My chronological journey through the world of the original James Bond novels continues with the fifth novel to be written and published, and widely held as the beginning of the best part of the entire series. In this one, Russia is tired of continually losing the battle in the grand spy game and has decided to assassinate one of the West’s most prestigious spies. After considering several countries’ intelligence programs to target, they settle on Britain’s MI-6 and who better than the famous James Bond.

The first 1/3rd of the novel and perhaps a bit more is all build-up, from the Russian’s point of view, their leadership, their assassins, etc. Mr. Bond himself does not enter the novel until almost half-way through. But it’s a fun ride to watch Bond fall into the trap they have set for him and try to get out.

Historical note: Up to this point, Ian Fleming and his publishers had been disappointed in the sales for the first four Bond books and they had failed to crack the all-important American market. Fleming was reportedly ready to throw in the towel completely (and had even thought to go so far as to kill off his main character) but he would give it one last try. He really put his all into it with much re-writing and re-thinking, resulting in this fifth novel which shows a definite step up in quality. It’s also the longest Bond novel and the resulting best seller status that resulted launched the golden period of Bond novels to come, including the following novel, [b:James Bond: Dr. No|20433602|James Bond Dr. No|Ian Fleming|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388830431s/20433602.jpg|30515802].

For fans of spy fiction, these novels are must-reads.