From Russia With Love is the fifth of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and takes Bond to Istanbul, where a beautiful girl – and death – await him …
Every major foreign government has a file on James Bond, British secret agent. Now, Russia’s deadly SMERSH organization has targeted him for elimination – they have the perfect bait in the irresistible Tatiana Romanova. Her mission is to lure Bond to Istanbul and seduce him while her superiors handle the rest. But when Bond walks willingly into the trap, a game of cross and double cross ensues – with Bond both the stakes and the prize …
From what I can remember, From Russia With Love seems less Bond'y than the previous Bond-books I've read. It reads a bit like an Agatha Christie novel with added brutality, more ruthless characters, and a very elaborate setup. For a thriller I'd have liked it to have been a little more thrilling than it is, and much of the time the story just seems to be rolling along without much in terms of twists and turns. However, it's a solid story, primarily thanks to the solid (and rather lengthy) setup. The characters are sufficiently likable/dis-likable, and even on my Kindle it felt like a good old-fashioned paperback thriller. I didn't love it, but it was enjoyable, and I put it down with a smile. That's more than can be said for some of the previous Bond-books.
