Casino Royale was the first James Bond thriller, published in 1953. When reading this book, one must keep in mind that it was a different time, with different attitudes, values, and concepts.
James Bond, an agent for MI-5, is sent to northern France, to the Casino at Royale-Les-Eaux, to try and bankrupt Le Chiffre, a member of the Soviet secret service, and the treasurer of a French trade union controlled by SMERSH (the Soviet Secret Service), playing high stakes baccarat.
He is accompanied by Vesper Lynd, the assistant to the Head of Section S (the Soviet Union) of MI-5.
Bond has a poor opinion of Vesper, and of women in general, thinking they are a nuisance and not suitable for espionage. This attitude is prevalent throughout the book.
René Mathis, from the French Deuxième, and Felix Leiter, from the American CIA, are sent as observers. They both have pivotal roles in the events in this story. Both Mathis and Leiter return in other books about Bond.
Not wanting to give away the plot, and the twists and turns, I won't go into the details, but there is an exciting baccarat game, a chase scene, torture, death, romance and betrayal, not necessarily in that order.
The book is quite different from the movie, but is a great read. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Casino, and of the different characters. It kept me interested to the end. I particularly liked the baccarat game, and the change in Bond during his convalescence after the adventure.
I would recommend this book, with the caveat that it was created in the early 1950's, and reflects the attitude of the era.
This book fulfills requirement #7. World Traveler category of the Vintage Mystery Challenge 2013
read January 1-5, 2013
This is also one of the books in Mt Blanc TBR Challenge1 out of 24.
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