Brisk, terse and surprisingly engaging - far better and more interesting and suspenseful than any film versions (yes, I'm looking at YOU Daniel Craig). The baccarat showdown (no, not Texas Hold 'Em) is exciting and the strategic details of baccarat are laid out with elegant simplicity. Although lacking in depth, this Bond is, nonetheless, an interesting - if violent - epicurean. ( )

http://spwebdesign.livejournal.com/60... ( )

Ian Fleming's first outing with James Bond. The text here is lean but filled with details about clothes, food and card playing technique. Bond is a shmuck and a male chauvinist, but that should come as no surprise. A guilty pleasure. ( )

This is a surprisingly good book. ( )

I was encouraged to step into the Bond series by my wife, so I picked up with the first in the series. Casino Royale was my favorite bond movie and while there are quite a number of differences from the book (as with all of the books/movies in the series) there was a remarkably similar feel between the two.

What I came to enjoy the most was not even the story, which in and of itself is well told, but the perspective and manner of speaking used to tell the story. Hearing the thoughts and emotions that swirl around in Bond's head was a very different experience from the movie adaptations. I was also impressed by the size of the book. Fleming's writing is extremely compact and to the point and I did enjoy that a lot. It made for a fast, exciting, and enjoyable read. I look forward to the rest of the books. ( )