Bond Reviews

I've read all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels and must say I look forward to every one with bated breath. While we're not talking about the "Great American Novel" here each and every one is an enjoyable read. Any woman can imagine herself bumbling through Stephanie's predicaments which must be the key to having a best-selling novel. If I found myself a bounty hunter I could easily imagine myself being afraid of my gun and keeping it in the cookie jar! I thought the introduction of the Ranger romantic complication was great. Joe Morelli needs some competition! Like the other readers who reviewed this book I can't wait for #6 to see who was waiting at the door in the end (although I wouldn't kick either one of them out!). My only caveat with the book was I thought the wrap-up of the crime story was a little too quick. One scene with the bad guy and all the loose ends are tied up. It was a bit of an anti-climax. But don't let that discourage you from reading High Five and hurry up Janet! We're waiting for #6!

"High Five" by Janet Evanovich gets a High Five Stars from me! This fifth instalment in the uproariously funny Stephanie Plum series may just be the best yet. A well-written and suspenseful mystery is blended perfectly with Stephanie's hilarious misadventures to create an all-around wonderful read.

"High Five" begins with Stephanie, Trenton's "bombshell bounty hunter", in the midst of a financial depression. She is not making nearly enough money picking up FTA's to make rent and she needs to find a solution fast. It's not a whole lot of use to Stephanie when her family enlists her help to find her missing Uncle Fred the cheapskate, because there's no bond money involved when and if she does find him. But family duties cannot be ignored, so Stephanie sets to work trying to find out what happened to Uncle Fred, and why he disappeared on his way to the garbage company to settle a dispute over $2. Right at the start her investigation, Stephanie comes across some disturbing photos of body parts in garbage bags found in Uncle Fred's desk, which makes it clear that Fred had become involved in something very nasty.

But searching for Uncle Fred won't pay Stephanie's rent and when she turns to her mentor and fellow bounty hunter Ranger for help, he hires her as part of Rangeman Enterprises. This leads Stephanie to a string of disastrous and dangerous jobs of dubious legal validity that will have readers laughing out loud. Add to that a very small FTA named Randy Briggs who wants nothing to do with being brought back into the system and you have the recipe for a hilarious read.

But "High Five" has a dark edge to it as well. Benito Ramirez, the sociopathic boxer with a penchant for mutilating women who stalked Stephanie in "One for the Money", is out of jail and back to harassing poor Stephanie, who is justifiably terrified. On top of that, a series of mysterious murders all related to Uncle Fred's garbage company and a bomb planted on Stephanie's car, lead Stephanie to the conclusion that she is in the middle of something very serious, and that someone besides Ramirez wants her dead. Evanovich skilfully builds the suspense, and readers will be swept along with the intriguing mystery to a satisfying conclusion.

All the characters we have grown to know and love throughout the series are back and better than ever in "High Five". Gun-toting Grandma Mazur and 200+ lb ex-hooker Lula are guaranteed to keep readers laughing, while the sexual tension between Stephanie and the two men in her life, sexy vice cop Joe Morelli and enigmatic bounty hunter Ranger, is sure to tantalize and fascinate readers.

You just cannot miss with "High Five". Evanovich has crafted an enticing and exciting tale that will keep readers captivated and will leave them begging for more. It is downright impossible to dislike the intrepid Stephanie Plum, whose unique, sassy, and witty point of view makes this series so great. "High Five" comes very highly recommended.

The Stephanie Plum novels just seem to get better and better. Steph's at it again; also along for the ride are the mainstays--Lula, Grandma Mazur, and the rest of the looney bunch. Throw in a psycho from an earlier novel, heat between Steph and Morelli...and just when you think things can't get any better, there are sparks between Stephanie and her sexy bounty hunter mentor, Ranger.

There are certain things that you can count on in a Plum novel--lunacy, lust, plenty of comedic action, and what would a Plum novel be without a least one car fire?

Sit back an enjoy....it doesn't get much better than this!!!

If you give a pig a pancake...

These are the opening words of a delightful picture book about a young girl who gives a pancake to a cute little pig. If you give a pig a pancake, the inevitable will happen, as this book illustrates.

Wonderful drawings with excellent detail and a truly adorable pig. A good book for showing how one event leads to another as well as a funny tale to amuse your children.

What fun reading! I have recommended these books to other teachers and they've been using them in the classroom all year long. The children love them. This is a great addition to any library for young children. If you read it you will love it as well.

If You Give a Pig a Pancake is a very cute book. The plot of the book I would have to ay is probably that whenever you give anything to someone, they will never be satisfied with just that, they will want something more. The age level for this book is any age. I would defiantly recommend this book if you have younger siblings or children. Everyone can enjoy this book.

I'm late in joining Stephanie Plum fan club league ... but I'm doing the catch up it in full speed. This is the third book of Stephanie Plum series I read this weekend and boy, my heart still do a bop-bop-baby-sound. I'm totally in love with Stephanie, the crazy bounty hunter from hell. And the whole lunatic gang is also present; Ranger, Grandma Mazur, Lula, and of course yummy Joe Morelli (I'm in serious case of crush for that guy!). Another character is been introduced here also, Sweet Sally, a drag queen who helped Stephanie in her latest case, trying to find out a girlfriend seek for revenge.

It's a whole catastrophe fiasco in this fourth book with Steph and Joe finally get together (that's me, shouting Yes!) and people think they're getting married with Steph being preggers. I LOVED this book! I still have book number 5 in my shelf, and I already ordered book number 6. I can't wait to read them all!!

This fourth book in the series is one of nonstop falling off your chair laughter. Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter is after Maxine Nowicki, who is free on a stolen automobile charge. Her boyfriend, Eddie Kuntz, also offers Stephanie money in hopes that she can retrieve something extremely valuable to him...love letters, he claims.

The chase is on in this page-turning craze, and all of the extra added details that makes this adventure that much more funny! The cast of characters is helpful to Stephanie once again. Stephanie's family, especially Grandma Mazur, add pizzazz, depth, and a heck of a lot of humor to this great plot.
Joe Morelli is also back and yes him and Stephanie finally get together!
Lula, the large prostitute-turned-file clerk-slash-wannabe is hysterical in this book. Her quick wit and street humor keep you rolling.
This fourth book also introduces Sally Sweet, a code-breaking transvestite 'drag queen" musician. Grandma Mazur comes right out and asks Sally what a drag queen does with his ding-dong and I died laughing. Stephanie's enemy, Joyce Barnhardt, also has a larger roll in this book, as the newest bounty hunter at the Vincent Plum bail bonds agency.

This book is truly hysterical, pages keep turning with the fast paced humor and wit. This is the best book yet in the series and I thought three was good. This series is highly recommended!

Four to Score once again takes us on a bounty hunting adventure with Stephanie Plum and company. This time Stephanie's FTA (failure to appear) is Maxine Nowicki. Maxine is charged with stealing her ex-boyfriend's car. The ex-boyfriend, Eddie Kuntz, also hires Stephanie to find some love letters he wrote Maxine that he wants back. Let the treasure hunt begin as Stephanie and her crew of wacky bounty hunter wannabes try to track down Maxine and the love letters!

This book was excellent. By far the best of the Stephanie Plum novels I've read so far. This book is non-stop action from beginning to end. There are the old, lovable characters Lula, Grandma Mazur, and Joe Morelli. Also in this book we meet Sally Sweet-a cross dressing drag queen who decodes the clues Maxine leaves for Eddie. Sally is a riot and adds color to the pages. Also trying to track down Maxine is Joyce Barnhardt, the woman who Stephanie found on her dining room table with her then husband Dickie Orr. The competition between Stephanie and Joyce was a great addition to the story.

The plot of this book was excellent. It was written well and kept up a fast pace. There were no boring parts in this book. The author did an excellent job keeping the reader turning the pages. There's plenty of action and fun scenes mixed together. This made the book fun to read and also effortless to read.

I just could not put this book down. I had to find out what was going to happen next. Just when you think everything that could possibly happen to Stephanie has happened you are surprised by the next event. This keeps the book entertaining to read. This is a must-read Stephanie Plum book!

Having read and enjoyed three other novels by Bond, I have been working my way through his previous works. With Vortex, I was not disappointed. Vortex was a very strong effort, albeit not quite as good as Bond's Red Phoenix which was truly outstanding. Bond presents another high-tech military thriller -- in this case set in South Africa. The storyline is entirely plausible, with a key event putting the country in turmoil and setting the stage for all of the fast and furious action that is to follow. As in Bond's other works, character development is solid, diverse and believable. The reader truly understands not only the emotional turmoil of battle, but also the underlying political issues of South Africa and the surrounding region. If you like Bond or the military thriller in general, Vortex will be a worthwhile read.

I think that Larry Bond is among the best military style thriller writers in the world-better than Tom Clancy, etc. I think that this one is better than the only other one I've read, Red Phoenix in that he's been able to make it longer and so the story is masterfully drawn out and is very holding to the reader. A definite good read!

From Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising collaborator and best selling novelist in his own right, in his first novel Red Phoenix, we are treated to Larry Bond's second masterpiece in military/political thriller fiction in Vortex. Larry Bond once again proves his research capability in his studies of all of the cultures of South Africa and their strengths and differences. He has once again, melded his research, his fluent and poignant writing style into a classical work of fiction. In Vortex, he has essentially taken almost every conceivable aspect of a world crisis situation and crafted it into this masterpiece.

Where Tom Clancy draws all of the accolades and acclaim, Larry Bond continually produces superb military/political thrillers that are of the same caliber and in the case of Vortex, much larger in scope and overall detail.

If you're a Tom Clancy, Harold Coyle, Dale Brown, Stephen Coonts, or one of the many other fine military/political thriller author's fans, you would do well to pick up on Larry Bond and his superior work.

The premise:

Taking into consideration that this novel was written in the late 80's and early 90's, Larry Bond absorbed the headline news of the time to craft a conceivable real world situation where the boiling point of South Africa could've turned into the very Vortex, of the title, and brought the entire worlds attention to its internal struggles. There could've been no more apropos title for this novel than "Vortex." Vortex as defined in the Webster's dictionary (A situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it.)

Essentially, Vortex is the story of one man's twisted desires to bring total apartheid to its maximum fruition in Karl Vorster. Through chance and his own machinations, he effectively seizes control of the South African government and begins to bring to realization his perverted dreams of total apartheid and the destruction of his opponents or anyone else who gets in his way. Given South Africa's mineral wealth and that strategic importance to both Western and Eastern powers, this quickly draws their collective attentions.

What follows is a tour de force of flurried action, suspense and outstanding military fiction, which brings many players to the table to include; the United States, Britain, Israel, Russia, Cuba and Libya. Hence the title of "Vortex." Where these many players are all drawn to South Africa and its mineral wealth. {ssintrepid}

Okay - I have never read this book. I have never seen the 1939 production. I know both are classics, but this movie in itself is just GOOD. I received this videotape a few years ago as a birthday present, complete with its free promotional locket, so I could be a princess, too! And although I initially would have preferred a copy of "The Secret Garden", I gave this movie a first critical viewing, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching.

Sara Crewe is wonderfully portrayed by Liesel Matthews. She seems natural for the part, and at home as an actress. It was not obvious that this was an introductory role for her. I found myself nearly totally immersed in Sara's life, through her hardships, times of despair and times of joy and hope. She is a little girl I would have loved to know and befriend. This movie is captivating for everyone, but specifically young female audiences. I definitely recommend it.

"I am a Princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they live in rags. Even if they aren't pretty, or young, or smart, they're still princesses. All of us! Didn't your father ever tell you that? Didn't he?"
Well no. My Dad didn't call me a princess, and never will. But after seeing this movie, I was really beginning to wish I was. "A Little Princess" is quite simply amazing. It is the most magical family movie there is. I just can't recommend it high enough. I saw this at the movie theater, 7 times and it is quite easily my favorite film of all time.
Set in 1914, "A Little Princess" tells the story of a girl called Sara who goes to a strict boarding school while her father from England goes to fight the War. The school is run by a mean spirited head teacher called Miss Minchin. From the start, Miss Minchin is jealous of Sara who considers herself to be a princess. After all, her Papa has told her that she will always be his little princess. Despite the harshness of Miss Minchin, Sara continues to fill those around her with magic as she tells stories to them of a beautiful princess and her prince.
The emotion begins early in this movie, firstly being when Sara and her Papa say goodbye as he goes into war. Midway through the movie Sara hears that her Papa has been killed in battle. I have to say, when I watched this I was gone. Ok I wasn't gone yet, but I was holding the tears in. Actress Liesel Matthews who plays Sara is so genuine, and director Alfonso Cuaron definitely brings out the best in her. It is at the end which is complimented by the music of Patrick Doyle, that I really did feel a few tears going by my face. It happened just after Sara realized she may truly have lost her father forever.

When I first saw this movie I fell in love with it. Sara's is not like most girls, she is kind and loving to everyone even the sevent girl, Becky. Even thou Mrs. Minchen says they are not to talk to her sara dose not care she is kind to her.
After her father is thought to be dead sara is forst to be a sevent girl, and becomes really close to Becky.
It is my favorite movie because Sara never loseshope and it is true All girls are Princess

This is a fun book to the max! The Dorling Kindersely art work...layout, graphics, and eye-popping POP-OUT photos...is superb (compares admirably with, among others, DK's fine computer software projects). Fans of 007 will admit that Bond, the gadgetry, and his 40-year pantheon/array of vicious villains and delicious vixens never (Say Never?)looked better. The book opens with a quick, wry prologue from "M" (the Judi Dench incarnation). A visually arresting DOSSIER highlighting Bond's inimitable style, women, weapons, allies...especially Q, Wizard of MI-6...and arch enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld follows. Then the OHMSS missions...from Dr. No to The World is Not Enough...are given a classy "declassification". The book concludes with a review of THE BOND film canon (The Harry Saltzman-Albert Broccoli/Eon "For Your Eyes Only" productions) and a look at the 5 actors who have...thus far...essayed the role of the now mythical 007. "JAMES BOND: The Secret World of 007" is an Aston Martin DB5 ride into "danger" and fun with Ian Fleming's icon of matchless adventure, spectacle and super-heroism. The only real DANGER...this opus is your classic "coffee table" center piece... is that a bit of un-Bonded clumsiness on the part of a reader might "bloody-up" the book with a bit of tea, soda or Dom Perignon because this is one Coffee Table book that people will read and thoroughly enjoy.

This is one of the best oversized books or just flat out any book on James Bond I have ever seen. This is a color extravaganza on the world of 007. This is a well thought out and well-researched book. Nobody just sat down at a typewriter and simply wrote this book. It is constructed and written something akin from the perspective of a motion picture production designer. Every aspect of this book is consistent to the overall image that the name James Bond conjures up. What is really unique about this book is how official photographs and pictures were combined with images specifically designed and drawn for this publication. What especially impressed me upon first thumbing through the pages of this book was how the sets from each Bond film were reconstructed in 3 dimensional diagrams by artists showing how the action and the characters moved about on the screen thanks to cinematography, special effects and editing. This alone is an invaluable analysis of the look of these films and the illusion they produce to create the world of James Bond. Dorling Kindersley once again has published an impressive book with their distinct look and flair for quality. As a James Bond fan this book is above and beyond anything I had ever expected.

Most of the negative reviews seem to focus on what the book isn't. I think they misunderstand the book's intent. Its a children's picture book aimed at Bond's younger fans and Bond fans like myself who enjoy ALL aspects of Bond. The novels, the movies, the reviews, the tell-all books, the picture books, and everything else. The focus on the younger fans explains the book's preoccupation with the more recent Brosnan Bond flicks. This isn't some gossipy adults only behind-the-scenes-tell-all about the Connery and Moore Bond movies. It doesn't make any effort to explain the plots, appreciate the actors or discuss the genesis or evolution of the series. There are plenty of serious adult books, essays and reviews that satisfy those needs. In this case, emphasis is placed on describing the action, cars, settings and gadgets and including as many babe pictures as possible. In other words, its eye candy. Refreshingly few mistakes (Bernard Lee did NOT play M in For Your Eyes Only, as the book lists...Lee passed away after Moonraker was released and, out of respect for Lee, the character M was not included in FYEO). The highlights of the book, in my opinion, are the several full color drawings that detail specific gadgets and action scenes. These drawings are classic DK cross sections and point by point descriptions that show the interior layout of Bond villian lairs, vehicles and action sequences. A comfortable, if unchallenging, retrospective for veteran fans and a fun introduction for future fans.

Fleming's third Bond novel is quite a good one. The pace is slower than the previous one, "Live and Let Die", but anyway faster than "Casino Royale" (and, like the latter, includes one excellent card-game scenario). It's amazing how the author takes us from 007 at his most domestic to the (then) most sci-fi adventure. The villain, Drax, may look as someone took from a nightmare but Fleming describes him in such detail -dialogue, appearence, mood, idiosincracies and the story of his life- that the character becomes completely "real" (even upsetting the reader as much as he upsets Bond in the book). Drax's speech (heard on the radio by 007) when Moonraker is about to get fired is simply the best monologue Fleming ever conceived or wrote. Superb, funny yet amazingly dangerous! And Gala Brand, the heroine, just not falls into Bond's arms like so many, leaving the secret agent reflecting alone about their different lives and showing us his vulnerability instead of the wrongly-assumed 007's eternal success with women. It's a pity the film version spoiled this title (actually, the title is the only resemblance to the novel), taking Bond to three countries and outer space while this excellent down-to-earth adventure story goes no farther than London and Dover. The rocket ready to blow Buckingham Palace is a more atractive and original idea by far. Bond save the Queen, indeed!

It should go without saying, but I'll mention it anyway, the book has zero relation to the film other than title. That established, the third 007 novel is the first of the series where the stakes are truly high (nuclear annihilation), however it's unlike virtually any other Bond story in that it takes place entirely in England (basically London and Dover). Like the CIA (in theory anyway...), the British Secret Service is not allowed to operate in its homeland, and thus Bond is seconded to the Special Branch in order to get him in the mix. But before this happens, the story begins with Bond being asked to do M a favor and try and determine if a popular industrialist is cheating at London's most exclusive private cards club. (By the way, an inside joke in the latest Bond flick is that the fencing club where Bond and the villain fight is given the same name -The Blades Club-as the card club from this novel.)

The industrialist Drax's heroic story is told through Bond's admiring mouth. His unconscious, and later amnesiac, body was recovered from an explosion site in Germany during the war (WWII) and eventually was determined to be an MIA British private named Hugo Drax. Over the subsequent decade he became a self-made international metals broker, notably through columbite (yes, it is a real mineral). He has recently returned to England and spent lavishly on charities, but more notably, on privately financing and building an ICBM capable of delivering an atomic warhead anywhere in Europe. The intriguing mystery is why such a popular patriot would stoop to cheating at cards, recalling that at the time of the writing some fifty years ago, as M puts it: "It's about the only way a man can ruin himself!" Most readers will, at this early stage, have already smelt a huge rat, and picked up on the the obvious clue Fleming not-so-subtly weaves in, and will have figured out what's really happening. This is the books major weakness, since from there on, one is waiting for Bond to catch up, and thus the villain's final monologue, in which All Is Revealed, is more than a little anticlimactic.

In any event, Bond's appearance at the club and a nerve-racking high-stakes bridge game against the fabulously wealthy Hugo Drax starts the ball rolling. It's a nice bit of tension-building, however those (like myself) who are unfamiliar with the game of bridge will probably not get as much out of it. Still, it's a nice set-piece, and also serves to remind one how puny Bond's salary is as a glorified civil servant when the stakes rise to ten times his annual salary! From here the book proceeds rather slowly, as a suspicious murder-suicide allows Bond to join the Moonraker missile team as security officer. He and a voluptuous undercover cop work to try and figure out what's so fishy about the whole project.

Make no mistake, the book is entirely predictable, the bad guys are either stereotypically insane or stereotypically robotic machines with zero depth to them. And perhaps weakest of all, Bond and the female cop are left to escape when throughout the whole story the villain has been ruthlessly precise about eliminating troublemakers. At the the time they're captured, there's no reason whatsoever for him not to simply shoot them in the head and leave them dead in a field. Even so, it's a decent page-turner that, with its lurking ogres of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction via atomic missile) and lurking Nazism, offers an interesting window to the past.

I have to admit that I just couldn't put this book down. Every single page is intriguing and suspenseful, and contains an elaborate plot where ex-Nazi Sir Hugo Drax, head of the Moonraker nuclear missile project, is secretly planning to destroy London to gain revenge for his country's defeat in World War 2. Moonraker is rather like two books in one: the first part of the story centers on a card game at an exclusive gambling club, where 'M' has called Bond to investigate the suspicion of Drax cheating. In a brilliant sequence, Bond discovers Drax's ruse. This sets the stage for the second part, where 007 goes to Dover and finds out the terrifying secret about Drax and Moonraker.... Ian Fleming provides some intriguing touches looking into Bond's thoughts about his job, not to mention making Drax look like a grotesquely evil figure, and the Bond girl Gala Brand is impressive in that she plays a key part in discovering Drax's evil scheme, but she never really falls in love with Bond - rather an anomaly. In summary, Moonraker is a classic James Bond thriller from Mr. Fleming and is every bit as good as the film of the same name. (Interesting point: in the book Fleming compares Drax as a Lonsdale-type, in the film Drax is played by actor Michael Lonsdale. Coincidence?)

Because North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il may STILL believe he can pull off an invasion of South Korea in a way similar to what is described in "Red Phoenix". This is a very enjoyable and readable military techno-thriller written by Larry Bond who collaborated with Tom Clancy in writing "Red Storm Rising" in the mid 1980s. This book mixes remarkably accurate details of military activity and combat planning in Korea to create a very plausible plot in 1989 for the start and action in a Second Korean War. Some of the details are now dated by the introduction of 'smart' technology but, speaking as the US Air Force veteran of Desert Storm that I am, this is what it was like in military culture towards the end of the Cold War. Larry Bond uses his knowledge of the geography and politics of the Koreas to create very plausible events and characters that make this book a real pageturner. He tries to get you into the minds of the 'Cult of Kim' so you can understand why North Korea acts in the belligerant, Stalinist way it still does to this day.

Time, so far, may not have proven this book accurate, but it will help you to understand about why Kim Jong Il and North Korea are still threats to Asia and America to this day. I have been told that "Red Phoenix" is still 'required reading' for many American military personnel who get assigned to posts in and around South Korea. Give it a try if you enjoy military thrillers and like to be up on world events.

Larry Bond is good at the Modern Day Geopolitical Thriller. Because Mr. Bond gives the reader so much background information in this story line, Red Phoenix seems to start off a little slow. However, hang in there, the book picks up speed about 100 pages in and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the next 600 pages. North Korea takes advantage of civil unrest in South Korea with a rapid, well planned massive invasion. The Americans and the South Koreans are caught off guard and suffer heavy casulties early but manage to pull off some brillant tactics later on. Mr Bond, gives an unbelievable account of modern naval warfare that is every bit as exciting at air to air dog fighting. This is a must read book

This is one of the better Cold War escalating conflict scenarios I have read. Sure it's dated; like much of this genre it relies heavily on the technology from the time it was written (for that matter most of the techno-thriller genre is dated by the time it hits the stores). But the techno stuff is only the superficial element of the story. Much of the action takes place at a level that could be set in WWII or present day with a few tweaks of the equipment.

The story begins on the DMZ between North and South Korea with a little action, that can easily fail to hook you, but keep reading. There is quite a bit of setup for the story before the action begins, but once it begins, the momentum will drag you through the rest of the book in no time. As far as accuracy, there are certain parts I have to accept on trust, however, having spent all of 1983 in Seoul, traveled around the country a little, done some little time as a ground pounder, in tanks and with artillery as well as some time as a remf; those aspects are fairly realistic.

The story thread hops between approximately 5-6 main characters (pilots, generals, politicians, civilians, and frontline troops) and a few one shot characters in a pretty successful effort at building and maintaining tension. This is a keeper for me; I'll no doubt read it again in a few years.

For other books in the genre, check-out Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy or for something on a more tactical scale try Team Yankee by Harold Coyle. P-)

This is where it all began, a very simple, unadorned tale of a British spy sent to destroy a Communist agent at the baccarat table. The first 007 story presents a nasty, misogynist, misanthropic Bond-a government assassin who is highly ambivalent about the role he plays in the Cold War. There's even one remarkable scene in which Bond asks what makes his government right, and what makes it moral for him to kill Britain's enemies. Unfortunately, his cynical self-examination is brushed under the table by his new CIA pal, Felix Leiter, and that's the last we hear of that! We learn that in the war, Bond killed a Japanese spy in New York (although the circumstances described strain credulity and common sense), and knifed a Dutch double-agent, earning him the 00 "Licensed to Kill" designation. Here, he's asked to break the bank of a French Soviet agent who has been gambling with his Moscow-provided bankroll.

Bond is sent to the fashionable French casino of the title to pose as a playboy gambler, and with the aid of beautiful British assistant Vesper Lynn, a French agent, and the CIA's Felix Leiter, ruin Le Chiffre at baccarat. Once you get over the sort of obvious question (if Le Chiffre is that dangerous an agent, why not just kill him yourself instead of going through this dangerous gambit of trying to bankrupt him, thereby forcing SMERSH to kill him?), the buildup and eventual battle on the green baize is quite gripping. Fortunately, the rules and strategy of baccarat are explained (it's a very very simple game), so that the reader can follow along, blow by blow. There's loads of atmosphere and tension, but the structure is a bit awkward and there are some rather bad flaws. One of these is that there's absolutely no reason for Vesper to be in the book other than to serve as a plot device and sex interest. All she does is get in Bond's way and distract him, and it's hard to imagine why she would ever really be given the assignment to back up Bond. It's also rather strange to find the Le Chiffre affair concluding 3/4 of the way through the book, with the last quarter devoted to the Bond/Vesper romance. And I won't even get into the lame "saved by the bell" device that occurs at the climax. All in all, the book exhibits the excellent eye for detail and atmosphere that characterize most of the Bond books, but Fleming is clearly just learning pacing and structure at this stage.

A final point of clarification, the Frenchman "Le Chiffre" is not an agent of SMERSH, as many reviewers seem to think. The fictional SMERSH, with its motto "death to spies", is an internal Soviet agency dedicated to counterespionage and making sure Soviet agents don't stray. As is explained early, Le Chiffre is forced to gamble because he's afraid that SMERSH will kill him if they discover he's blown his party funds on a bad business deal.

This was a good book but it felt like the story finished very quickly like on page 130 and the death of the guy was quick. It is hard to explain about how short feeling it was. But the end was touching and sad. You can obviously tell Fleming hasn't got his rythem yet but in later books like Moonraker, the best, he got better and you were at the edge of your seat. But this was a great book and definatly recommended!

Bond...James Bond is the name. And the game is extreme Baccarat. Ian Fleming's 1953 novel - premier introduction of the post WWII, fantastical cold war intrigues of Her Majesty's Secret Service's Master Spy, Agent 007, Bond - is a riveting read.

I first read CASINO ROYALE, as well as a few others in the series, while in my early teens - back when I'd only read stories in order to immerse myself in the plot - to find out what happens next, essentially - not caring a jot about writing style, descriptive detail, or character development. Back then, I found it curious that the Bond of the books was so different from the Bond of the movies (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and MOONRAKER being the contemporary releases of that time.) I wondered, for instance, why the James Bond in the movies didn't have black hair and why, in the books, he wasn't funny at all...Indeed - well, so much for my pre-adolescent review.

Now, more than 20 years later, indulging on a whim, I'm reading the series again. And I must say I am thoroughly enjoying it - but not for the same reasons I had when I was young. I'm actually nearly through it in its entirety - and must say that, though they're all very good, CASINO ROYALE has a palpable raw depth rarely visible in the rest. I can now see and appreciate the fine quality of the writing, the extraordinary sculpturing of an ideal action hero, and the magical lure that has begotten the most well-known, long-standing film series of all time. And, yes, these books are great fun!

"M," head of the British Secret Service, hands Commander Bond what appears on the surface to be a posh assignment: thwarting an enemy Russian spy, Le Chiffre, in his attempt to win an exorbitant 50 million francs - KGB funds which he had lost through an ill-advised investment in a chain of brothels. Agent 007 lives an intensely hard lifestyle, and he's known to be the best gambler in the Service. He's therefore assigned to break Le Chiffre's bank at the baccarat tables of the Casino Royale, in the French Riviera.

SMERSH, the Russian Secret Service in charge of all diplomatic killings for the Fatherland, is right on to Le Chiffre. Though he's very desperate, Le Chiffre happens to be a first rate baccarat player. He plans on winning that 50 million francs at any cost, employing a couple of potent assassins enforced to help see it through.

Though James Bond must face Le Chiffre as a force of one at the baccarat table, he has his own team of assistants: Rene' Mathis of the French branch, American CIA agent Felix Leiter, and the beautiful Vesper Lynd of the S branch of British Intelligence. Vesper is officially the very first Bond girl - and she utterly mesmerizes our master spy: he sees her as an entity of wonder.

Truly, this story does not own any of the qualities that could easily be made into a movie. There's plenty of tension, plenty of action, and quite a lot of romance to boot. However the tension is mainly in the climatic card game, which, minus the author's excellent descriptive prose, would appear tedious on the screen; the action is definitely intense, but includes a harrowing torture scene which should not be witnessed by the squeamish; and, well, without the advantage of being able to follow the thoughts of our hero, a film version of this story might easily cause the romance to appear as carelessly thrown in.

Vesper's an intriguing Bond Girl, though. Her fateful role exacts a twisted surprise ending, which inevitably sets the tone and atmosphere of Bond's future relationships with women. This is perhaps the only book of the series wherein Bond takes a good, hard look at the moral portents of his own place in his profession - sort of a teasing glimpse into the window of his heart - but only that peek - as it seems thereafter shut fast and hard. Keen, sharp, dark and moody: James Bond remains ever the quintessential Man of Mystery.

To me a guide from a brand name source like The Wall Street Journal should always elucidate and never mislead. If this book were called a dictionary of money and investing, I would give it a five star rating. For it works well as a dictionary. In fact, it is better than a dictionary because the explanations are clearer, more detailed, and better illustrated.

In the sections on what money, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and economic indicators are, the book functions as that five star dictionary.

Within each section beginning with stocks, the "guide" also begins to guide you in subtle ways that can cause you harm. Let me cite a few examples. The guide seems to suggest that when the market is going up, a company's earnings are doing well, and interest rates are not rising that is a good time to buy a stock. The illustrated graph seems to show other times when it is good not to buy stocks. As such, it suggests the mentality of buying and selling stocks to catch cycles. Yet research has shown that few people can master that process, so those who try will tend to do less well than those who buy and hold.

Another example is in failing to discuss the role of management fees, expenses, portfolio turnover, and diversification on which mutual fund to pick. As John Bogle shows in Common Sense on Mutual Funds, these are very important factors to consider. Yet they are not defined or cited.

The book also teaches people a little about short selling, commodities, futures, and other exotic investments. The book fails to point out that these are well beyond the skill of the average investor, and that many people get hurt in these areas. Basically, this is like a book of definitions about poisonous snakes that fails to mention that the snakes are poisonous if they bite you.

Other obvious omissions included no mention of tracking stocks, ADRs in the stock section (you find the definition in International markets, where to me it fits less well), the differences in discount brokers, electronic trading choices, and how to find information about stocks on the Internet (the only source cited in the SEC).

The focus is overly on the U.S. with only a small section on international securities. The area of interest rate futures, where Europe dominates, is barely referred to in this book.

Some of the information is just plain out of date. NAIC is cited as being the National Association of Investment Clubs. I believe it dropped that name over 10 years ago although it still goes by NAIC. The guide refers to there being 37,000 investment clubs in the U.S. I think that number was exceeded many years ago.

Further, much of the information is basically about how to read economic statistics. Many people would argue technical analysis is at least as important as economic statistics, but nothing about technical analysis is included in the book.

If you want to learn about investing, you need to know investing principles more than you need to know these terms (such as the various aspects of a stock certificate's printing and engraving). You will find most of the relevant terms covered in basic investing books like Louis Engel's book, How to Buy Stocks. You would be far better off reading ChangeWave Investing, Common Sense on Mutual Funds, and Rich Dad, Poor Dad's Investment Guide than this book for getting a sense of what the basic investing issues are.

Overcome your misconception that anything with The Wall Street Journal's name on it is bound to be the best resource. Certainly, that isn't true in this case.

My suggestion is that The Wall Street Journal revise this book and either cut it back into being an expanded dictionary, or expand it into an investing guide worthy of its name.

I purchased this book six years ago so that I could start down the long road of learning how to invest my money. It is far and away the best beginning level investment book that I have ever seen! THE GOOD: 1) It starts from the beginning! It begins by explaining money, the Federal Reserve, and economic cycles. From there it moves on to stocks, bonds, mutual funds and futures & options. 2) It is simple! With its colored charts, simple paragraphs and real world examples even grade school kids can understand the concepts presented here. 3) It is concise! It gives you enough information so that you completely understand the concept, yet it does it in two pages! No more wading through economic textbooks looking for the meaning of "price/earning ratio." THE BAD: 1) It starts from the beginning. If you already know about money cycles, common and preferred stock or U.S. Treasury bonds then this book may bore you. 2) It is simple. Don't go looking for too much detail here. If you want detailed information about which mutual find to buy, look elsewhere. 3) It is concise. Once it covers the basics it ends. If you already know the basics, then you could be considered a graduate of this book. OVERALL: The title really says it all: it is a guide to understanding money and understanding investing. Once you understand the concepts you can move on to more detailed books.

This book is VERY BASIC, and many of the reviewers took points off for that. If you know almost nothing about how banks work, what inflation is, how to understand the details of the business section of the newspaper, etc. This book will teach you. If you want to know how to get rich by investing, this is not the book for you (nor does it claim to be.)

For that, I recommend reading Robert Kiyosaki's entire library.