On Her Majesty's Secret Service
James Bond book 11
Ian Fleming

The pursuit of a beautiful woman is one of James Bond's principal pastimes, but none have captured his heart like Tracy di Vicenzo. The troubled, suicidal scion of one of the world's most powerful crime families, Tracy is also the only woman who can make Bond seriously consider settling down. And her crime boss father may lead him straight to his deadliest enemy.
On the hunt for Ernst Stavro Blofeld in his heavily fortified Alpine stronghold, 007 uncovers the details of the SPECTRE mastermind's latest plot: a biological warfare scheme more fiendish than anything he has tried before. Now to save the world and the life of the woman he loves, Bond must put a stop to Blofeld's plan - and survive a last, very personal, act of vengeance.

Up until now, I had been saying that From Russia With Love was my all time favorite Bond novel. Now, that moves to the number two position and this novel takes its place. This is, by far, the best Bond novel in the series so far.

Not only does it have everything a Bond novel should have (espionage, a tricky situation, edge of your seat thrills, a Bond girl who is not a total ditz, and some surprises), but it also throws in a surprise ending that not many readers will see coming.

In this novel, Bond must go undercover as a man who works on a person's family lineage because Blofeld is trying to pretend that he is related to a royal family that has not been seen for ages and is a Count. For a while, this works, but as with all Bond novels, he gets found out and that is where the true action lies.

Tracy is by far the best Bond girl to date, and can match him just as any man can. The last chapter is as bittersweet as the second to last chapter is sweet. And the fact that there really is no resolution to all the harm that Blofeld has done makes the novel.

I do hope that the next one addresses the end of this one and sees Bond finally capture Blofeld and make him pay for his greatest crime of all, a crime that I cannot mention here for it would ruin the surprise.

I highly recommend this to any reader of the Bond novels - while it would work as a stand alone novel, you really need to have read the entire series to date to fully appreciate this one.

My rating: Five out of five snails.