The Spy Who Loved Me

by Ian Fleming

‘He was about six feet tall, slim and fit. The eyes in the lean, slightly tanned face were a very clear grey-blue and as they observed the men they were cold and watchful. His good looks had a dangerous, almost cruel quality that had frightened me. But now I knew he could smile, I thought his face exciting, in a way no face had ever excited me before …’

Vivienne Michel is in trouble. Trying to escape her tangled past, she has run away to the American backwoods, winding up at the Dreamy Pines Motor Court. A far cry from the privileged world she was born to, the motel is also the destination of two hardened killers—the perverse Sol Horror and the deadly Sluggsy Morant. When a coolly charismatic Englishman turns up, Viv, in terrible danger, is not just hopeful, but fascinated. Because he is James Bond, 007; the man she hopes will save her, the spy she hopes will love her …

My take

We came back from vacation and I was ill so that seemed like a great time to binge watch all the James Bond movies, which were conveniently on Amazon Prime. (Except Spectre, which we had to rent?) And since we watched all of those it seemed like a good time to read this James Bond book that I picked up on sale. Nothing at all like the movie of the same name! It was enjoyable enough but I’m not going to rush out and get any more. Side note: A James Bond novel (I can’t recall which one) was assigned reading for one of my undergraduate English lit courses. That was different!