we've seen before. As a fan it left me thankful that Burt Reynolds was never cast as 007, upset that "Casino Royale" was wasted as a spoof and imagining what the franchise would be today if George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton did more films and if Roger Moore did less.

If you are wanting more information on the James Bond movies (background stories on how they got made, info on how various actors came to be Bond, ratings of the movies, etc.) then this is the book for you. At over 200 pages, the tome certainly isn't short on information.

The authors definitely have their favorite, and there is room for argument with some of their ratings, which makes the book even more interesting. They rate each Bond movie in a variety of areas (Villains, Women, Plot, Action, Bond, Gadgets, Dialogue, etc.)

I've found this to be a book I go back to quite often. It's great to read right before or after I've watched a Bond DVD. It illuminates some of the background on actors, producers, directors, locations, etc.

Highly recommended for the Bond movie fan.

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

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!

Following the very disappointing BROKENCLAW, here Gardner gives us a different Bond story--one with very little action, lots of plot, and yet, a real page turner. This is certainly one of the most political Bond stories, and it is concerned with issues in the headlines at the moment (or from 1991), namely the Gulf War and also the shaky state of the former Soviet Union. The story concerns a free-lance terrorist group--The Scales of Justice--demanding the trial of a former Nazi SS officer largely responsible for a massacre of Russian Jews in Barbarossa during WWII. They claim to have the real man, but meanwhile the French Secret Service have captured another man whom they believe is the criminal. An agent of Mossad--the Israeli Secret Service, a Russian KGB official, James Bond, the French Secret Service, and various other spies all engage in a plot to unravel The Scales of Justice. What they uncover is an ambitious Russian general with plans to sabotage the crisis in the Gulf War by sending a nuclear strike among other things to the United States. There is a lot of plot and very little action--pretty much all in the next to last chapter or so. And yet it is very carefully laid out by Gardner, who doesn't give us an unbelievable love story nor a completely ridiculous ending as he did in the preceding clinker BROKENCLAW. In BARBAROSSA Bond finds himself confused about his role in the mission, and he also finds that a number of the people around him are not who they seem. One of the best elements is the way Gardner weaves an exciting tale involving elements from real-life modern stories and situations in the world--the Gulf crisis and impending war, the state of post-Communist Russia and quests for power. There are a number of intriguing characters and some great scenes, such as M receiving the news that 007 has been killed. Bond is not the central figure all of the time--he finds himself neck-deep in a complicated web of intrigue. The writing is certianly an improvement over BROKENCLAW, as! is Bond's relationships with the opposite sex here. Some may be disappointed by the greater presence of story and by the fact that action takes a backseat, but give BARBAROSSA a chance indeed. It is very well written, tightly plotted, and frankly very exciting. Do not disparage the name Gardner when it comes to Bond. Although this is more of a solid thriller and less of your typical BOND story, it is a welcome addition to the canon.

In this action and intrigue packed adventure Bond works with a Mossad officer, K.G.B. officers, and a sexy French D.G.S.E officer to stop a Communist hardliner from taking power in Moscow and helping Iraq during the Gulf War just before coalition forces are about to move on Iraq.

I think that this book is exactly what the title eludes to. Read it but don't try anything...I paid the consequences!!!!!!!!!

Although a good book to read trying to use any of the techniques described in this book is likely to get you injured or arrested. Better try Tha Anarchists Cook Book.

Sondheim and Lapine wrote an excellent musical about the pointillist painter George Seurat. I really started to love the musical when I read Marc Bauch's "Themes and Topics of the American Musical" (Marburg: Tectum Verlag, 2001. ISBN: 3828811418), which I recommend to get to know how intertextually Sondheim worked. Bauch put Sondheim in the tradition of the American Musical with reference to his themes.

This show is like a work of the main Character Georges Seurat. Point and point are putted together to a great piece of art. Stepehn Sondheim who recieved the Pulitzer Prize for this astonishing work of American Musical Theatre puts all the points together to one brilliant composition of story and storytelling his co-author James Lapine who wrote the book while Sondheim wrote the lyrics does a great job, too. It is the most beautiful kind of lyric I ever had seen in this masterpiece: Children and art. I really enjoyed to read this book and it is essentially for everybody who is interested in the Musical Theatre.

You Only Live Twice, film number 6 in the series and number 5 for Sean Connery, is unarguably one of the most exciting and entertaining Bond films. 007 travels to Japan to investigate the disappearence of U.S. and Russian space shuttles and in doing so comes face to face for the first time with one of the best Bond villains, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by Donald Pleasance). Blofeld has a "secret volcano lair" that he has been operating from to capture both space shuttles. Bond's job, of course, is to stop him. With the best aerial fight scene of any 007 flick, this movie packs a heck of a lot of action even if it does lack the deeper plots of Goldfinger and Thunderball.

YOLT was Connery's second to last official Bond film, he returned for Diamonds are Forever in 1971, and for a remake of Thunderball in 1983 for Never Say Never Again.

YOLT is the most mocked Bond movie in terms of Austin Powers, and by watching the viewer will discover many jokes from the original Austin Powers that he/she may not have discovered.

All in all, You Only Live Twice is an excellent movie that is often underrated for it's semi-weak plot. It includes great fights, an outstanding villain, and some great exotic locations. If you like Bond, you'll love this.

The fifth James Bond movie was quite an evolution from "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love". Gadgets galore, ever more exotic locations, double entendres along with a large dose of other witty remarks establish the James Bond as we know him today. It is perhaps this evolution that makes many Bond fans consider "Goldfinger", with fewer witticisms and gadgets, yet a fully developed spy character, to be the best Bond movie. Regardless of whether you felt the Bond movies were going down hill after "Goldfinger" or not, I still like a lot about this Bond movie.

After the traditional opening scene, the movie opens with one of the best of the early credits openings. Nancy Sinatra, of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" fame, sings "You Only Live Twice" beautifully while umbrella framework shadows background scenery. In some ways I thought this opening was one of the more innovative openings until the opening for "Tomorrow Never Dies" with Cheryl Crow doing the song honors.

Moving past the opening, Spectre is attempting to start a world war by stealing US and Soviet space craft while they are in orbit, hoping that the two countries will get so mad at each other that they will attack each other and blow each other up. Even when the US and the Soviet Union were most angry at each other it is extremely unlikely that each would credit the other with the ability to steal their spaceships, and even if they did blame each other, nuclear war over spaceships is implausible, at best. Unfortunately, the plot in this movie is as weak as it sounds, so forget about a really evil super villain who has a good conquer the world plan.

One interesting double take is Charles Gray as good guy Henderson. In "Diamonds are Forever" Gray gets to come back and be bad guy Ernst Blofeld, taking over for the too nice Donald Pleasance in this movie. Donald is just too nice to be Blofeld.

With one exception, the action and special effects are what make this movie. Cheesiest special effect goes to the helicopters shot down by "Little Nelly". Think helicopters hung by a string and then blown up. Not what you would call a great special effect. The rest of the special effects ran from good to very good. The underground Spectre base hidden in the base of a volcano used generally good miniatures, though the wheels didn't turn too well on the spaceship transport. "Little Nelly" was a pretty cool gyrocopter, though the scenes of Bond flying it had the usual unreal look of a projected back screen.

The rest of this film contains a host of little details. Secret entrances, trap doors, trap walkways, and of all things, Ninjas! Oh, and the Bond women in this movie tend to show the same polarity of other Bond films. While some of these women are beautiful and compliant, some are ruthless killers. Nothing like equal opportunity!

One side note. This movie was written by Roald Dahl, of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach" fame. While some other reviewers have expressed dismay that a well-known author with Dahl's credentials came up with such a weak story, I consider that Dahl was a lot younger, and the interpretation of the screenplay can make or break a screenplay. While Dahl may have been able to make improvements, responsibility for the relatively weak plot can be shared by many of those involved.

While the plot for this movie is among the weakest of the Bond films, I still think the movie is saved by the nearly non-stop action and special effects. I admit that the one-liners used throughout the movie kept the movie from taking itself too seriously, which may also distract some fans, but there is still one line I enjoy. When Bond meets Aki, a beautiful female Japanese, she says to Bond that she looks forward to working under him. Even Bond looked a little surprised when she said that. James Bond doesn't always get the good one-liners.

"You Only Live Twice" is a James Bond techno-thriller in which Sean Connery, Nancy Sinatra's title song, and the spectacular rocket base set all take turns overwhelming the story. The script for this 1967 film is based very loosely on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel, is more of a disappointment once you realize it was written by Roald Dahl. A pair of satellites belonging to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are swallowed up by a mysterious spacecraft belonging to SPECTRE, the super-criminal organization run by Ernest Stavro Blofeld, played this time around by Donald Pleasance (and the first time we actually see Blofeld's face). The idea is to provoke a superpower war so that SPECTRE can come in afterwards and pick up the pieces (presumably all wearing suits to protect them from the radiation).

After "Moonraker," this is the James Bond film that makes the most of science fiction hardware. The secret rock base is located inside a Japanese volcano, which makes for a big battle sequences between SPECTRE's troops and Japanese ninja secret agents (or would that be secret agent ninjas?). In retrospect, this scene is one of the most important in the Bond series because it upped the ante for all future films. There would still be all the fun gadgets and gizmos, but giant set pieces like this one would becomes required elements from here on out. In fact, Bond movies now usually begin with such set pieces and not just end with them.

"You Only Live Twice" is a mixed bag. John Barry's score is his best for the entire Bond series, which says something right there, and the title song gets my vote for being the best of the Bonds as well. Plus you have Sean Connery as James Bond (even if he thinks he is turning Japanese). But there are some substantial parts of the film where nothing really happens, and even the beautiful Japanese scenery cannot detract from how badly things start to drag. However, I appreciate the fact that Mie Hama as Kissy, breaks the Bond girl mold. For that matter, this film gives Japanese actors a chance to play something other than brutal World War II soldiers or prison guards, which is certainly of some cinematic importance.

I've been a Bond fan since my teens and have bought everyone as it came out in hardcover since Col. Sun. I loved Zero minus Ten and the Tomorrow Never Dies novelization. Facts of Death was great if you take away Felix's killer wheelchair, but this one? Taking pieces of Fleming's classics does not a Bond novel make. A golf match with the villain (see Goldfinger), a criminal organization with a secret mastermind (see anything with SPECTRE), and a major plot point out of Casino Royale. The spy on a mountain climb was done better by Trevanian and Desmond Cory back in the glory days of Bond. I realize this is the first of a projected trilogy(I understand if Benson wants to save Le Gerant for the climax of the trilogy), but it is no excuse for a lackluster villain whose main characteristic is obnoxious. We know he's the bad guy because he says "Chinaman", considered a racial slur, instead of "Chinese man" as Bond does. He also makes sexist remarks about betting a night with the female member of the expedition. As far as PC goes, Bond fails too--An affair with his secretary? Even Fleming's Bond kept it to playful flirtation with Ponsonby, Goodnight, and Moneypenny. But, of course, we need it to hang plot on. Like I said before, I've bought every Bond as it came out in harcover until now-this I rented from the library and will now wait for the paperback and buy it used. The rest of the trilogy will determine if I ever buy Bond again.

James Bond has always been a figure of fantasy and Benson, in his routine fourth Bond novel (after The Facts of Death) wisely keeps him fantastic. An international mercenary terrorist gang called the Union pilfers the British secret formula for Skin 17, the only aircraft material that can withstand a speed of Mach 7. Besides its technological importance, Skin 17 is a triumph for the lagging British military, so spymaster IvI needs Bond to get it back, and to find the turncoat who helped the Union steal it. The terrorists hide the formula for Skin 17 on a microdot implanted inside the pacemaker of a Chinese national, who dies a few days later when the airplane he's flying in is hijacked and crashes on Kangchenjunga, third-highest mountain of the Himalayas: hence this novel's title. Bond, of course, is dispatched to retrieve the microdot. En route to a blood-filled, ice-encased climax, Agent 007 indulges his old tastes for dangerous women and beautiful cars. Thanks to Q, the violence features some deliciously nasty weapons, including a gadget-laden Jaguar XK8. Benson's prose, including the dialogue, is wooden, but the action he provides is fast and furious and Bond fans will note the narrative scores "a first for Bond... sex at 7,900 meters" -a high point in a novel that otherwise is middling all the way.

High Time to Kill represents Raymond Bensons' 3rd original Bond novel. Whereas his last book reads like a movie, here Benson shows why the novel Bond is still the best. With minimal reliance on gadgetry, HTTK sees Bond from the civiled streets of Nassau to the brutal, unciviled reaches of the Himalayas. We are swept along with 007 as he searches for a stolen formula, aware that their his a tratior in his midst. HTTK adds to Bonds background without contradicting anything written by Ian Fleming. Benson also introduces "The Union" already destined to be right up there among Bond villians SPECTRE and SMERSH. Here, it remains in the shadows, and we are left wondering where it will rise again to plague 007. Having assumed the mantle of Bond authorship, here Benson gets the whole fireplace as well. His Bond gets better and better. Looking forward to his next Bond book.