Diamonds Are Forever (James Bond Novels) (original 1956; edition 2002)

There are a couple patterns that Ian Fleming has followed in each of these books I have read so far. Bond gets caught. Bond escapes. Bond falls in love. Bond again repeats his unbelief of marriage, which seems antithetical to the British values he wants to uphold. Perhaps we like him because we know he is good, but he envisions himself to be quite evil. A tormented hero. Maybe. But surely it's the way that Bond acts in the face of adversity that makes the series so good. Bond is ever civilized, ever a gentleman, ever cool, but he can be quite calculative, quite without ethics if he needs to be.

The climaxes in each of these books aren't too gripping, but these books, so far, are enjoyable and full of cultured English hard-boiled writing and dialogue, if there is such a thing. Enough good in these books to keep reading on, that's for sure. ( )

my edition Pan X235, 1963 ( )

Diamonds Are Forever, first published in 1956, was the fourth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. James Bond is a British Secret Service agent in the MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6) agency that deals with foreign intelligence. In this novel James Bond (007) goes undercover to investigate a diamond-smuggling operation moving uncut diamonds from Sierra Leone to the United States. It turns out that the smuggling is headed by two mobsters, the Spang brothers. Bond infiltrates the smuggling ring and a beautiful woman (Tiffany Case) is his first contact on the job. Eventually Bond meets the mob bosses, learns about their fixed horse racing game in Saratoga, and then their completely corrupt gambling environment in Las Vegas. He also uncovers the details of their diamond smuggling activities. Of course, he blows his cover and violence and death ensue. Even so, Bond manages to enjoy his relationship with Tiffany. This book has the usual high-living, high-glamour, high-crime milieus that are part of the 007 genre. It also has the requisite violence and heroic actions by Bond that is expected by Fleming’s fans. I enjoyed this novel very much, even though I had previously read four other James Bond novels by Fleming and I have seen most of the movies. I saw the Diamonds Are Forever movie a very long time ago and I must confess that I don’t remember much about it. Anyway, I highly recommend that reading these books is worthwhile even if you have seen the movies. If you really want to know James Bond, you should consult his creator by reading the Ian Fleming books. However don’t expect that these books can match the explosive special effects that recent 007 movies provide. ( )

Diamonds are Forever - Ian Fleming ****

Bond's fourth outing under the pen of Ian Fleming has found him investigating a diamond smuggling pipeline. In order to find the source Bond must pose as a gang employee, working undercover where he must fool everyone, even the beautiful Tiffany Case. Although the bad guys are not as memorable as say Goldfinger, or Hugo Drax we meet the brilliantly named Shady Tree and the duo Kidd & Wint.

There is a fairly distinct lack of action in the first half of the book, and once again there is not a lot of a resemblance to the film. When the action does come though it is thick and fast. We see a much more tender side to Bond than film goers would be used to. This is not a womanising secret agent but rather a man who will allow the right woman close to him. A welcome return comes in the form of the previously 'at deaths door' Felix Leiter.

All in all a good novel with a relatively sound plot. It has left me wanting more Bond, although I can't help wishing that a few gadgets would make an appearance in the books as well as the films. ( )

Below average Bond. Action is surprisingly low in this one. Bond takes on the Spangled Mob who M thinks may be more dangerous than the Russians. M would be wrong on that count, There may be mobsters tougher than SMERSH but it ain't the Spangs. Bond follows a smuggling operation to a colorless Vegas where the bad guys dress as cowbys and beat him up.
The action peters out about 3/4 of the way through the book. ( )