Live and Let Die is the second James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, first published in 1954.

Live and Let Die is considered one of Fleming’s most controversial novels due to its depiction of black people. In 2002 for the first time in the United States since the book was published, the original title of chapter five (“Nigger Heaven”) was used.

Besides the 1973 film of the same name, major plot elements from this novel appeared in two other Bond films: For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Licence to Kill (1989).

Plot summary: James Bond 007 is sent to New York City to investigate Mr Big, an underworld voodoo leader who is suspected by M of selling 17th century gold coins to finance Soviet spy operations in America. These gold coins have been turning up in Harlem and Florida and are suspected of being part of a treasure that was buried in Jamaica by the Welsh pirate Sir Henry Morgan. Although Bond was reluctant to take on the mission when he was briefed, Bond’s attitude quickly changes upon learning that Mr Big is an agent of SMERSH and that this mission offers him a chance of retaliation for previously being tortured by SMERSH operative Le Chiffre and branded on his hand by Le Chiffre’s SMERSH assassin in Casino Royale.

In Harlem, Bond meets up with his counterpart in the CIA, Felix Leiter, and the two are captured by Mr Big where Bond is subsequently quizzed by Big’s fortune telling-girlfriend, Solitaire. After escaping with Solitaire, they all go to St Petersburg, Florida where they confirm in a warehouse that Mr Big is indeed smuggling 17th century coins underneath sand in fish tanks. While at the warehouse, Solitaire is recaptured by Big’s minions and Leiter loses an arm and a leg after being fed to a shark.

Bond continues his mission in Jamaica where he meets Quarrel and John Strangways, the head of station in Jamaica. Later Bond swims through shark and barracuda infested waters to Mr Big’s island and manages to plant a limpet mine on the hull of his boat before being captured once again by Mr Big. In the grand finale, Big ties both Solitaire and Bond up to his boat and attempts to drag them over the shallow coral reef, however, they are saved once Bond’s limpet mine explodes.

See also:

• Bond novels: Ian Fleming