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Live and Let Die (James Bond (Original Series)) Paperback – October 16, 2012

by Ian Fleming (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 5,941 ratings
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James Bond is not a superstitious man, but it’s hard not to feel unnerved in the presence of Mr. Big. A ruthless Harlem gangster who uses voodoo to control his criminal empire, he’s also one of SMERSH’s top American operatives. Mr. Big has been smuggling British pirate treasure to New York from a remote Jamaican island―and funneling the proceeds to Moscow. With help from Solitaire, Mr. Big’s beautiful and enigmatic Creole fortune-teller, and his old friend Felix Leiter, 007 must locate the crime lord’s hideout, sabotage his operation, and reclaim the pirate hoard for England.

From the jazz joints of Harlem to the shark-infested waters of the Florida Everglades, Live and Let Die sends Bond headlong into the exotic.

The text in this edition has been restored by the Fleming family company Ian Fleming Publications, to reflect the work as it was originally published.

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Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 14
    James Bond (Original Series)
  2. Print length
    239 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    October 16, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1612185444
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1612185446
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The narrative moves at a headlong pace, there is sheer terror enough for a month of comic books, and a climax that is truly exciting. Don’t read it unless your nerves are in pretty good shape.” ―The Springfield Republican

“This is an ingenious affair, full of recondite knowledge and horrific spills and thrills.” ―The Times

“Continually exciting.” ―The Daily Telegraph

“Tense; ice-cold, sophisticated.” ―The Evening Standard

“A snorter. From first word to last, the reader is compelled to surrender to a superb storyteller.” ―Time & Tide

“Speed…tremendous zest…communicated excitement. Brrh! How wincingly well Mr. Fleming writes.” ―The Sunday Times

“Don’t blame me if you get a stroke.” ―The Observer

“Mr. Ian Fleming is without doubt the most interesting recent recruit among thriller writers. The second adventure of his Secret Service agent fully maintains the promise of his first book…containing passages which for sheer excitement have not been surpassed by any modern writer in this kind.” ―Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

Ian Fleming was born in London on May 28, 1908. He was educated at Eton College and later spent a formative period studying languages in Europe. His first job was with Reuters News Agency where a Moscow posting gave him firsthand experience with what would become his literary bête noire―the Soviet Union. During World War II he served as Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence and played a key role in Allied espionage operations.

After the war he worked as foreign manager of the Sunday Times, a job that allowed him to spend two months each year in Jamaica. Here, in 1952, at his home “Goldeneye,” he wrote a book called Casino Royale―and James Bond was born. The first print run sold out within a month. For the next twelve years Fleming produced a novel a year featuring Special Agent 007, the most famous spy of the century. His travels, interests, and wartime experience lent authority to everything he wrote. Raymond Chandler described him as “the most forceful and driving writer of thrillers in England.” Sales soared when President Kennedy named the fifth title, From Russia With Love, one of his favorite books. The Bond novels have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide, boosted by the hugely successful film franchise that began in 1962 with the release of Dr. No.

He married Anne Rothermere in 1952. His story about a magical car, written in 1961 for their only son Caspar, went on to become the well-loved novel and film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Fleming died of heart failure on August 12, 1964, at the age of fifty-six.

Learn more about Ian Fleming at www.ianfleming.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer; James Bond edition (October 16, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 239 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1612185444
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1612185446
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 5,941 ratings

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Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

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Ian Fleming was a British author and journalist. His first novel, Casino Royale (1953), introduced spy hero, James Bond, agent 007, to the world. It was the first of fourteen James Bond books which have gone on to sell over 60 million copies worldwide and be translated into 20 languages. Beginning with the movie adaptation of Dr No in 1961, the series also sparked the longest-running film franchise in history. Both Fleming and his fictional counterpart have become synonymous with style, glamour and thrilling adventures, as well as universally recognised phrases such as “My name’s Bond, James Bond” and “shaken and not stirred”.

Fleming was born in London in 1908. In the 1930s he worked at Reuters news agency before joining Naval Intelligence as an officer during the Second World War. His talent for writing fast and engaging prose, along with his knowledge of espionage and his fertile imagination led to the creation of James Bond, arguably one of the most-famous fictional characters of all time. He also wrote children’s classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Fleming was married to Ann Rothermere with whom he had a son, Caspar. He died in 1964.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
5,941 global ratings
BAM! Right to the Point
4 Stars
BAM! Right to the Point
Live and Let Die, Ian Fleming, 1954My favorite quote: “The gain to the winner is always less than the loss to the loser.”Notable characters: James Bond, agent 007; Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend in the CIA; Mr. Big, the Voodoo Baron of Death; Solitaire, Mr. Big’s fortune-telling employeeMost memorable scene: The note pinned to Leiter’s chest: “He disagreed with something that ate him.” Ha, ha, Mr. Leiter … ha, haGreatest strengths: The way it just gets right to the point. All these books are like that. No real foreplay, just … BAM! — right to the point. Which is cool with meStandout achievements: Its clear view of the Harlem jazz clubs of the 1950sFun Facts: While I’m probably one of the last people on the planet to get one, I do have a Kindle now, but I put off using it for a long, long time. I have enough technology in my life, you know? When I finally decided to give it a try, I decided on Casino Royale, the first book in the James Bond series, as my maiden ebook voyage. I picked that one for two reasons: first, it’s short, and second, I didn’t think I’d like it very much, which would give me the perfect excuse to stick to paperbacks. But that’s not how it turned out. It turned out that I liked it. A lot. So much that I completely forgot I was reading it on an electronic device. I promptly bought the others in the series, and the rest is history. Now I use my Kindle all the time, and am even further enslaved to technology. So, yeah. Thanks, James BondOther media: The 1973 film of the same name, starring Roger Moore as Bond … among othersWhat it taught me: All about jazz clubs in the 1950s which, when you write about ghosts and vampires and other creatures from various time periods, is likely to come in very handy one dayHow it inspired me: This, along with a patchwork of other works of fiction and non-fiction, helped me get a solid understanding of voodoo, Obeah, and other such practices — information that came in handy when I was writing The Black WaspAdditional thoughts: I noticed a few improvements in this book from the first one — especially regarding the characters. Even James Bond feels a lot more well-rounded here than he did in Casino Royale. And villains seem more … well, villainousHaunt me: alistaircross.com
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Top reviews from the United States

Richie Rich 2.0
5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed every word
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024
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Amazing, suspenseful and intelligent writing. Ian Fleming is a cultural treasure. His character of James Bond still inspires imaginations to this day.
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Frank Donnelly
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good, But Not Great, Second James Bond Novel
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2017
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This is the second James Bond Novel authored by Ian Fleming. James Bond comes to America, Harlem, then Florida, then Jamaica. It is a decent spy action thriller. I have never been a very big fan of James Bond movies, but this novel seems, pretty much like a literary version of a James Bond film.

The book was written by a British author in 1954. Coincidentally, 1954 is the same year of the historic United States Supreme Court Decision "Brown versus Board of Education". So what? The modern Civil Rights movement was just gaining traction in America. This novel is more consistent with the pre modern Civil Rights viewpoint. James Bond, as a white person, does battle with American black organized criminals. There is a LOT of dated ethnic nomenclature and stereotyping that could offend some readers. I do not believe in censorship or rewriting of novels such as this. I actually find a novel such as this provides much fuel for inner contemplation. Just be advised there is a lot of ethnic references in this novel.

Personally, the above observation aside, I think this is a somewhat better written novel than the first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale". There is a lot of descriptive narrative that I felt was more sophisticated than the prior novel. This novel can be read without having read the first novel. There is one character, an American, Felix Leiter, who makes an appearance in this novel, who had also been in the first novel. Obviously, "M" and Miss Moneypenny are ongoing characters.

When I was a youth growing up in America in the 1950s and 1960s, I was not allowed to read James Bond novels. I had friends of my age who did read them. All they talked about was the sexual aspects of these novels. By today's standards, I do not find these novels are not to be particularly salacious. But as a parent and grandparent, I would be very careful about allowing a child or grandchild to read these novels.

In summary, I am glad I read this novel, I liked it, but did not love it, I would not read it again without good cause. Thank You...
16 people found this helpful
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John Nixon
5.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Than The Movies!
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2024
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Ian Fleming was such a great writer that when you read the James Bond books it's easy to visualize the scenes he's writing about. The stories in the books are often a lot different than the movies. Maybe it was too complicated to recreate the scenes described in the books. Regardless of the reason, the books really draw you in. It's hard to put them down. You can't wait to read what happens next. If you're a James Bond fan, and who isn't, you'll gain a whole new respect for his adventures when you read the books.
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Ruth Anderson
3.0 out of 5 stars Fleming's action sequences shine, but novel not as timeless as Bond's debut - 3.5 Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2012
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Live and Let Die, Fleming's second novel featuring James Bond, wastes no time establishing setting or character. Diving immediately into the action, Fleming sets the template for Bond's adventures to come, particularly on the big screen -- globe-trotting, exotic locales, beautiful women, and intense, oft-times over-the-top, action sequences. Here Bond is sent to New York for a joint operation with American CIA operative Felix Leiter, an ally from Bond's Casino Royale days. They are tasked with uncovering the source of the smuggled gold a Mr. Big is funneling through his vast criminal network, funding operations for the likes of SMERSH. But Mr. Big's reach, and the lengths he'll go to in order to maintain control on his criminal operations, are more powerful and extensive than Bond ever imagined. When Big's henchmen strike a lethal blow, Bond's single-minded resolve to exact vengeance places him in unimaginable danger, and his drive for revenge threatens to blind him to the coolly lethal mastermind's greatest weapon -- the most dangerous denizens of the sea itself.

First published in 1954, Fleming's second Bond novel unfortunately does not stand the test of time nearly as well as its predecessor. Because here Bond's nemesis is Mr. Big and his vast criminal network, the African-American community is featured prominently throughout the novel -- and as such Fleming heavily showcases racial attitudes and language that, while it may have been more acceptable during the 1950s, is at the very least jarring to modern readers. Mr. Big fares best here -- as an arch-villain, extremely capable and over-the-top in the best Bond tradition, but his compatriots have aged less favorably, tending towards a hodge-podge of cheap stereotypes. If Fleming had managed to curb his propensity for over-the-top dialect and negative African-American stereotyping, this novel's suspense plotline, no matter how wildly outlandish, would be given freer range to shine unencumbered.

If one can manage to keep the novel within the context of the time in which it was published, roughly a third of the way through the book Fleming (mostly) trades in his unfortunate stereotyping for some really well-done action sequences and nail-biting tension in keeping with the spirit of Bond's debut. I was particularly impressed with Bond's tense introduction to Mr. Big and subsequent escape, and the novel's climatic moment which finds Bond and Solitaire dragged through coral-rich waters as live shark bait. As in Casino Royale, I was once again struck by Fleming's economy of language, his sharp-edged prose that colors his narrative with tension and keeps the reader engaged.

As an American I also found Fleming's rather...acerbic view of the country interesting, to say the least, but this was tempered by the presence of Felix Leiter, my favorite recurring supporting character in the series thus far. I was quite honestly horrified by Felix's fate midway through the novel, but this was somewhat tempered by the resulting exhibition of Bond's loyalty and drive to see one of his few friends avenged. Bond is by no means a consistently well-rounded or progressive character -- first and foremost he is the "blunt instrument" of MI6 -- but thus far in the series I've been favorably impressed by the subtle shades of fallibility that colors his character on the page. There's a brilliant, self-reflective passage about halfway through the book where Bond ruminates on the fragility of life -- and it's brief flashes of humanity, of vulnerability, that bring to mind Craig, my favorite screen Bond.

While the racial overtones of Mr. Big and his henchmen date this installment in the Bond series rather poorly, if one can read this strictly as a product of its creator and the time (for good or ill) in which he lived, Fleming delivers some rollicking action sequences and unexpected moments of self-reflection that make fascinating additions to one's knowledge of the Bond canon.
2 people found this helpful
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A. D. Hain
5.0 out of 5 stars Ian Fleming Classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2023
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I read some of the Ian Fleming books when I was a teenager, and decided to revisit them, these (very many) months or so on.
Firstly, I'm happy that the cancel culture hasn't got to these books, like the attempt with Roald Dhal. Written in the 1950s and 1960s, these novels use language and attitudes which were the norm at the time. Those people with "modern sensitivities" would not enjoy these stories.
Fleming includes great detail in his descriptions of characters and scenes, with far more realism than the films depict. Bond can get hurt and needs time to recover. The books are really good adventure yarns from that period.
For people who have seen the films first, try to put them aside. The book, Live and Let Die includes scenes and references that you will know from the films Dr No, Live and Let Die, and License to Kill.
There are 14 of the original Bond stories that Ian Fleming wrote before his death, and I plan to read all of them.
2 people found this helpful
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YADIRA
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy buena historia
Reviewed in Mexico on January 27, 2020
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Si muy buen libro
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting reading.
Reviewed in Australia on May 10, 2023
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Having watched Bond movies since the early seventies I'm finally reading the books. Fleming's writing offers far greater depth and insight into Bond than he appears on screen.
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Manuel
5.0 out of 5 stars Pubblicazione eccezzionale
Reviewed in Italy on March 19, 2018
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Che dire Macmillan non sbaglia mai...ottima narrazione di livello intermedio, buon bilanciamento tra phrasal verbs ed espressioni idiomatiche. Tempi verbali perlopiù al passato in modo da comprendere chiaramente quando utilizzare i diversi tempi e modi. Inoltre il supporto CD audio è ottimo; il lettore è un vero professionista, fa vivere il racconto.
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L. Eng
4.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Singapore on November 14, 2020
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Arrived in good condition.
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L. Eng
4.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Singapore on November 14, 2020
Arrived in good condition.
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