The Man with the Golden Gun
James Bond series 13
Ian Fleming

"Pistols" Scaramanga is the world's most deadly assassin. He has a gold plated Colt .45, a talent for killing British Secret Service agents, and a plan to bring the Western economy to its knees. And only one man stands in his way...
Brainwashed by the Russians, James Bond has tried - and failed - to assassinate M. Now, to win back his boss's trust, 007 must carry out a seemingly suicidal task: terminate the Man with the Golden Gun. The suave Cuban killing machine has more than murder on his mind, however, as Bond discovers when he infiltrates Scaramanga's inner circle. With his KGB schooling, the hit man's criminal ambitions go way beyond murder for hire.
Besting Scaramanga won't be easy. And when his cover gets blown, Bond is left with only one course of action: win a duel against the lethal marksman who's already left a trail of dead British Secret Service agents in his wake.

The beginning of this novel was rather disappointing. There was a brief mention of Bond's memory loss and of him then being captured by the KGB and being brainwashed before being sent back to England. I would have rather have seen what ended the relationship Bond was in at the end of the last novel, how he got from a small Japanese fishing island (and thinking he was a Japanese fisherman) to Russia, and what happened while he was in Russia. Instead, the novel skips over all of this and begins with Bond being back in England.

The rest of this novel was very good and would be given five snails if the beginning had been better. But, the poor start takes off a snail bringing it down to four.

In this novel Bond is sent to prove himself once more loyal to England and is told to take out a very dangerous man. Most people in the service think that this mission is suicide, but as with all Bond novels, he is able to overcome amazing odds, pull off the mission, get the girl, and stay alive.

There is only one novel (with two stories in it) left in the series. I would have loved to have seen what else would have come out had Ian Fleming not passed away so young. The writing in these books keeps getting better and better with each passing book, even if there are some story flaws involved.

Overall, this is a great Bond read, but be prepared to be disappointed in how the last novel flows into this one. It is not nearly as smooth as the others. I highly recommend this novel, but you really need to read it as part of the series.

My rating: Four out of five snails.