Phone Borneo

Sir Hugo Drax may perhaps be brash and arrogant, but he is funding the British Moonraker project out of his own pocket. Yet, whilst he could be contributing to Britain's independent nuclear capability, there is a little problem that can't be overlooked he cheats at cards.

However, he is cheating members of Blades, the private club of which M is a member. As Drax is so necessary it is vital to avoid a scandal at all fees M brings in James Bond in a private capacity to perform out how Drax is doing it - and warn him off with a shot across his bows.

Little did they realise that when 1 of Drax's workers shoots himself in a pub that James Bond would be sent to investigate and would soon uncover Drax's real intentions.

Just after the achievement of the first two books, Moonraker, which was 1st published in 1955, was possibly a small disappointing. This time the action took spot in London and the Kent coast in the south east of England, another area that Ian Fleming knew well.

Lacking the exotic locations of the prior two books, which drew comments from modern readers, Bond does not even get the girl, as it turns out she's engaged to an officer from Unique Branch. Yet, in spite of that the book does have some worthwhile moments and we do find out much more about what Bond gets up to when he's on his household turf.

1 of the greatest sections of the book is when 007 joins M at Blades. They share an exquisitely described meal that these days may well seem rather mundane - Bond orders lamb cutlets with potatoes and peas - but was written while Britain was at the end of post-war rationing and still out of reach for various persons.

Afterward the meal Bond is partnered with M in a game of bridge against Drax and his partner, and significantly like the game of baccarat in Casino Royale it is vividly described.

As nicely as the meal and the cards, there is also a very good automobile chase. Bond tails Drax's Mercedes from London to Dover and his car - the old supercharged Bentley - is wrecked when Drax's henchman climbs onto the back of a lorry transporting rolls of newsprint and releases them into Bond's path.

While Fleming received correspondence from readers who had been disappointed at the novel's setting, it was also noted by O.F. Snelling in his book 007 James Bond: A Report (1964) that a person pointed out to him that the submarine that appeared towards the finish of the book would have had to travel at impossible speed for it to be in its final location. Then again, the book moves so speedily you don't have time to question details such as that and so it does not honestly matter anyway.

It is also intriguing that in the previous two novels Bond's foe had been SMERSH and the Russians. Then again, this time the foe turns out to be German, wreaking their revenge for Britain's part in the destruction of Germany in the Second World War.

While Moonraker does disappoint in some respects, the book still has its admirers and when it lacks the travelogue element located in so lots of of Fleming's other books it nevertheless has some outstanding Flemingesque moments all the same.