I found this surprising. The best thing about this book is the female romantic interest. She’s quite different from what we expect from the Bond universe. Her indifference to Bond was refreshing and nothing about her was quite what we imagine of the average Bond ‘girl’. I thought no one could make a game of cards sound interesting, but Fleming conveys the tension of the players. Negatives are few and in part a sign of past times and writing styles. This exemplifies why a writer shouldn’t solely focus on one human movement, such as the shrugging of shoulders (and what other movements could shrug?), and sprinkle it throughout a book. And the focus on what people wear grew tiring. But these points are minor. Overall, this highlighted the contrast between the films vs reading the books. Of course, Bill Nighy expertly reads the audio, as one would expect. ( )

Cold War spy thriller in which 007 faces off with Richard Branson er, Elon Musk, no… Hugo Drax! A rocket ship with a weapons payload is scheduled to launch from the cliffs of Dover even as Bond races against the countdown to thwart a German-Soviet plan of attack. Bill Nighy sounds a bit older than I like but I also might be projecting because we know what he looks like. Nonetheless, his interpretive skills of the text are very good. ( )

Again, I was underwhelmed. It was pretty good but not what I was expecting still. Still waiting for the series to get better, but I think I’m gunna take a break from it for now. ( )

I miss the army in spacesuits visual and the zero gravity sex scene in my favorite worst bond movie ever, but all in all one of the better books. ( )

Bond plays bridge with Drax. And Bond doesn't get the girl in the end. ( )