REVIEW: On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Author: Ian Fleming

Because I recently listened to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Ian Fleming's only children's book) on audio, I decided to listen to some classic Fleming while I was at it. James Bond. I love love love this series! Years ago (how many I shall not admit to) I actually got in trouble for having this paperback at school. James Bond and the Secret Service was considered inappropriate reading material to have at school. Other classmates were carrying around Stephen King and other authors whose books included more sex and bad language than anything included in the James Bond books, but his bed hopping behavior from the movies made the principal assume that the books were filled with nudity and sexual escapades. The stories are actually action-packed, fascinating tales of espionage, larger-than-life criminals, and nefarious, evil plans that need to be averted. Wonderful books! I read the books at home after that incident and never again took Britain's 007 agent to school with me. As part of my goal to spend more time this year reading books I love and want to read .... I'm revisiting James Bond.

I chose this particular Bond novel to read (#11 in the series) because it is my favorite Bond movie and because it was the book I was restricted from reading at school. Plus, the audiobook is narrated by David Tennant. Every audiobook I have listened to with Tennant as narrator has been excellent -- and this one is no exception. Tennant's performance is excellent! He reads at a nice even speed with proper emotion and excitement during action sequences. I have hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand Tennant's narration. The audiobook (from Blackstone Publishing) is just over 8 hours long.

The basics: Bond is up against Blofeld, a criminal mastermind who is planning to decimate Britain financially by contaminating and destroying the nation's food supply. Bond infiltrates his compound in Switzerland, learns that Blofeld will be using brainwashed young women to do his dirty work. He escapes narrowly and gathers a small group of mafioso to help him rout out Blofeld and stop his evil plan. Great action sequences.....drop dead gorgeous women.....bigger-than-life criminals. This book has it all. This is the book where Bond gets married.....he wishes to share his life with Teresa di Vicenzo (called Tracey). But, alas, his happy ever after is not to be.

Great book. I enjoyed it just as much as I did years ago when I first read it. Some fault these books for sexism. I don't feel that way. James Bond is an international spy and a man's man. He kills people who deserve killing. And he spends time with beautiful women in beautiful places. He uses people as becomes necessary to do his job. And sometimes this involves using sex to get information he needs, or just for enjoyment. If that offends, then perhaps spy novels are not a good choice of genre. Obviously it does not offend too many people as Bond movies have been popular since the 1960s, and the movies add in much more bed hopping and scantily clad Bond Girls than exist in the actual books.

I enjoyed re-visiting this book so much that I'm adding the rest of this series to my TBR plans for this year. The series has been continued by other authors following Ian Fleming's death. I'm interested in finding out if the new books are just as good as Fleming's. Can't wait to find out!