Casino Royale

Every Bond book has a London connection. You could put almost any Bond book on this list, but I chose this one because it is the first.

I feel a sense of connection to the protagonist and the city because this is where the missions originate. Even as the story plays out in northern France, communication with London is key, and I feel it.

The first James Bond novel. Obvious choice for me; I’m a huge Fleming/Bond fan and came to the original novels via the films. It was Bond that inspired me to write while on a narrowboat crossing an aqueduct on a Welsh canal thinking this scene should be in a Bond movie. Fleming’s first novel introduces us to a James Bond many wouldn’t recognize. Bond is already tired, vulnerable, and beginning to have serious professional misgivings. The novel’s plot and subplots are based on real-world knowledge Fleming picked up during WWII.

His descriptions of the casino’s glamour and the sensuous descriptions… show more.

OK you’ve got me! Ian Fleming was never an MI6 officer. But forget the sneers from so-called ‘experts’ that he knew nothing about how MI6 operates. Certainly, Bond’s activities have very little in common with those of his real ‘Secret Intelligence Service’ counterparts. Nevertheless, the criticism of Fleming is misplaced. He spent the Second World War as a senior aide to Admiral John Godfrey, the British Director of Naval Intelligence, and was not only in charge of liaison with MI6, he frequently worked directly with MI6 Chief Stewart Menzies, known as ‘C’ rather than James Bond’s ‘M’, although the then… show more.

The first of Ian Fleming’s books has James Bond on an assignment to bankrupt terrorist financier Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. Far fetched perhaps, but in fact, inspired by a trip to The Estoril Casino with his superior when Ian Fleming was working for Naval Intelligence. It’s my favourite Bond book.

Casino Royale is the book that launched an icon: Bond…James Bond. While certainly not a modern thriller, this book is like taking a vacation to another time and place. Fleming’s writing style is his own, and his ability is enough to make me want to throw in the towel. Read this to get lost in the details and the richly developed characters. You’ll feel like you’re in France.