Book info

• Title Moonraker
• Author Ian Fleming
• Year 1955
• Genre Thriller

Meet James Bond, the world's most famous spy.As the super patriot and war veteran who's bankrolling Britain's top secret Moonraker rocket program, Sir Hugo Drax should be above reproach. But there's more to this enigmatic millionaire than he lets on. When M suspects Drax of cheating at cards in an exclusive gentleman's club, he sends Bond in to investigate. But exposing the deception only enrages Drax - and now 007 must outwit an angry man with the power to loose a nuclear warhead on London.The mysterious death of the head of security at Drax's missile base gives Bond the perfect opportunity to go undercover to find out the secret agenda of the supposed British war hero. With the help of another agent, the lustrous Gala Brand, 007 learns the truth about Drax's battle scars, his wartime allegiances - and his murderous plans for the deployment of Moonraker.

Thoughts

I listened to the audiobook of this, and really enjoyed it, although it’s definitely a book of two halves. The first half, with Bond being bored at his desk talking through the minutiae of the reports he has to read, and then heading into a card game to try and catch a cheater… well, that bit wasn’t exactly riveting. I’m rubbish at following card games anyway, let alone ones that I don’t really know the rules for. Still, it’s written and read very well so that you can at least feel the tension even if you don’t quite know what it’s for.

The second half was a lot more interesting, particularly as Bond infiltrates the situation quite openly. He’s hired to be there and find out what’s wrong, it’s just that what is wrong goes deeper than even he thought. I was glad the book differed from the film, as that space sequence wasn’t exactly the highlight of Bond’s on-screen existence. The book was a lot tamer, but the stakes were just as high. And it all played well against the very slow and almost tender building of a potential relationship with Gala Brand, who’s a fab and clever accomplice to have.

Rating: 4 / 5