Matthew Lovely

A good Bond book, a satisfactory continuation after Fleming's death. Plenty of action, fun supporting characters, unique concepts for Bond, just a few pacing issues. The middle section is a little long and the boat location overstays its welcome. Sun is both a fun and threatening villain and he's used sparingly- makes his presence hold more weight and helps his personality stand out. The torture scene is good but doesn't go quite far enough- for all Sun threatens Bond with he doesn't get to go through with a lot of it. It does make Bond hallucinate a bit, which I assumed the amazing cover art was referencing, but again it doesn't really go much farther than drowsiness and a repetition of words ("don't judge by the cover" holds true here). This scene was adapted into the 2015 Bond film Spectre, and it's fun to see it's origin.