Kendall Giles

At the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James Bond loses the love of his life. Falling into a downward spiral of depression and loneliness, James loses his fire, his will to live, and perhaps, his job.

On one last assignment to see if he has anything left, in You Only Live Twice, by Ian Fleming, James must go to Japan to recover secret spy technology and intercepts by the Japanese. While there, James soon finds himself on the trail of a mysterious and sinister foreigner who has created an island of death, filled with macabre poison plants, piranhas-filled lakes, and scalding lava pits. But James is rejuvenated through the mentor relationship with Tiger Tanaka and the chance for revenge when James discovers something important about the mysterious creator of the island of death. The love of an island fisher girl saves him though, in a very touching side to the typical action-oriented James Bond thriller.

This book finds an end to the Blofeld trilogy, and is actually a very satisfying conclusion. It resolves many of the inner demons inside James, and rekindles the fire that makes our favorite 00-agent tick. We also get to see a bit of the inside of Japanese culture, experienced through the eyes of a British agent.

The plot of the movie version deviates somewhat from the real storyline, but Sean Connery nevertheless provides a commendable rendition of the James we know and love on the silver screen.

Note that reading this book completes part of one task of my 101 Goals in 1001 Days project.