A russian conspiracy and the return of Russian spy agency SMERSH bring us to this book. James Bond appears in this book after 3-4 chapters till then it's all Russian planning. After going to USA and complaining about it. Intrigued by the strange business of an agent willing to defect because she has fallen in love with Bond, M discusses the same and sends Bond to Istanbul, Turkey to bring the girl to the fold. What unfolds is again a slow moving adventure despite being only 250 odd pages. But writing was well enough it's just that things don't move much and there is not enough action this time around just lot of love and now it's time to move on to Dr. No.

So while I move on to the next Bond adventure, may be you would want to take your own swipe at Bond and then just Keep on Reading.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

A very successful and tense Bond thriller, but one of the few cases where the movie adapts it straight and does it better, raising the stakes even further, fixing a few of the holes found the novel. and expanding the presence of the characters of Tania and Grant. You won't go wrong with either - in fact, you should probably just experience both!

I am currently listening my way through the audio books of this series.

Over the years, I've read bits and pieces of various of these, but this time I'm going through them in order. It is very interesting to see the evolution of the Bond character as well as of Fleming's style.

This wasn't my favorite, and the end was a bit confusing until one reviewer mentioned that Fleming was planning on killing off the Bond character--that this was supposed to be the last. Now it makes sense! (And thank goodness he changed his mind!)

This was my first James Bond novel that I've read and I want to read more. I've always enjoyed the James Bond movies, but now I have this new world to delve into. This was a fun read. I'm not sure what I was expecting....I just didn't want the books to ruin my movie experiences. So I'm glad that in some ways this is different than the silver screen Bond, but I felt like all the other characters were the same in personality and support. It was a nice mix of different/same.

I loved the way the story was laid out because it wasn't all rushed. For such a short book, that worried me a little. So 4 stars.

Who knew a random werewolf persona would appear in a James Bond novel? That was literally the highlight of the novel for me.

But I can't leave out Turkish Rico Suave, aka Darko Kerim, who I actually need more of, and the gypsy clan of Instanbul, who is also fighting the Russian mob, who are being spied on through a rat and bat-infested underground tunnel that will likely "lead to the next plague." Still, we need it for spying purposes, so who cares about the future?

The romance was so terrible and misogynistic that it was hilarious.

Once you get past being offended by Ian Fleming's depiction of panty-dropping women and turn it into comedy, this series is gold.

SMERSH is also always interesting, even if their purpose is usually immensely vague, kind of like Mr. Claw's mission in an Inspector Gadget episode. They must eliminate BOND, but then what?

The leading lady in this one was so extra, I guess, to assuage Bond's broken heart when he was somewhat rejected in the last novel. Tatiana Romanov is supposedly in love with him, even though he has never met her. And so Bond is like, well, I am quite awesome, so it must be true, let's try it. She is found in his bed with a ribbon around her neck and asks him to beat her if she ever gets fat while she plans to spend her life with him.

But wait, there's MORE! A dominatrix bisexual leader who reminded me of the sex dungeon in Amsterdam in the movie Eurotrip with the crazy "safeword" (probably dating myself a bit here as this came out in 2004).

There's even a jaunt on the Orient Express!

And this hilarious quote which I am going to start taking to heart... or stomach
"I do not cross my heart. That is being too serious. But I cross my stomach."

There's so much going on in this one, including comedy/spy thriller gold. At this point, I can't help but love the comic relief, intended or not. All of this happens in less than 300 pages. Never a dull moment

4.5 Stars rounded up.

This comes the closest so far to making 5 stars for a Bond novel. The book is full of plots and counter plots, nice sneaky planning pretty well done. Only a few problems... you'll find yourself wondering if Grant might not have profited from hearing about the evil overlord's list. Since this book predates the list Grant may be one of the insperations as his talking to Bond before killing him and over confidence are so classic. Bond doesn't even show up till fairly late in this book and appears to get killed at the end. But he manages to recover in time to save England and of course the free world again.

I've tried three times to read any of Ian Fleming's Bond novels, because he was an actual intelligence officer writing spy novels. Bond in the abstract is an interesting character, a posh international superspy with cool tech and a drinking habit. I've fallen asleep during the one Bond movie I've watched (Skyfall, apologies) and don't fare much better with the novels. This particular novel opens in Russia, however, with no Bond in sight, and the plot is introduced quickly. The Russians believe that killing Bond will gravely weaken British intelligence, and recruit a femme fatale to lure him into position so that 007 can be deep-sixed. Said fatale's cover story is that she's a Russian intelligence officer who fell in love with Bond by looking at his photograph, and now she wants to defect so she can be with him in person.

I really should have stoppped reading there, but I persisted. (But seriously, who disguises an intel officer by pretending she's AN INTEL OFFICER?) I should note that I have an active dislike for novels with sex scenes in them -- I'll read science books about sexuality, no problems, but inflict fictional bedroom scenes on me and I'm sloooowly putting the book down -- and so I probably shouldn't have even TRIED a novel with this premise. There's just endless description of people's buttocks and breasts and yadayadayada. When Bond meets the fatale she's literally naked in his bed, and it's just....preposterous. I'd say "silly", a la Monty Python, but silly can be charming, whereas this is more like the 2016 US election. This is a rare DNF for me, as I stopped 75% through.

Anyway, I don't think Fleming is for me. Fortunately there's plenty of spy novels with more explosives and less anatomical exposition.

Someone criticized this novel saying it was dated......I am baffled.....that's like reading the biography HAMILTON,and saying it's "dated." History is never dated. This book is based on an organization that was real in Soviet Union, Russia....and yes, historically it used to be Russia,and then the Soviet Union,and then back to Russia,and the novel focuses on a certain time in the history of that country and of England as well. Yes it's fiction. I don't get how it is "dated." ;)

I enjoyed it immensely, but then I was a history teacher for 31 years and a history buff. Historically, this novel was considered to be John F. Kennedy's favorite novel....that's historically. Again, it's fiction.

Read it, enjoy it. Historical fiction, and fun at its best.

Classic SMERSH/east vs west Bond plot, with an unforgettable setting in and around Istanbul and aboard the Orient Express. I love some of Fleming's insight into Bond's nature, such as

"The blubbery arms of the soft life had Bond around the neck, and they were slowly strangling him. He was a man of war, and when for a long period there was no war, his spirit went into decline."

For people who don't already know, "Kronsteen", the Russian chess genius and spymaster, is supposed to be based on David Bronstein, arguably the greatest player never to win the world title. Oddly enough, the game used in the movie involved Bronstein, but he was on the wrong side of the board. For details, including further links, look at this article.

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When I read the third volume of Kasparov's My Great Predecessors last year, it occurred to me that there was almost certainly a misidentification here. "Kronsteen" does of course sound like "Bronstein", but the cold, remorseless spy-master of the Bond book is completely unlike the shy, poetic genius of real life. And Bronstein, whose father was arrested by the KGB, was never close with the Soviet authorities.

On the other hand, Botvinnik seems a far more plausible match. A committed Stalinist with many allies in the top levels of the Party, he was famous for his unemotional, logical attitude to the game. And the opening scene sounds just right. He's in the middle of an important game, and he's doing well. He's surprised his opponent with a new move in the Meran variation (Botvinnik often played the Meran; Bronstein, hardly ever), and SMERSH send a message to say that his presence is urgently required. But Kronsteen finishes off his opponent before going to his meeting.

His boss is annoyed, but Kronsteen stands his ground. If he'd just left, the audience would have wondered why. His boss reluctantly concedes that he's right. That's just pure Botvinnik. He was fully aware of his importance to the Party, and never let them push him around.

This is hands down the best James Bond book and it was turned into the best James Bond movie. I have yet to read all the books, but I have read a fair amount so I think it is okay for me to have the opinion that this is the best!

I read this twice and loved it both times. The second time I read it was on a train in Switzerland between Bern and Brig. This just so happens to be part of the route of the train included in the climactic scene in the book. This was not an intentional coincidence, but very cool!

If you have wanted to try James Bond, this is a good place to start. You might say “but Matthew, it says right here this is book 5 in the series!” I will say for the person who wants to do the hardcore Bond route, start at the beginning with Casino Royale. But, if you are just feeling casual and not sure you want to commit to the whole series, you can start here. I personally don’t feel like there is enough carry over from book to book for you to miss out by starting in the middle.

While From Russia with Love included the classic elements that fans would want in a James Bond adventure, the novel’s structure gave it a somewhat different feel from other entries in the series.

The plot revolves around a Soviet conspiracy to murder Bond in a way that would serve a punishing and highly public blow to the British Secret Service. Rosa Klebb, the head of SMERSH, the Soviet murder bureau, puts an intricate plan into play. She lures Bond to Istanbul, with a beautiful would-be defector (Tatiana Romanova) and a Soviet cryptography machine as bait. Bond teams up with Anglo-Turkish agent Darko Kerim for some skirmishes with Soviet agents before boarding the famed Orient Express with Tatiana, whose growing feelings for Bond are giving her serious second thoughts about her mission. All the while, the brutal Red Grant, SMERSH’s top assassin, stalks the duo to a climactic final confrontation.

One of the most notable aspects of From Russia with Love is that the hero of the book doesn’t make an appearance until a third the way in. The first section instead focuses on the Soviet characters, providing a glimpse into Moscow life of that era. Author Ian Fleming spends time fleshing out Rosa, Tatiana and Red, among others, and shows how the plot against Bond comes together. It’s a slow burn approach that gives the story a different feel early on. The approach adds depth to Bond’s nemeses, making them more than just cardboard straw men for the super spy to knock down.

When Bond does enter the story, it kicks the plot into a higher gear. Fleming sketches some involving espionage action, making especially good use of the exotic Istanbul setting as the backdrop to the East vs. West spy games. Unlike the bon vivant image of the character often displayed in the famous movies, the written Bond comes across as a much darker figure. He grapples with existential malaise and the love affairs that come across as bits of froth onscreen cut him much deeper on the page. Bond doesn’t come across as perfect; indeed, Fleming hints at the fact that his hero is fundamentally unbalanced, but in a way that makes him an ideal fit for his job.

Among the newer characters, Kerim is a vivid force of nature, a good partner for Bond, even if at times he slips into an Ottoman pulp caricature. Klebb is among the best villains of the series, ruthless and complex, while the ambivalent Tatiana, torn between duty and her feelings for Bond, is a sympathetic mix of love interest and enemy. Fleming spends a lot of time building up Red, possibly a little too much time. In the end, Red’s more a bit of villainous color who doesn’t have the layers of Rosa or Tatiana.

As always, the pre-PC sensibility of the Bond novels won’t be a good fit for all sensibilities. Some passages could be shocking for modern readers unused to the period’s different standards. But for espionage drama fans with an open mind, the Bond series remains a compelling and worthwhile ride.