Right up there with Fleming's peak efforts (From Russia With Love and Doctor No). Well written, engaging, exciting. ( )

Good Bond. The action portions were pretty typical and a little lengthy, and I found myself skimming them. I was disappointed to have guessed what happens at the end--though that's not Fleming's fault. Or, is it?

If you're a Bond book fan, this won't let you down. ( )

A lot of people who regularly read Fleming have this book down as their favourite in the series (some crazy people even put the film down there too!), it's certainly a stand out book, a crossroads in Bond's life where he contemplates quitting the service and reveals to the reader his heart and feelings. As the book opens we see Bond rescue the heroine of OHMSS, Tracy, not once but twice, we find out that he has been visiting the grave of Vesper, the girl he nearly left the service for in the first book, every year since her death and Fleming gives Bond another chance of happiness as he contemplates a life with Tracy outside of his seemingly suicidal lifestyle and job.
Of course, as happened in the first book of the series when Fleming introduced Bond to the world, it will never be that simple for him and we see here the development of the almost autonotom killer he later becomes towards the end of the series climaxing in his almost robotic state at the beginning of The Man With The Golden Gun.
Personally I prefer the earlier books, the descriptions of the foods and drinks, the atmosphere, Bonds 60th cigarette of the day and Bond's lifestyles, his thoughts on clothing and opinions of different countries but in OHMSS I think we have perhaps the best Bond story with a devilish villian, Blofeld returning from Thunderball, a plan - as always - to take over the world's economy and an exhilirating ski-chase scene down a mountain so fast you can feel the wind whipping past your hair. This could easily have been Bond's last adventure and the start of his retirement but as alwasy Fleming drags him back at the end with a climax guaranteed to tug at the heart strings and show Bond in a - briefly - new light. ( )

Ian Fleming is simply too English prissy for me, I think. The stories translate well into movie scripts, however. ( )

By far, my favorite James Bond book. And my favorite thing is way Fleming builds the sense that things just can't end well for James and Tracy. The ending is bitter and just the right note of tragedy. ( )