Year - 1955

Tease - Flamboyant red cropped hair, florid skin, eyes blazing with hate.  This is the face of Hugo Drax, the mystery man behind Moonraker.  A stranger, he came out of nowhere to build England the deadliest weapon ever devised by human brain.  A maniacal genius, he now holds the life of secret agent James Bond in his fiendishly clever hands!

Villain - Sir Hugo Drax, a national hero to the British and the builder of the Moonraker, Britain's first atomic rocket will be tested in a few days at Drax's plant near Kent.  Just one problem, Drax cheats at cards and this is what causes M to have OO7 investigate.

Bond-Girl - Gala Brand, a policewoman who is engaged to be married.  She helps Bond out in the investigation at Drax's plant.  She is somewhat cold and treats her job completely professional.

Minor Characters - M,  Krebs,  Dr. Walters.

Plot - Hugo Drax plans to use his Moonraker rocket to destroy London.

Highlights - The bridge game at Blades, The car chase and newsprint roll ploy, the Pandora's Box background of Hugo Drax and the final countdown of the Moonraker.

Opening Sentence - The two thirty-eights roared simultaneously.

Trivia - Fleming alternated between these two titles Monday's Are Hell and Hell Is Here before settling on Moonraker.  The first American paperback edition was titled Too Hot To Handle. 

1956 Perma Books paperback edition

Personal Comment About This Novel - Although there is little suspense in this novel, Fleming makes up for it in characterization.  Still worth reading even by today's standard.

Jonathan Cape hardcover edition

Dr. Shatterhand's Scale from 1 - 10

"8"

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