Diamonds Are Forever

James Bond, Book 4

By: Ian Fleming

Narrated by: Damian Lewis

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Diamonds are being smuggled on a formidable scale from Africa to America via Britain. 007's assignment is to break the smuggling ring. It's a dangerous mission that takes him to the racecourse and mud-baths of Saratoga Springs, the gaming tables of Las Vegas, the ghost town of Spectreville, and beyond. The Spangled Mob threatens to be too much even for Bond, but help is at hand in the shape of co-conspirator Tiffany Case.

This audiobook includes a bonus interview with Damian Lewis.

Blackstone Audio, Inc. James Bond and 007 are registered trademarks of Danjaq LLC, used under license by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd

©1956 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Bond. But not very good Bond.

This is not Bond in the white dinner jacket, flicking his gunmetal Ronson lighter onto his Turkish cigarette as he beats the bad guys and beautiful femmes at chemin de fer and anything else they care to play. Instead of Monte Carlo and the rugged capitals of Europe, or the sun-drenched Caribbean islands that are Bond's usual haunts, this book has Our Spy tracking down diamond smugglers in the U.S. -- which is fine while he's in New York City, but James Bond in Saratoga Springs (shudder), Las Vegas (double shudder), and a Nevada ghost town (giggle) as he brings down Jack and Seraffimo Spang and their "Spangled Mob"--well, sorry, Ian Fleming this one just didn't work for me.

There are no fun toys or gadgets in this one. And Bond, with supercilious disdain for (ethnic slur) criminals, does some really stupid things. The only things that save him are (1) the Spang brothers do even stupider things and (2) Bond girl Tiffany Case, having gone over to the Good Guys almost instantaneously after meeting James once, frees him when he's held prisoner by the mob bosses she's served for years. What a surprise!

The early Bond books are well written, atmospheric period pieces. This one, the fourth in the series, was published in 1956; one of the most interesting descriptions was of Bond's London to New York flight, a 12-hour journey complete with meals, booze, and sleeper seats in the days before jet engines hit the commercial airways. Once in New York, Bond's idea of an elegant dinner date starts with pate and three martinis, followed by steak with Bernaise sauce accompanied by a bottle or two of wine, and topped off with dessert and champagne. Women--even a strong woman like Tiffany, who's by far the best character in this episode--are arm candy in black velvet cocktail dresses.

It's a different world, and of course a world highly romanticized by Fleming, but I enjoyed the novels in my younger days, am a huge fan of both the early (Sean Connery) and recent (Daniel Craig) cinematic incarnations, and have enjoyed several of the audio renditions by Simon Vance. This new release of all the novels in audio form, each read by a different well-known British actor, is an intriguing concept. Damian Lewis, with his uncanny gift for flawless American accents (as anyone who's seen him as "Homeland's" Sergeant Brodie knows), was a perfect choice for narrator. He moves between British, American, and American ethnic accents so fluidly you're unaware of it, you just know immediately which character is speaking. I just wish the material had been more worthy of Lewis's art.

Lewis gives the best performance so far but...

Damian Lewis does the best job that I have heard so far in the updated Bond series, which means he out does Dan Stevens and Bill Nighly (who were both quite good). In spite of Lewis' performance, the story lags a bit. I think I am just less impressed by the stories that take place in America.

James Bond Takes On The American Mob

James Bond travels to America to smash the mob's diamond smuggling operation.
Along the way he meets some colorful mob characters as well as Tiffany Case, the "Bond girl" of this story.

The story follows the typical path of Bond being assigned to simply impersonate a hired smuggler and determine the details of a diamond smuggling pipeline from African mine to the high end diamond markets in America. Of course, Bond being Bond, things go beyond simple observation pretty quickly. Along the way he mixes it up with fixed horse racing, Las Vegas casinos, an old west ghost town and the Queen Mary. We also run into an old friend in Felix Lieter...which is always a good thing. (Although he is a bit worse for wear after the events chronicled in Live And Let Die.)

Don't expect this book to follow any part of the film of the same name. Other than a couple character names, the plot is not even close to the high tech machinations of the film. This is a grounded plot set squarely in the 1950's when Las Vegas was a new "thing" and just getting people's attention.

This is, while slightly dated in bits, still a very modern story that holds your attention well. If you like Bond, you will like this.

Recommended for all adventure readers.

Now I can't get Shirley Bassey out of my head!

The movies and the books are two totally different, separate things. Usually, only the title and the character names transfer, and sometimes the locale. This one wasn't as good as Moonraker (lousy movie, great book) but still had a lot going for it. Every now and then, though, you read a line of Fleming's and you think, "Oh my God! He actually WROTE that???" In this one, it was a sentence about homosexuals making particularly nasty killers.

All Bond Books Better Than the Movies

All the books are fabulous! The movies are now ruined for me. Someday we will see the real Bond On the silver screen.

Forever a classic

very well read by Damin Lewis also again and is the case with many of the books they are different from the movies. But it is interesting to see what changes were made and what they kept.

A confused plot with questionable decisions

The plot of this book really made no sense to me. I feel like Fleming had a bunch of cool ideas but did not know the best way to string them together.

Also, worst Bond girl by far. His infatuation with her did not feel natural or earned

Entertaining

Damien Lewis gives a superb performance making this novel entertaining and enjoyable. Fleming writes with great detail.

one of the best bond novels!

I loved this book! A classic Fleming story and one of my favorites from him.

Yet another great one

Enjoyed the story greatly, the reader was splendid! Diamonds are Forever brings James to an even more incredible height.