Live and Let Die (James Bond Novels) by Ian Fleming
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Book Reviews of Live and Let Die (James Bond Novels)
Book Review: Action and adventure delivered in true Bond style!
Summary: 5 Stars
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!
Book Review: A real James Bond thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
So Fleming rescues the series with this second book on James Bond. The first one (Casino Royale) had its moments of excitement but compared to the second one, it was pathetic.
"Live And Let Die" is an awesome adventure. Again SMERSH raises its communist head, this time in USA. But the Russian angle is not much explored. What Mr. B.I.G. does for Russia remains unclear except for hints about his vast obedient army of blue-collar workers.
Mr. BIG is a gigantic black man who uses the inherent fear of Voodoo among the blacks to pretend to be the Zombie of the evil Baron Samedi (Prince of Darkness and ruler of the dead). He is actually a scholarly man with great intelligence, tact, skills and creativity.
There is Florida as the entry point for smuggled gold and Jamaica as the origin.
Thrown in is a gorgeous "corker" of a damsel named Solitaire who seems to know what she wants. And CIA agent Felix Leiter who we enjoyed in the first book returns as a liaison between FBI and MI6. Many other wonderful characters, especially the black gangsters Tee Hee Johnson and The Robber. Friends include the Cayman islander and Bond's trainer/factotum named Quarrel.
The pirate Bloody Morgan or rather Sir Henry Morgan plays an important role - the long dead pirate's treasure being the point of investigation.
This book is a real page-turner. The descriptions of Voodoo and that of the scenery in New York, Florida and Jamaica bring everything to life. The adventure in the corals and the damned voracious barracuda are also exciting.
So I am happy to say, the series got a lot lot better right away with the second novel.
Comparision with the movie:
There are crucial differences with the movie version starring Sir Roger Moore as Bond. In the movie Mr B.I.G. and the Prime Minister of a Caribbean island and the New York gangster has an interesting connection. Baron Samedi is a henchman in the movie. In the novel Mr BIG is a legitimate businessman doubted to be connected to criminal activity and to Baron Samedi.
Also the death of Tee Hee Johnson is very different plus there are no crocodiles in the novel. Instead there are sharks and barracudas and giant squid and poisonous sea creatures. So the daring stunt performed in the movie is completely absent - no crocodile farm - but has exotic fishes used and gold smuggling.
So very unlike the movie. And "sharks and barracudas" who play important symbolic roles in Voodoo - a myth which the locals believe and fear.
Anyways, the book is much different but with similar plot lines and characters. I would say the book is more cruel and more realistic than the movie version.
Very thrilling and I look forward to the other books in the series.
Book Review: Review of Live and Let Die
Summary: 5 Stars
Live and Let Die is the second James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, and it wasn't until my first trip to New York that I really appreciated and understood some parts of the book.
Here, James must uncover a gold-smuggling ring, sponsored by the Communist SMERSH government agency. The leader of the smuggling ring is Mr. Big, who wields control of his crime network, stretching from Harlem to Jamaica, through fear from the practice of Voodoo.
Bond must travel to Harlem in his investigations, and there has an unfortunate encounter with Mr. Big. Bond also meets the Voodoo fortune teller Solitaire, who catches Bond's eye with her beauty. But a reversal of fortunes for Bond and Solitaire has them cross paths again in a race across the country, ending with underwater operations, and excitement, in Jamaica.
We also meet with CIA operative Felix Leiter again, and we learn how and why Leiter appears with a hook for an arm in later Bond stories.
As with other Bond stories, this one has a tight and fast-paced plot, lots of action, and Ian Fleming's eye for detail and succinct description.
The movie version, with Roger Moore, is worth it just for the Paul McCartney Live and Let Die theme music.
(review by Kendall Giles)
Book Review: Yeah, baby!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: Super Reader
Summary: 5 Stars
Bond becomes more interested in Mr. Big, head of a voodoo operation in the Carribean, after he learns that he is working for SMERSH. He sees an opportunity to exact a bit of payback for the events of the previous book. It seems that Mr. Big may have found the pirate treasure of Captain Henry Morgan, and is using that for operational purposes.
He also gets to work with Felix Leiter, from the CIA. Mr. Big has a fortune teller that is a true psychic, named Solitaire. A beautiful girl, she works out what the two agents are up to, and they end up captured. Eventually they escape, and as Solitaire is a beautiful girl, Bond takes her too.
Felix Leiter is severely mauled by a shark.
That is not the finale, as Bond and Solitaire are captured again, and dragged behind a boat, designed to slowly bleed to death as coral and other sea things cut them. The bad guys wouldn't be sad if blood attracted sharks to eat 'em, either.