Diamonds Are Forever
James Bond series, Book 4
Ian Fleming

Assuming the identity of a captured courier, Bond solicits the help of Tiffany Case, a gorgeous American with a dark past. She's the smugglers' stateside go-between, and if she doesn't blow 007's cover, Tiffany may just lead him to the last link in a long, deadly chain: the mysterious syndicate boss known only as "ABC". One false move, however, and Bond may find out that a girl's best friend is a secret agent's worst enemy.

While Live and Let Die is so far still my favorite of this series, this one holds its own as well. In this installment of the James Bond series, 007 is asked to pretend to be a crook who will be smuggling diamonds from England to America and if possible, to install himself in the Italian gang that is working this illegal diamond pipeline.

The Bond girl in this one, Tiffany Case, is so far the best of the series. Unlike many of the others, she's self-sufficient, independent, saved Bond at one point, and doesn't end up sleeping with him. Finally a strong woman in this series!

The action is of the type you come to expect from Fleming in this series and does not disappoint. There's just enough action to keep you enthralled, but not so much that the plot gets lost. And the last fight at the end of the novel is quite impressive. It seems that as time went on, Fleming got to be a better and better writer. The standard of writing in this novel is above and beyond his first.

I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone with the caveat that you read the series in order. It's well worth it.

My rating: Four out of five snails.