In reading Ian Fleming's books in order, I have noticed his writing getting progressively better. Although this book lacked the action that the other heretofore have had, it, nevertheless, was notably better written. This struck me early on in the book with more characterization of Bond. I am compelled to read more to see if he meet my expectations in the next book of improving further in his writing.

Fleming is at his best dealing with relatively mundane topics, such as card games, because these are the moments when Fleming tries to demonstrate originality in his plot. Even his most diabolical villains feel predictable, especially in Moonraker.

Readers that pay attention to early motifs can take the liberty of skimming the last 100 pages of a Moonraker (and probably most of Fleming's other novels as well).

Let's break it down:

-A car is mentioned? A car chase will follow.
-A woman is mentioned? A seduction will be attempted.
-A fighting move is mentioned? It will return.
-A villainous sidekick is mentioned? He will torture Bond after he is captured (probably during the car chase).
-A woman's breasts are mentioned? They will eventually speak to Bond "as if to declare..."

On the whole, Fleming's best moments are precursors to thrillers and his weakest moments feel like boyish adventure novels.

To continue my study of the Ian Fleming Bond (see my review on Thunderball for an explanation of what I mean...http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...) I decided to give Moonraker a look. It is, quite frankly, the worst movie of the series, and I thought I'd see if the book might turn out to be better. (I'd had a hint of this from GoodReads friend Tracey (see her excellent review here...http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....) I was happy to discover it was much, much better.

Keeping with the Fleming characterization of Bond, we still see him as a bit more lucky than skilled. However, we begin to see flashes of his too-good-to-be-true accomplishments. (I won't spoil it for you, but the welding torch bit is, well, ahem...tough to swallow. If I tried that in one of my books I think I'd be embarrassed to let someone read it. But I digress.) He seems less petty here than he did in Thunderball. In keeping with the lengthy golf game in Goldfinger, Fleming shows Bond at another "sport", this time the not so glamorous game of "Bridge". I know this was a popular game back then, and my parents played it all the time, and I even learned to play it with them for a time, but this does date this book a bit.

(for the rest of this review, click on the link to my blog:
http://roomwithnoview.blogspot.com/20...

Digital audiobook performed by Simon Vance


Book three in the original James Bond series, starts with a little personal task. A noted British hero, Sir Hugo Drax, has been playing cards at M’s private club, and M suspects the man is cheating. Would Bond (a notable card player) take a look and confirm M’s suspicions?

This novel focuses on cold-war sensibilities and features a villain who is not who he purports to be. Of course, there’s a lovely young woman who’s paired with Bond to ferret out the truth behind Sir Hugo Drax’s magnanimous offer of a dedicated atomic rocket to protect and defend England, paid for out of his own pocket.

The reader gets what’s expected: danger, car chases, explosions, dastardly villains, beautiful women, and ever debonair, intelligent and resourceful Bond.

Simon Vance does a fine job performing the audio. He sets a good pace for this kind of thriller, and I love his voice for both Bond and the villainous Drax.