Moonraker, the third James Bond story, was written by Ian Fleming in 1955.
SUMMARY: M is fascinated by the man named Hugo Drax, a millionaire and idol of Britain. Hugo Drax has dedicated his money and life to the construction of an atomic defensive weapon, called the Moonraker. For M, the most fascinating and peculiar thing about this “man of the year” type fellow, is that he cheats at cards. M calls on Bond to take a closer look at Drax, to find out what hidden motives the man may have. Does the millionaire cheat for thrills or is there something a tad more sinister going on?
The SIS is also investigating a murder/suicide at Drax’s Moonraker facility. Typically this wouldn’t be a job for the SIS, but because they cleared the man that did the killing to enter the county, they have to take a closer look. Especially when such violence breaks out around the Moonraker site, with just four days remaining until its first test launch.
As expected in a James Bond spy thriller, things get crazy and the plot gets wild! Bond can feel the dark intentions lingering in the air around the incredible presence of powerful Moonraker. The clock is ticking, and the countdown has begun – for millions of lives.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Moonraker is such a good book! The story unfolds nicely, it’s full of surprises, drama, and action! I really enjoyed how the book starts, with James Bond doing petty office work. Little details Fleming throws in are fantastic, such as Bond attempting to open a door, but it’s locked, so he has to make the inconvenient walk around to another door.
The story progression has excellent pacing. I thought the way things unraveled to expose the villain was fascinating. There are bits and pieces dropped along the story that keep you guessing and theorizing who certain people are.
In this story, we get insight on what James Bond’s job is like most of the time. It’s just mundane office work, looking at files and reading over reports. Usually he has only one major assignment a year, the rest of the time is boring office work. Bond makes good money, he loves women, has no family, and he likes to drive fast.
Gala Brand is an under cover agent for the special police force, Vallance. She’s been working as a secretary for Hugo Drax, keeping an eye out on the mysterious man and the whole Moonraker operation. She knows that Bond is an SIS agent and is very annoyed that he was sent in – why would he be able to find something that she couldn’t? She can’t stand Bond, however, as usual, Bond mages to break the ice, cooling her bitterness towards him.
There’s this wonderful moment between Bond and Brand. after some intense action, Fleming places the perfect human reaction between the two. Each character was a bit sick, they left each other alone with privacy, they came back together and sat in silence for a moment. Then Bond lights a cigarette. They soak in the remaining sunlight on a beach, then they spoke of business.
Hugo Drax seems to have a clean record, a man of the year type of personality. His past is shrouded in mystery, he came out of World War II with severe wounds to his face, which resulted in plastic surgery and altered his face. He later invested in a metal, called Columbite, and got rich off of it. He gave his entire holding of the mineral to Britain, to build the super atomic rocket, Moonraker. Turns out, behind closed doors, he’s a pretty bad dude.
Do I recommend Moonraker? Yes! The book is fantastic, a must read for the spy/thriller fan.
Rating: This book receives an A+