Casino Royale by Ian Fleming ... QC #138

Reviewed by KatherineT-eHqn on April 30th, 2009, 4:54am

Casino Royale

by Ian Fleming

4

Format: Audiobook

Series: Other

4 Hearts! ~~~ James Bond, THE alpha hero we all swoon for.  Gritty.  Beneath the suave exterior, we see a hero who's startlingly vulnerable. 

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming ~ Blackstone Audiobooks ~ Narrated by Simon Vance

From the publisher...

Introducing James Bond: charming, sophisticated, handsome; chillingly ruthless and very deadly. This, the first of Fleming's tales of agent 007, finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called simply Le Chifre (The Cypher) - by ruining him at the Baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spymasters to 'retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James - Le Chifre has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected saviour...

When the 007 movies became more about the special effects, getting the girl, and stopped being about the man, I watched but wasn't really swept into whole cult.   After watching the newest Bond adaptation with Daniel Craig playing the lead, I was thrilled to see a Bond I could route for.  This is the Bond I've been missing.  He's a tortured Hero, with regrets and ready to make changes to his life.  Listening to Simon Vance narrate this story was a real pleasure.  He captured Bond ... the romantic hero ... the man hiding behind his cool exterior.  With the line, "The bitch is dead", you can feel the coldness, the heart hardened by immense pain.   

My Totals = 12 ~ Harlequin Imprint = 5 ~ Other Publisher = 7

KatherineT-eHarlequin ~ Book Challenge Host
I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it! ~ Quiet Canadians Blog