Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming

Summary:

James Bond is sent by M to New York City to investigate gold coins that have been turning up in Harlem and Florida. While in New York, Bond is reunited with Felix Leiter. The villain, "Mr Big"is an agent of SMERSH and is smuggling the gold by placing it in the bottom of fish tanks holding poisonous tropical fish. He is also holding a woman, named Solitaire, against her will because she has the ability to read the future and tell when people are lying. Solitaire saves Bond by lying to her captor and then later joins bond on a train to St. Petersburg, Florida.

In Florida,  Solitaire is taken captive again and Felix is partially eaten by a shark while investigating. This sends Bond to investigate the enemy's warehouse himself.  He is attacked in the warehouse by the "Robber" but is able to escape.  The discovery of the fish tanks leads bond to Jamaica where he meets Quarrel.   

who gives Bond training in scuba diving which allows Bond to swim through shark- and barracuda-infested waters to Mr Big's island.   Bond is then able to foil the enemy's plan, rescue Solitaire, and escape to safety.

Response:

I was quite surprised at the differences between this book and the movie.  First of all, I felt that Solitaire was much more independent in the book and Bond was less of a rake.  In the film, Bond tricks a virginal Solitaire into sleeping with him which winds up taking away her power of foresight.  In the novel, not only does not sleep with her on page but there isn't this terrible connection between her virginity and her power of foresight.  I will refrain from commenting on this with a feminist view point but it did make me very glad to see the this did not originate with Ian Fleming.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how Bond is shown building up his strength for his mission.  He spends a week swimming and training before entering the villains lair.  You just don't see this part of Bond in the films at all - he's almost this superhero kind of spy who can literally do anything and everything with very little effort.  In the novels, he has to study and learn about each mission which makes it much more realistic even when the story elements stretch to fantasy.