Following on from my Dr No review , I stuck my next audiobook into the CD player in my car for the long commutes to and from work. It is another Bond novel, as I got three Bond audiobooks – Dr No, The Man with the Golden Gun and Goldfinger – in an offer. The Man with the Golden Gun turned out to be a thrilling way to start and finish my day.
As with Dr No, I have never seen the film The Man with the Golden Gun and therefore cannot compare the two. Jim tells me they are good films and along with Goldfinger, I plan to see all three before too long.
The Man with the Golden Gun starts rather dramatically with Bond attempting to kill M after being brainwashed by the Soviet secret service. After recovering from this brainwashing, M decides to make Bond prove himself. He does this by sending Bond to assassinate a gunman in the Caribbean: Scaramanga. Mr Scaramanga is a bloodthirsty individual who has killed several agents previously usually using the titular golden gun.
The following novel is a thrilling escapade with Bond having to use his wits to avoid Scaramanga identifying him for who he really is and killing him. There are others out for Bond’s blood and conveniently they have gathered with Scaramanga in a hotel in Jamaica. The ensuing espionage, shooting, bluffing and murder make for an excellent spy and adventure novel.
Compared to Dr No, The Man with the Golden Gun was a lot shorter. This length difference wasn’t very noticeable but the difference in action was. The Man with the Golden Gun had less adventure and physical action than its predecessor and occasionally lacked the enthusiasm of the other novel. That said, I still enjoyed very word, just not as much as Dr No.
A quintessential Bond novel, The Man with the Golden Gun is complete with sneaking around, gun fights, a Bond girl and an eccentric villain. Every Bond fan should read this novel.
Kat