Diamonds Are Forever (Paperback)

"Death is forever. But so are diamonds"

Diamond smuggling worth millions of pounds that end up in the pockets of the Italian American 'Spangled Gang' led by Seraffimo Spang and his twin brother Jack, aka Rufus B. Saye, aka ABC,and Bond's attempt to put an end to it, ostensibly by getting, 'into the pipeline', as M would say, but in reality by killing the brothers, is basically all there is to this James Bond novel.

The simple plot on its own doesn't neccesarily detract from the enjoyment of the book, but when coupled with the lack of a central baddie on the lines of Dr No, the overall effect is one of disappointment when compared to some other Bond novels. This in spite of all the standard Fleming fare that is again on display of exotic locations, a feisty but beautiful woman and of course the ubiquitous, one-handed ex-CIA operative, Felix Leiter. The 'believability' of the novel also takes a bit of a knock with some outrageous coincidences (i.e. Felix Leiter just happening to be going to Saratoga races AND Las Vegas at the same time as Bond) and some unintentionally comical villains like the homosexual (daring for 1956 I must say !) Wint & Kidd (who seem to wear black hoods even when relaxing and beat people up wearing football boots), the red-haired hunchback called 'Shady' Tree and Seraffimo Spang who dresses up like Roy Rogers and likes to play at Casey Jones in his own private wild west town. Bond also manages to win the heart of the hard-bitten and cynical Tiffany Case a little too easily as well (for a woman who starts a date with "I'm not going to sleep with you" ending it with a passionate kiss and the words "I don't want to lose you" seems a bit strange. Must have been the champagne.)

Having said all the above I still enjoyed it, as I enjoy all the Ian Fleming novels because of the obvious effort and detail that Fleming puts into all his books. His description of different individuals ('Bond looked into the suety face beside him. The eyes were smiling and cold.') and locale are always masterly, his description of the flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas should be compulsory reading for all tourists and travellers to the region ('Then came more mountains, streaked with red, like gums bleeding over rotten teeth....)

The action scenes are as always well written. The steam engine chase across the night desert landscape is very dramatic and Bond's final confrontation with Wint & Kidd onboard the liner Queen Elizabeth has you wondering 'Who is going to die and how ?'. The final scene of the novel, played out in the darkness of the French Guinea bush is also a worthy climax to what proves to be a particularly violent Bond installment.

All in all a good Bond novel then, not the best by any means, but it is James Bond and it is by Ian Fleming, that in itself is a guarantee of an enjoyable read.