Moonraker by Ian Fleming

Summary:
Called in by M, on a personal favor, to expose a cheat at Blades, James Bond finds himself going to head to head with Hugo Drax.  Sir Drax is the current war hero who seems to have England's national security at heart.  Bond easily defeats Drax in the card game and all seems to be resolved until a mysterious double murder takes place at Drax's facility.

In the interest of national security, and because of M's intuition, James Bond is sent to ensure that the Moonraker project is completed without any further complications.  While investigating the double murder with MI5 undercover agent, Gala Brand, they discover that Drax is former Nazi masquerading as an Englishman so he can release a nuclear bomb on London.

In their attempt to thwart Drax's plan, Gala and James are captured and tied up under the rocket so that they will be killed when it launches.  They're able to escape and come up with a plan to re-route the rocket.  Their plan is not only successful, they kill the enemy scientists in the process.

Response:
Another strong female character from Ian Fleming.  If it weren't for Gala Brand, Bond would have never figured out Drax's plan nor would he have been able to reprogram the gyros to save London.  She's the first woman where Bond finds himself worried that he's taking a relationship seriously.  Unfortunately, she's already engaged to be married and they only have a brief flirtation while saving England.

I was surprised that this novel did not involve an Ark in Space as was shown in the movie.  In fact, the novel never left English soil.  Jaws is nowhere to be found in the villain's henchmen either.  Elements of this novel are more in keeping with some of the plots in Die Another Day.

Three novels into this series and I find that, even though more than 60 years has passed since it was written, we're still concerned with the same things.  Countries are concerned about their national security and finding counter methods to defend their borders.  Readers are also concerned about the traitor in our midst:  Casino Royal - Vesper Lynd, English woman blackmailed into betraying her county. Live and Let Die - Mr. Big, an American who is recruited by the Russians to undermine American interests.  Moonraker - Hugo Drax, English Mother/German Father who sides with Germany in WWII and then returns to England to exact revenge.

It's really quite fascinating to read these novels in the historical context.  Though I find the language both sexist and incredibly racist at times, it gives a snapshot of the concerns and fears of the people at that point in time.  The novels were successful because they incorporated both fantastic and realistic elements into a single narrative.