From Russia, With Love by Ian Fleming

Summary:
Because of his involvement in foiling the plots of Le Chiffre(Casino Royale), Mr. Big (Live and Let Die), and Hugo Drax (Moonraker), James Bond has been declared an enemy of the Soviet Union. They've issued a death warrant for him and started a plot to both kill and discredit him.

Tatiana Romanova is called up by her superiors to help trap Bond.  She claims to want to defect because she fell in love with Bond's photo in his file.  Unbeknownst to her, there is a much larger plot and it involves Bond's death.

Tempted with the thought of a young girl falling in love with him via a picture and with the promise of a Russian Cypher, James heads out to Istanbul, Turkey to recover them both.  Along the way they have to dodge death threats and a serial killer who only kills at the full moon.


Response:
The first 11 chapters are missing Bond entirely.  We spend time in mother Russia and learning about SMERSH and how their organization works.  It feels to me a lot like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles in which there is very little of Sherlock Holmes because the author didn't want to write about that character any more.  I wonder if Ian Fleming was also growing tired of James Bond at this point.

I find it very interesting to see Bond mourning the loss of his relationship with Tiffany Case, from the previous novel in the series.  We learn that she left him for an American ambassador and has returned to her home country.  He is nursing this broken heart when he's told of the Russian Girl's obsession with him.  Which leads him to ponder whether or not he can follow through with his mission.  Can he pretend to return affection when he, himself is so injured.

Also we see again, as in Live and Let Die, that Bond has a certain amount of fear when flying. Certainly he was on plane in Diamonds Are Forever, but it seems that he fears small planes and flying through storms.  You see him reason through his fear, "how old is the plane?"  "has the pilot had enough flight training?" etc.  It's nice to know that he's not this indestructible archetype that is presented in the movies.

I was disappointed with the negative treatment of females by Darko Kerim and I don't feel that the female lead character is nearly as strong as in the previous novels.  She needs to be protected and is merely a pawn in everyone else's larger game.

Diamond's Are Forever by Ian Fleming

Summary:
James Bond, 007 is sent to infiltrate a diamond smuggling ring.  The ring started in the mines in Sierra Leone and ends in the United States. Bond's mission is to travel down the pipeline to uncover those responsible. Tiffany Case, is his first contact in the pipeline operated by "the Spangled Mob."  Together they follow the pipeline from London to New York and then to Las Vegas. 

Seraffimo Spang suspects that Bond may not be who he claims to be and has him captured and tortured. Tiffany's help him escape from Spectreville aboard a and assisted by Leiter, Bond and Case escape.  They kill Spang in the process and shut down half of the pipeline.  Bond and Tiffany board the Queen Elizabeth to travel to London. But Wint and Kidd kidnap Case while en route.  They plan to kill her and throw her overboard but Bond rescues her.  


Response:

Felix Leiter isn't dead!  I'm so glad he recovered from that shark attack in Live and Let die.  Because of his missing arm and leg, he's had to resign from the FBI, but he has a new job with the Pinkertons and is able to help Bond with his Mafia case.

Unlike the movie, there is no Blofeld or Howard Hughes type character.  There is no oil rig and no space attack on nuclear weapons.  There is still a scene with a mud bath, but in a totally different context.

I'm actually very pleased with the character of Tiffany Case and I'm continually surprised with the level of independence Fleming gives to his female characters.  I'm very sorry that this didn't translate over to the films.  We actually see Bond fall in love with another woman (after Vesper) and treat her well.