Octopussy and The Living Daylights: Reading 007

Octopussy and the Living Daylights

Octopussy and The Living Daylights is the second James Bond short story collection, but it’s slimmer and lighter (of interest) than For Your Eyes Only. Which isn’t surprising, as there are only four stories, and one of them barely counts.

That said, the two ‘title-track’ stories are among the best of Fleming’s Bond adventures.

Octopussy

James Bond travels to Jamaica – for the fifth time in Fleming’s stories.

There, Dexter Smythe has become something of a marine enthusiast, and is cultivating an octopus – as well as a serious drinking habit. Smythe was a British Special Forces officer during World War Two. But he also killed a guide and stole Nazi gold – and up until now thought he had got away with it.

When Bond confronts him with evidence of his crime, Smythe confesses. We learn something about Bond’s backstory that has not previously been alluded to. As an adolescant, Bond needed a father figure. The man Smythe murdered was that figure.

Octopussy is a really good short story, with Fleming showing sympathy and compassion towards Smythe, despite the villainy of his act. This gives credence to Bond’s decision to allow Smythe time at the end to put his affairs in order. Unfortunately for Smythe, that time that will ultimately proof fatal…

Rating: 85%

The Living Daylights

Bond is assigned to protect a defector who intends to cross from East to West Berlin. A KGB sniper will be waiting to kill the defector. Bond’s mission is to kill the sniper so the defector can cross safely. However, the KGB sniper is a beautiful blonde cellist he’s been admiring through his sniperscope. And if there’s one thing Bond has a weakness for, it’s beautiful blondes. And all women.

The Living Daylights is full of Cold War tension and also Bond’s bitterness and self-disgust about his license to kill. It’s enough to make you wonder if all the way through the series, he drinks so much to forget.

Rating: 85%

The Property of a Lady

Flemming returns to the info-dumping of some of the novels as we learn about a priceless Fabergé egg that is about to be auctioned. Bond plots to identify a KGB spy during the auction so he can be sent back to Russia. There’s some insights into spy tradecraft and auctioneering, but little action.

Rating: 70%

007 in New York

This is a lighter, slightly quirky story. Bond has been sent to New York to warn a former secret service agent that her boyfriend is a KGB operative. It’s more of a vignette, with Bond pontificating about New York as he waits in line at customs, wondering how to spend his time.

More credence is given to Bond’s preferred recipe for scrambled eggs then the actual spy element of the story, which could have been intriguing. His botched meeting with the former agent is humorously dealt with, but feels like an add-on.

Rating: 65%

Bond’s hidden facets

Although only two of the stories in Octopussy and The Living Daylights are really good, we get glimpses into Bond’s character in all of them that we rarely see in the novels. From his juvenile years to his disillusionment with his work, his compassion and how he spends his spare time, Fleming uses the stories to flesh out Bond’s character.

Overall Rating: 75% (with Octopussy and The Living Daylights doing most of the heavy lifting.)

James bond Book reviews

No Way to Live

My own thriller series, Angel of the South, kicks off with No Way To Live:

She’s the deadliest person he knows. And now he’s betrayed her.

A ruthless London gang targets an innocent shopkeeper and his daughter, prompting Tom Adams to walk away from the criminal life he never wanted. After all, it’s the season of goodwill. When he warns the shopkeeper of the danger he’s in, Tom betrays Billie, the gang’s boss, and the complicated history they both share.

For Billie, Tom’s desertion comes at the worst possible time. Surrounded by enemies, she’s fighting a war on two fronts and can’t afford to look weak. If Tom had known the full story, he might have stuck around. Fatally, he isn’t even the gang’s only traitor. And the ‘innocent’ shopkeeper’s past might be darker than anyone’s.

Caught in a clash of love, loyalty and revenge, Tom must choose between Billie, the woman he once trusted, and the possibility of a life worth living.

No Way To Live is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

Octopussy and The Living Daylights: Reading 007