Diamond Geezer, Hard Case

After several months, I've finally finished listening to AudioGo's 007 Reloaded recording of 'Diamonds are Forever' by Ian Fleming, read by Damian Lewis.  Yay!

'Diamonds are Forever'
by Ian Fleming
Read by Damian Lewis
(AudioGo, 2012)

Millions of pounds worth of diamonds are being smuggled from West Africa to the United States via London and MI6 is investigating.  Suspicion has fallen on the anglo-American Diamond Corporation, but the authorities need to know the pipeline's route so they can close it down.  It's a tough job that needs a skilled agent, so M sends James Bond undercover to track who is handling the illegal gems.  But as Bond penetrates deeper into the organisation, he encounters harder and more brutal adversaries, until he's face-to-face with the Spangled Mob gangsters behind the Corporation and their psychopathic heavies Mr Wint and Mr Kidd.  Is Bond in too deep this time?  Can he convince the gang of his false identity?  Or will Britain's greatest spy end up in a desert shallow grave?

Like a number of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, 'Diamonds are Forever' suddenly gets going quite a way in, in this case about 100 pages from the end.  It starts well, with an intense description of the first link in the smuggling chain, then the initial investigations in the UK followed by Bond's first moves undercover and his introduction to the damaged Tiffany Case.  Then it all goes flat for a bit while there's some stuff about fixed horse races and gambling before Bond upsets his paymasters and finds himself in trouble.  To be honest, it almost felt like Fleming had suddenly developed an interest in equestrian events that he really wanted to (horse) shoe in, but I'm probably being a bit harsh.

As in 'Goldfinger', the gangsters are as repulsive a group as you could ever imagine, while Wint and Casino Royale'.  They are truly terrifying villains, prevented from becoming cartoonish by Fleming's tactile descriptions, which mean you can't stop yourself imagining them in three dimensions, conjured through every one of the five senses.

'Diamonds are Forever' by
Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

Kidd take sadistic torture to levels not read since '

For me, the books often hang on how I feel about the heroine and I must admit that I grew to like Tiffany Case.  She's tough with a heartbreaking back story, but had humour, playfulness and ambition.  She made her own decisions and made her own mistakes.

Overall, this was a pretty good Bond book, although it's not for the faint hearted.  If you like the others, you're going to like 'Diamonds are Forever', but I wouldn't recommended it as an introduction to the series.

Now, what next...

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