Friday, December 19, 2014

Goldfinger by Ian Fleming

Title:  Goldfinger
Series:  James Bond Original Series #7
Author:  Ian Fleming
Published:  October 10/06 by Blackstone Audio Inc (1st published 1959)
Length:  264pgs
Format:   audio book
Genre:  suspense
Shelf:  borrowed
Rating: ★★★★★

Back Cover Blurb:

James Bond is challenged by a maniacal superfiend: the world's cleverest, cruelest criminal.

Complications abound. A beautiful golden girl turns up dead, and a friendly game of two-handed canasta turns into a deadly game of survival with ever-rising stakes: 15 billion dollars worth of U.S. government bullion. But 007 knows that Auric Goldfinger's rules remain brutally simple: heads I win, tails you die.

Shaken? Stirred? Check out 007's other assignments.

My Review:

I appreciated that this is a story from a time when being a secret agent wasn’t all about blowing things up. Because of this the novel was much more interesting and thought provoking. Fleming does not heedlessly race from scene to scene demolishing everything in his wake, but rather develops his scenes meticulously, both in the foreground and in the background. By giving us the hows and whys of everything Fleming drew me deeper and deeper into this world.

Fleming’s meticulous development is seen in his characters as well. We go into the story with the assumption that we’ve met Bond before (and in this day in age, who hasn’t, even if just from the movies). That said, Fleming ensures that we get to know him quite well in this novel. His mannerisms are so unique and well done that you could pick him out of a crowd anywhere just from a description. I also appreciated the way that the rest of the cast was presented and developed. Everything was done gradually, allowing readers the time to get acquainted with the individuals.

I will admit, this is my first foray into the world of 007 (in literary form anyways). It most definitely will not be my last. This is a series that should be read in order, but I thoroughly enjoyed this as a standalone none the less.

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