/ Literary 007 / 1954 - Live And Let Die /

Summary

Written by Dave Winter on 02 Feb, 2002

Ian Fleming’s second and most controversial novel was Live And Let Die. Originally released in Great Britain on 5 April 1954.

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ASSIGNMENT: Danger

HE’S MR. BIG, the most powerful criminal in the world…head of the Black Widow Voodoo Cult… high-ranking member of the Soviet murder organization SMERSH.

HIS BASE OF OPERATIONS stretches from Harlem to the West Indies. His henchmen are terror and fear.

HE MUST BE DESTROYED.

ONLY ONE MAN CAN DO IT.

AND THAT MAN IS YOU, JAMES BOND. If you succeed, you will break a crucial link in the Soviet spy chain. But we need not warn you that if you fail…your penalty will be death-the most horrifying death the fiendishly clever Mr. Big has ever devised.

Inside of Signet paperback edition

‘On reflection, I expect you to say the little finger of your left hand’ continued the soft voice. ‘Tee-hee break the little finger of Mr. Bond’s left hand.’

The negro showed the reason for his nickname.

‘Hee-hee,’ he gave a falsetto giggle. ‘Hee-hee.’

He walked jauntily over to Bond. Bond clutched madly at the arms of his chair. Sweat started to break out on his forehead. He tried to imagine the pain so he could control it.

The negro slowly unhinged the little finger of Bond’s left hand, immovably bound to the arm of his chair.

He held the tip between finger and thumb and very deliberately started to bend it back, giggling inanely to himself.

Bond rolled and heaved, trying to upset the chair, but Tee-Hee put his other hand on the chair-back and held it there. The sweat poured off Bond’s face. His teeth started to bare in an involuntary rictus. Through the increasing pain he could just see the girl’s eyes wide upon him, her red lips slightly parted.

The finger stood upright, away from the hand. Started to bend slowly backwards toward his wrist. Suddenly it gave. There was a sharp crack.

‘That will do,’ said Mr. Big.

Chapter 8, Live And Let Die