Year - 1960

Tease - 

In Paris: James Bond sets out to find and destroy the secret hideout of a spy ring that has eluded the top security brains of fourteen countries.  

In Vermont: James Bond joins forces with a beautiful blonde who is determined to assassinate a professional killer.  

In Bermuda: James Bond learns a strange secret of love and hate at an ambassadorial dinner party.  

In Rome: James Bond finds himself the target of a dope runner who deals in death.  

In the Seychelles Islands: James Bond becomes party to sudden and ghastly murder on a luxury yacht.

Villains - Von Hammerstein, is five feet-four inches tall with boxer's shoulders and hips.  He has a hairless head with a glittering whitish yellow skull.  His bone-structured face was that of a Prussian officer - square, hard and thrusting.  His eyes are close-set and piggish and his large mouth has hideous lips, thick, wet and crimson.

Signor Kristatos, a black eyed, brown mustache Italian man.

Milton Krest, a rich American in his early 50s.  Cropped black and gray hair. Hard, tough and leathery with a voice that sounds like Humphrey Bogart.

Bond-Girls - Mary Ann Russell, Judy Havelock, Lisl Baum, Liz Krest

Minor Characters - Major Gonzales, The Governor of Bermuda, Enrico Colombo, Fidele Barbey

Plots - There are five short stories in this book, From A View to a Kill has enemy agents ambushing SHAPE dispatch riders.  For Your Eyes Only has Bond 'volunteering' to eliminate the men who killed M's close friends.  Quantum of Solace is a story told to OO7 by the governor of Bermuda about a married couples love/hate relationship.  Risico has Bond breaking up a dope running scheme aimed at destroying England.  The Hildebrand Rarity has Bond joining an American couple on their boat for rare fish catching and murder.

Highlights - Discovery of hideout in woods, bow and arrow assassination scene, beach chase across minefield, death by having a fish stuffed into victim's mouth.

Opening Sentence - 

From a View to a Kill: The eyes behind the wide black rubber goggles were cold as flint.

For Your Eyes Only: The most beautiful bird in Jamaica, and some say the most beautiful bird in the world, is the streamer-tail or doctor hummingbird.

Quantum of Solace: James Bond said, "I've always thought that if I ever married I would marry an air hostess."

Risico: "In this pizniss is much risico."

The Hildebrand Rarity: The sting ray was about six feet from wing-tip to wing-tip, and perhaps ten feet long from the blunt wedge of its nose to the end of its deadly tail.

Trivia - The original title of this anthology was called The Rough With the Smooth.  For Your Eyes Only story had two titles, Man's Work and later Death Leaves An Echo.  Risico was originally spelled Risiko.

Personal Comment About This Novel - A unique collection of short stories.  All are good in there own right.  My personal favorite is The Hildebrand Rarity only because it has the most gruesome death scene I can imagine from the mind of Ian Fleming.

Jonathan Cape hardcover edition

Dr. Shatterhand's Scale from 1 - 10

From a View to a Kill    .    .    .    .    .    .    7

For Your Eyes Only    .    .    .    .    .    .    . 8

Quantum of Solace    .    .    .    .    .    .    .  6

Risico    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .   8

The Hildebrand Rarity    .    .    .    .    .    .  9

Continue to the next novel