I liked this book for the extra dimension it adds to Hornblower’s already interesting life. Now he’s the captain of a ship, if not an actual Captain, with a couple of dangerous missions to do, and he excels in them all, but at the same time he’s got a home life to deal with now as well. Getting married right at the start of the book, even though he’s not sure it’s the right thing to do, Hornblower then has to deal with knowing there’s someone worrying about it at home. I liked the extra tension this brought to the open seas, and I’m keen to see what comes next for our Horry.

What a weird entry in the Bond back catalogue? It’s like those Sherlock stories where the eponymous hero doesn’t come in until right at the last minute and there’s all this bizarre backstory that you have to fight to care about beforehand. This is similar, in that we hear all about Vivienne’s life history and it’s not until the last minute that Bond appears. Also, it’s not like a big conspiracy that the agent needs to resolve, it’s just a situation that he stumbles across and barely makes it out of alive. It’s just odd from start to finish!