Tuesday, October 5, 2021

[Review] - Thunderball by Ian Fleming


Ian Fleming's ninth 007 book, Thunderball, got its first publication in 1961. The international crime organization SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion) makes its appearance for the first time. If the name sounds familiar, it's because SPECTRE has appeared in numerous James Bonds films, lead by the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In the original 007 novels, SPECTRE is only in full world domination power in Thunderball. SPECTRE gets a brief mention in The Spy Who Loved Me and returns for You Only Live Twice. Later, SPECTRE did return for three novels penned by late novelist John Gardner.


In the novel, due to Bond's constant smoking and drinking, and overall bad health, M sends him to a health resort for two weeks. Upon arriving, Bond and recognizes Count Lippe, a member of the Red Lightning Tong criminal organization. Lippe tries to kill Bond but is saved at the last second by the beautiful nurse Patricia Fearing.


SPECTRE hijacks a V bomber and steals two nuclear bombs. Unless governments pay a ransom, they will drop the bombs over two major targets. Count Lippe was to oversee Giuseppe Petacchi, an Italian Air Force Pilot who's on SPECTRE payroll. His job was to kill the V bomber's crew, fly the aircraft to the Bahamas, and drop the bombs into the ocean. Then other SPECTRE members kill Petacchi, clean up the debris wreckage, and move the bombs onto the yacht dubbed the Disco Volante. Emilio Largo, SPECTRE's second in command, hides the bombs underwater.


Despite Bond's unhealthy lifestyle, M assigns him to retrieve the missing nukes. While on his mission, he meets the lovely Dominetta "Domino" Vitali, who happens to be Largo's mistress and Petacchi's sister. James Bond will always be James Bond around a beautiful woman, so well all know where this leads. Right?


Bond teams up with his old pal Felix Leiter, who's somehow back in the CIA. There's a submarine, underwater fights, and Bond saves the day.



Final Thoughts

I wasn't too thrilled about rereading Thunderball for this review. While it's well written, I am tired of the story. I've seen both the 1965 film and Never Say Never Again multiple times. Yes, the novel is slightly different than both movies, and the main plot is the same.


Is the novel worth reading? Yes, it's worth reading. It's definitely in my top 5 Ian Fleming novels.


1 comment:

  1. I love that cover. This is probably my favorite of the Bond movies. I love the setting, the twists, all of it. I tend to like the first few movies and then skip ahead tothe mid- Moore era for more of my favorites. The book does sound a bit different.

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