Thunderball

The eighth full-length Bond novel has a complicated history. Essentially the novelisation of an unfilmed Bond script developed by Fleming, Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, this is set in Fleming's backyard (the sun-drenched islands of the Caribbean) and is notable for the first appearance of SPECTRE and Bond's arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Blofeld's role is fleeting but memorable, with the main villainous part given over to the formidable figure of Emilio Largo.

Fleming open the novel with Bond on desk duty, bored to death and on the verge of drinking and smoking himself into oblivion. It's a far cry from the superhuman secret agent we're used to and, as in the short stories of For Your Eyes Only, we get to see a more human Bond. Hauled up before M, Bond is read a damning report on his health and packed off to an expensive health club called Shrublands, where he crosses the path of a volatile SPECTRE operative, Count Lippe, who ends up trying to kill Bond after overhearing a phone conversation. It's an odd start to the novel, but a now fit and healthy Bond is packed off to Nassau after the British and American governments are blackmailed by SPECTRE. Two nuclear bombs have been stolen from a hijacked Vindicator bomber, which will be used to destroy two major cities unless a £100,000,000 ransom is paid.

Largo is in charge of the operation, using the cover of a treasure hunt and his custom made yacht the Disco Volante. Bond is sent to investigate, much to his annoyance as he sees it as a wild goose chase, and is joined by his old friend Felix Leiter of the CIA (in his biggest role yet), complete with metal hook for a hand (after an encounter with a shark in Live and Let Die). Cue much witty banter between the two agents.

Bond also encounters the beautiful Domino Vitali, Largo's mistress, who turns out to be the sister of the pilot who hijacked the Vindicator. Bond recruits her in his inimitable fashion, setting up an undersea climax to the novel as Largo attempts to position one of the bombs, while tracked by a US nuclear submarine, courtesy of Leiter.

This is a novel heavy on dialogue. Whole chapters are devoted to two people talking. Apart from the Shrublands escapade and the final sea chase, there is little action. Whether the convoluted genesis of the story had any bearing on this, I'm not sure, but it's an oddly structured book, with vast stretches where nothing much happens. Bond reverts to his usual brutish, lady-killer seduction technique. The ending is somewhat perfunctory and Largo, while cruel and imposing, is never really fleshed out as a villain.

So, a bit of a mixed bag, and a step down from the previous novel, Goldfinger.