Live and Let Die

A James Bond Novel

By: Ian Fleming

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

Read by Adjoa Andoh

LEGENDARY AGENT JAMES BOND CONFRONTS AN ENEMY UNLIKE ANY HE’S FACED BEFORE

James Bond is not an easily intimidated man, but it’s hard not to feel unnerved in the presence of Mr. Big. A ruthless Harlem gangster who uses superstition and fear to control his vast criminal empire, he’s also one of SMERSH’s top American operatives.

Mr. Big has been smuggling British pirate treasure to New York from a remote Jamaican island and funneling the proceeds to Moscow. With help from Solitaire, Mr. Big’s beautiful and enigmatic Creole fortune teller, and his old friend Felix Leiter of the CIA, 007 must locate the crime lord’s hideout, sabotage his operation, and reclaim the pirate hoard for England.

©1954 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

James Bond is a badass

I've always been a huge bond fan but just recently I've started listening to the books and they didn't disappoint at all

As an American, I have no clue what that American accent is supposed to be.

The reader is absolutely charming until she does the “American” accent. I’ve never heard that accent from any state.

Narrator choice

Who knows what goes thru someone’s mind when choosing a female narrator for one of the most male characters in literature? Aside from this wild miscasting, this narrator brings nothing to the listening experience except groans when her accents for characters keep one from engaging with the story. I cannot really rate this novel because it didn’t resemble any other audio productions of Fleming’s Bond. Too sad.

Live and let die.

Great story. I think this Ian Fleming fellow has a great future in writing. Liked that James Bond guy too. 😊

It's Bond.....But

The second recording of the Bond Collection was good, but not great. This particular novel was not one of my favorites and unfortunately the narration did not change my opinion. As much as I admire Adjoa Andoh's immense talent, this was not the right story for her. She did a good job but listening to Bond with a woman's voice made it difficult to stay interested. I tried to keep an open mind about a female narrator, but kept thinking this should be narrated by a male. Maybe if she had done the female parts and a male did the rest of the narration, I would have been more involved with the story. Overall it was good, but....

One thing this narration did was bring back memories of when I was in New Orleans when the movie was being filmed and Roger Moore debuted as James Bond. I was lucky to see part of the filming and it will be something I will not forget.

Enjoyable

Despite some of the sexist reviewers, I rather enjoy the narrator. A story about a male, even an iconic one, can be told by anyone. The story itself is wonderful, and I'm definitely enjoying it.

A Rough Bond Audiobook

I spent much of the book thinking about what I would leave as a review. The story itself was great. The second in the series and learning more about who Bond is. If you're a fan of the movies you'll note parts of the story that are the same and others that they used in other films.

Performance wise, many of the other reviews are correct with their assessment. This is more like a radio drama at times then an audio book. The character voices at times are thick and hard to understand and do not quite land. She was very skilled performer, but don't feel like it worked for this project.

What is very odd to me is that not long ago there were several different versions of the Bond books available by Audible which have all been taken down. I've been reading rave reviews about the Simon Vance narrated audiobooks from several years beck. Blackstone is still releasing these new, edited versions and quite honestly, I don't know if I'll try the next in the series, Moonraker.

If you want my recommendation, save your credit for a different novel or series and find a 2000s copy of these audio books.

Good and amusing

The narrator did a fine job on most of the characters but a few were a little off and kind of silly. Felix Leiter was portrayed very different from what I'm used to and imagine. It seemed quite clear the narrator was British and did better with those accents. Not an easy book to narrate. Overall I found it entertaining.

DO NOT MISS!

A fantastic book with an outstanding narrator. While it took me a minute to get used to the narrator's voice I found her voice acting sublime for this gruesome thriller!

Distractingly bad performance of a great story

It’s really a shame that one of Ian Fleming’s most iconic stories is so hard to listen to due to such a terrible performance. Ideally the reader adds to and makes the story better. At the very least, they should be transparent. But in this case, the reader actively distracts and detracts from the story, making it hard to listen so. So disappointing.