The Spy Who Loved Me, by Ian Fleming is a very different kind of Bond book. The narrator is Vivienne Michel, a French Canadian woman who was raised in the UK and embarked upon two love affairs (one when she was very young and the other at her workplace) which both ended badly. To get away from things, she goes travelling and heads to the USA, where she embarks on a road trip on her Vespa. As her budget is very tight, she is persuaded to boost her funds by caretaking at the Dreamy Pines Motor Court motel for the night. Left all alone, two hoodlums appear and proceed to rough her up and threaten her with even nastier things - why, she doesn't know. But then, who should appear knocking on the door ... Mr James Bond, who has had a flat tyre and is seeking refuge for the night. He immediately picks up that something is afoot and goes into "protection" mode. Things come to a head in the middle of the night when the hoodlums attack Viv and set the motel on fire. Bond rescues her and, when she is safe, goes to sort the two thugs out. But Bond seems to be a little off his game and nearly comes a cropper, and it's only when Viv steps in that the tables are turned. We think all is okay and, of course, at that point, Viv and Bond end up in the shower together where ... well, you can imagine the rest. But just when you think all is sunshine and roses, there's a sting in the tail ... I think I enjoyed this book more than the previous Bond tomes as it isn't really a spy novel at all - the driver for the criminals is insurance fraud! Bond doesn't make an appearance until over halfway through the book and he really isn't on his A game. Viv is an interesting character and plucky too, but, of course, she does fall for Bond, which kind of annoyed me ... surely he's not THAT irresistible!!!! Anyhow, it's full of Fleming's usual detail - clothes, food, scenery ... which is always enjoyable. This is still very much a book of its time where the author's attitude to women is pretty clear and is one that would make most modern audiences wince. It kind of feels like a writing exercise where the author has tried to put himself in the shoes of a female character - and as such, it's not entirely successful, but there are some good moments. An interesting change of pace to the other Bond books and, one last thing, if you are expecting this to be "just like the movie" then look away now - it bears very little resemblance to it at all. The version I read was narrated by Rosamund Pike, who did an admirable job.
My STAR rating: THREE.
Length: 128 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, print.
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