From Russia with Love (James Bond Series #5)

A Great Cold War Thriller

By far the most intelligent and realistic of the Bond books. Fleming's description of the MGB (later KGB) headquarters in Moscow's Dzherzinsky Square, where the plot to lure British agent James Bond to his death is first revealed, is reputedly based on information to which he was privy in his capacity as a WWII officer in British Naval Intelligence -- likewise the recruitment and training of the psychopathic killer Red Grant, one of the most formidable of Bond's enemies (and the only one in the films who looked for a while about to kill Bond for sure! 007 meets his match in Grant!) This is the book behind what in my opinion is the best of the Bond movies, steeped in the atmosphere of the Cold War into which the Bond series was born. 007 travels to Istanbul in pursuit of the bait, a Lektor decoder which can read top secret Soviet military and intelligence signal traffic. Another form of bait is the beautiful Tatiana Romanova, an MGB cipher clerk allegedly in love with Bond, willing to defect with the Lektor if only 007 will come and fetch her. (Fleming takes yet another jab at the Reds by choosing this name for Bond's love interest -- Romanov was the family name of the last Czar of old imperial Russia, the family doomed to extinction by the Russian revolution.) Kerim Bey adds a bit of panache, mischief and mystery as 'Our man in Istanbul,' Head of Station T (for Turkey). A truly great and suspenseful plot!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic Novel

This Bond book was a fantastic story. the different pov's were great, and this was an all around good book. some thought it to start off slow, but it makes up for it at the end with the train ride.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

THE GREATEST NOVEL I'VE EVER READ!!!

SMERSH is fed up. Their plans and schemes chronicaled in (respectively)Casino Royale, Live & Let Die, Moonraker & Diamonds Are Forever have not only been derailed, but all by the same British secret agent 007 James Bond. The plot simple -eliminate 007 and disgrace his reputation of honorable service to his country. The bait, one red hot Soviet defector Tatiana Romanova bearing unconditional love for one James Bond and the promise to deliver a lecter deciphering machine, and a super assasin guaranteed to provide the elimination. A fiendish plot carried out with precise calculation that fails to take one matter into consideration, James Bond's license to kill is only surpassed by his will to survive.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The best Bond novel that I have read

Flemmings fifth Bond novel is the best I have read so far. It has the perfect mixture of action, character development and suspense. It is a must read for any bond fan.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

00Lover

In this good, sexy, and exciting Bond adventure Bond is taking on a whole new mission. As we know, James is still getting rid of SPECTRE, but it is a great novel.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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