Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming

Live and Let Die (James Bond Series #2) by Ian Fleming — 9780142003237 — ****

Genre: Spy Novel
Time to Read: 10 days (Over the holiday season)

Short Description:
007 is back in action! In Ian Fleming’s second book in the James Bond Series, the FBI has asked for Bond’s help in uncovering a smuggling operation. Mr. Big, a big-time bad-guy in Harlem with a shipping business and property in Jamaica and ties to voodooism, is suspected of smuggling Sir Henry Morgan’s long-lost loot of gold into the states in an illegal operation. The FBI is hoping to use Bond’s expertise, and his familiarity with Jamaica, to uncover the plot and put an end to Mr. Big’s big-time quest to become known as the first major black crime lord in the United States. Mr. Big’s own people fear him, believing he is the zombie of Baron Samedi, voodoo spirit of death, which allows him to keep them under his thumb. His network of African-Americans in Harlem and all over the USA helps him keep an eye on everything that is going on in his world, including the arrival of James Bond, and his possession of the beautiful and magical Solitaire helps him know when he is being duped. When Solitaire reaches out to Bond for help, he gains his source of information and his motivation to put a stop to Mr. Big once and for all.

Live and Let Die is one of my absolute favorite James Bond movies, and although the book isn’t quite the same, it certainly doesn’t disappoint. In fact, I wish the movie followed it more closely. Mr. Big and Kananga’s opium smuggling is a worthy challenge for Roger Moore as 007 in the movie, but I’m not so sure that it tops, or even compares to, Mr. Big’s pirate gold smuggling. Also, Jane Seymour’s depiction of Solitaire is legendary, but the character in the book is far more likable. She’s smarter, gutsier and more seductive than the movie’s innocent depiction of a very different woman by the same name.

The second book in the James Bond series is certainly more full of excitement than the first. Bond finds himself up against a network of people who all operate under Mr. Big’s direction out of fear of his voodoo ties. He swims with hungry sharks, gets in a shootout in a wear house full of tanks of poisonous tropical fish, and is nearly bested by the big man and his men. There are enough differences between the book and the movie that even a fan of the film will be caught wondering how it will all end, and it’s exciting enough to keep the pages turning without the slower start that its predecessor Casino Royale displays.

One word of caution: This book was published in 1954, and political correctness wasn’t in fashion. As a result, Ian Fleming uses an outdated term to describe the African-American characters throughout the book. It is used descriptively, much like modern writers might refer to a woman as a blonde, and isn’t intended to be demeaning, but some may find it objectionable. Beyond that, the material is safe for an audience looking for a fun adventure with a little bit of “naughty” teasing on behalf of the sensual female love interest. I highly recommend it to fans of any of the Bond movies, and to lovers of action, adventure, and spy themed novels.

Check out Ian Fleming’s website!

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Agent X by Noah Boyd

Agent X by Noah Boyd – 9780061826986 — ****

Genre: Thriller
Time to Read: About a week
Publication date: 8 February 2011

Short Summary:
When former FBI Agent Steve Vail arrives in Washington D.C., he is hoping to rekindle a cooled romance with the FBI’s assistant director Kate Bannon, but instead finds himself helping her on a highly sensitive case. The FBI has been contacted by an officer at the Russian embassy–a man who has identified himself only as “Calculus”–who has intel on a number of American agents who are working as spies for the Russian SVR. Shortly after providing the FBI with clues that will lead to the identity of the first double agent, Calculus was whisked away to Moscow, leaving the FBI to believe that he has been compromised. Still determined to discover the names of the traitors in their midst, the FBI asks Vail to help Bannon follow the clues and uncover the names of the spies before they can be eliminated by their Russian handlers.

Following the clues–but not necessarily the rules–Vail begins to uncover the names of those double agents. He and Bannon are in a race to catch the traitors before they can be eliminated, and find themselves risking their own lives to unravel the mystery before it is too late.

 

I haven’t read many “thriller spy-novels,” as I have described this book, but after reading Noah Boy’s Agent X, I can’t say why that is. This is any James Bond fan’s genre, and as a Bond fan, I will be sure to read more like this one in the future.

Agent X isn’t all edge-of-your-seat action, nor is it all puzzling mystery or attempted romance (on the part of the hero Steve Vail). It is a captivating novel that draws you in with the aid of all of those techniques and keeps you reading–sometimes laughing, sometimes wide-eyed with suspense–until the very end. An attentive reader will be able to unravel some of the mystery on his or her own, but there are enough twists and turns to prevent total predictability, leaving just enough clues to make the reader want to read on, thinking: “So, am I right?”

Steve Vail is a great hero, and an excellent character. He is imperfect, and that makes him seem more real than even the great Agent 007. He isn’t described as the strongest, smartest, bravest and most attractive man on the planet. He isn’t infallible, and as hard as he keeps trying, he doesn’t always get the girl (in his case, there is just one girl: Kate Bannon). The rest of Noah Boyd’s characters are equally imperfect, and are, therefore, perfectly believable.

I would highly recommend this title to anyone who is a fan of the thriller/spy novel genre. A fan of James Bond or The Da Vinci Code will thoroughly enjoy Agent X for its spy novel mystery and action that is peppered with gunshots and explosions plus a there-but-not romance that manages to deepen the story rather than soften it.

I should note that this is not Noah Boyd’s first novel. Steve Vail and Kate Bannon also appear in The Bricklayer: a novel I have yet to read. If my review of Agent X intrigues you, I would suggest giving Noah Boyd’s first book a try while you wait for this one to be available in stores (on February 8, 2011). I plan on picking up The Bricklayer as soon as it is available in trade paper on December 28th, and if I had to wait much longer than that, I’d probably have the mass market in my hands or a hardcover on order right now.

Check out Noah Boyd’s author page at Harper Collins Publishers.

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