Moonraker - Softcover

Fleming, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1612185452 ISBN 13: 9781612185453

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer, 2012

Synopsis

As the super patriot and war veteran who’s bankrolling Britain’s top-secret Moonraker rocket program, Sir Hugo Drax should be above reproach. But there’s more to this enigmatic millionaire than he lets on. When M suspects Drax of cheating at cards in an exclusive gentleman’s club, he sends Bond in to investigate. But exposing the deception only enrages Drax—and now 007 must outwit an angry man with the power to loose a nuclear warhead on London.

The mysterious death of the head of security at Drax’s missile base gives Bond the perfect opportunity to go undercover to find out the secret agenda of the supposed British war hero. With the help of another agent, the lustrous Gala Brand, 007 learns the truth about Drax’s battle scars, his wartime allegiances—and his murderous plans for the deployment of Moonraker.

The text in this edition has been restored by the Fleming family company Ian Fleming Publications, to reflect the work as it was originally published.

www.ianfleming.com

About this title

Product Description:

Bond's latest mission is to face Sir Hugo Drax at the card table in order to teach him a lesson and prevent a scandal. So it was that he stirred benzedrine into his champagne...Drax is the head of the Moonraker project and a powerful millionaire as well as a cheat at cards. 007 suspects that there is more to him than meets the eye. As he begins to delve deeper into the goings on at the Moonraker base in an attempt to scotch a potential scandal, he discovers that both the project and its leader are something other than they pretend to be...

Review:

Moonraker is a treat of a classic Bond spy thriller. There is intrigue at M's exclusive gambling club "Blades" on Park Lane where Sir Hugo Drax, a multi- millionaire business tycoon, revered by the British public because of his Moonraker missile defence programme, has been accruing millions of pounds at the Poker table. Why would Drax wish to make more money? How could he be achieving such success against the world's premier gamblers? As "the best card-player in the service", Bond is called in to find out the answers.

Bond quickly adjudges Drax a "bullying, boorish, loud-mouthed vulgarian" and, more importantly for his mission, a cheat at cards. Bond beats Drax at his own game, winning thousands of pounds and severely unsettling the millionaire in the process. His advice to 007 before leaving the club is: "I should spend the money quickly, Commander Bond." Indeed.

Never one to ignore a hot tip, Bond is preparing to splash his winnings on a Rolls-Bentley Convertible and three diamond clips when he hears of a double-shooting at Drax's Moonraker base. Concerned about the possibility of sabotage, Bond is sent undercover to investigate, but things just don't add up. Why are the workforce all German--this is post-war Britain after all? On the job, Bond meets Special Branch Agent Gala Brand, planted onsite ostensibly as Drax's private secretary. Despite initial fractious relations, the two spies grow to respect each other and eventually discover the frightening and horrific truth about Drax and Moonraker. Here the plot speeds up and we are treated to some vintage Fleming lines: "Bond set his teeth and rode his car as if she was a Lipizaner at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna."

Moonraker is a finely honed Bond novel displaying all of Fleming's distinctive innuendo and humour. Head and shoulders above the more recent action-packed bestsellers. --Julian Broster

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1612185452
• ISBN 13: 9781612185453
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 245