Summary-James Bond is in London, and is trying to verify who he is. Everyone still thinks he's dead after his last mission. Once Bond gets to M, he tries to kill him. M is prepared, and Bond fails. Bond is taken to a doctor, who discovers that he has been brainwashed by the KGB. (At the end of You Only Live Twice, Bond is going to Russia to try and remember who he is.) Bond is cured, and M has a plan. He will send Bond after Scaramanga, the best professional killer in the world. If Bond dies, it will be a hero's death. If Bond succeeds, he will have gained back everyone's trust. Bond tracks Scaramanga to Jamaica, and has a chance encounter with him in a whorehouse. (Bond is just following up a lead. Scaramanga is actually patronizing the establishment.) Bond gets hired by Scaramanga as security while Scaramanga entertains some guests at a hotel. Bond goes to the hotel, and learns that all of the guests are members of organized crime. They are discussing drug smuggling, illegal casinos, and various other money making activities. Also, one of the men is a KGB man sent to kill Bond to make sure he doesn't tell any of their secrets he learned while in Russia. Bond runs into Felix Leiter, who is posing as the hotel manager. He followed the trail there from another angle. Together, he and Bond manage to kill all of the members of the gang, including Scaramanga. My Grade- B This novel is considered by many to be the true swan song of Ian Fleming's James Bond. Octopussy, a collection of Bond short stories was later published after Fleming's death, but this is the last novel. The novel is good, with the first few chapters leading up to Bond's attempted murder of M, being very, very good. The main plot isn't on as grand a scale as many of Fleming's other novels, since the only thing really at stake is Bond's own life. The world doesn't hang in the balance. However, there is plenty of action, and the return of Felix Leiter. The ending is also simple, merely implying that James Bond will continue to fight the good fight for as long as he can. He just craves adventure. As Fleming says in the last line of this novel, "For James Bond, the same view would always pall." Best Moment- The best moment of this novel is a very simple one; no explosions, no death. James Bond is offered knighthood by the queen, and he humbly refuses it. James Bond doesn't need and extra initial on his name. He does his job because he loves it, and is damn good at it. He doesn't want any medals.
