Summary- Sir Maxwell Tarn is a powerful billionaire. Bond and Flicka happen to be on a cruise aboard one of his commercial yachts when it is attacked. Bond helps stop the burglary. Later, Tarn is revealed to be a weapons dealer. Bond uses the yacht incident to get his foot in the door, meeting Tarn. It is his job to lure Tarn into the open so that he can be apprehended. Bond, however, discovers that Tarn is mad, and envisions himself as the next fuhrer. To make himself look like a hero, Tarn hired three scientists to invent a way to stop oil spills. Then he plans to torpedo one of the world's largest oil tankers and then to "save" everyone by stopping the oil spill. The invention doesn't work, but Tarn, being crazy, refuses to believe this and plans to go ahead with the plan. Bond, with some help from the American's, especially Felix Leiter, blows up Tarn's submarine and kills Tarn. My Grade- A This novel is another great one. It looks as if Gardner is going out with a bang. (I have only one novelization and one novel to read before having read all his Bond books.) Not only is Felix Leiter, possibly my favorite supporting character in any Bond movie or novel, back, but so is Flicka. Flicka was introduced last novel, and is developed even more in this one. She is a really great character. Bond even proposes to her! I'll have to wait until the next book to see how that plays out. Best Moment- The best moment of this book is at the very end, when Bond learns that Flicka is still alive. I have noticed, as I'm sure many have, that the women Bond really cares about end up dead. I am glad that Flicka has survived. I am really looking forward to seeing what ultimately happens to her character.
