Casino Royale (movie tie-in) (James Bond 007)

Casino Royale (movie tie-in) (James Bond 007)
In the first of Ian FlemingÂ's James Bond novels, 007 declares war on Le Chiffre, French communist and paymaster of the Soviet murder organization SMERSH. The battle begins in a fifty-million-franc game of baccarat, gains momentum during BondÂ's fiery love affair with a sensuous lady spy, and reaches a chilling climax with fiendish torture at the hands of a master sadist. For incredible suspense, unexpected thrills, and extraordinary danger, nothing can beat James Bond in his inaugural adventure.
Customer Review: YOU CAN BET YOUR LIFE ON IT
In his first published adventure, Ian Fleming's James Bond is despatched to the dangerous arcade of Casino Royale, where nothing is ever as it seems, to gamble a decadent Soviet operative known as "Le Chiffre" into oblivion in a winner-take-all game of Baccarat. But the unexpected lurks behind every corner, and Bond must put his trust in the beautiful but enigmatic Vesper Lynd. In the end, only one man can hold the winning card... CASINO ROYALE is chronologically the first of Ian Fleming's legendary Bond novels, and indeed it is one of the finest. Atmosphere and characterization are at the heart of Fleming's Bond stories, and CASINO ROYALE is exceptional even by Fleming's usually high standards. Bright lights and the air of expensive cigarettes radiate from each page, and the whole is a taut, rarely-equalled example of the Cold War thriller. 007 himself is introduced as the ruthless, rather sinister assassin who set the archetype for all secret agents to come, despite the best efforts of some of the movies to turn him into a playboy with a gun fetish. The unreadable Vesper Lynd adds sugar & spice to the plot, and in my opinion makes for one of the two most alluring of all the Bond Girls (rivalled only by Tracy from ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE), and the intense hot or cold affair between she and Bond is a real stinger. Despite the relatively spartan action scenes, notwithstanding one of the most horrific torture scenes in popular literature and a purely theoretical weakness which the excellent 2006 movie more than makes up for, CASINO ROYALE never wants for suspense, and once it's begun the novel is almost impossible to put down. A classic not only of the spy genre but as a drama, CASINO ROYALE is most heartily recommended.
Customer Review: A Pleasant Taste of Pre-Digital Espionage Fiction
I was intrigued to read the book after seeing the movie, which i really enjoyed, and wWas excited to see that some of the film's strains (there were things that seemed incongrous) were efforts to stay loyal to this book. In surprising measure, the film does. "Casino Royale" gives the impression of a much more human Bond than the film character, and the new film captured that as well. Fleming's 007 is not the unflappable quip-ready playboy made popular in cinema, instead favoring the grittier portrayal carried off in the new film. It's not all grit, there is an element of sentimentality that seeps through in the novel, and many of Bond's interior monologues in the novel are reminiscient of Bronte. All in all, I found the novel a quick reading and enjoyable spy story. As someone in my 20s, it was interesting to get a taste of espionage fiction from before the digital age, and Fleming's narrative is happily not overburdened by the gadgetry of even the early Bond films.