Released in 1954, "Live and Let Die" is the second novel by Fleming and therefore the second James Bond adventure. It is also, I believe, one of the best. After the Norman getaway Casino Royale which almost cost him his precious manhood, 007 meet here in New York with a mission to investigate a mysterious "Mr. Big" suspected to power via a traffic gold the coffers of SMERSH, the fer-de-lance loss of Soviet secret services ...
Far from the film that was shot in 1973 with Roger Moore in the title role, this book, it is rich in action, is also in atmosphere, and in the first chapter: it happens there almost nothing, we simply witnessing the arrival of Bond at Idlewild Airport, then to his taxi ride to St. Regis hotel, but in these few pages what a striking portrait of the New York Cold War, a paranoid New York where one crosses the street corners signs indicating the procedure to follow in case of enemy attack, ie, Soviet!
And all the rest of the novel is correspondingly rich in vivid and colorful descriptions like those in Chapter 5, which takes us to the heart of Harlem, on Seventh Avenue, at Sugar Ray's and the Savoy Ballroom, the legendary room Ella Fitzgerald jazz which started in the 30s The plot itself, rather linear, takes us to the banks of the Hudson to the beaches of Florida via Jamaica, and the theme of voodoo that runs the book adds to its mystery . "Mr. Big" is a formidable opponent and Solitaire a "damsel in distress" very attractive. In short, we do not get bored for a second! Another beautiful Mission signed 007 ...
