MOONRAKER (Ian Fleming) - March 25/08

I think I started this one sometime last summer and I've just now finished it, if that's any indication. Actually, the book improved substantially in its final 100 pages. But the opening 150 or so, dedicated to scenes of Bond flirting with secretaries, playing cards opposite Drax, and (especially) long descriptions of the Moonraker, are just interminable. Fortunately, there reaches a point at which the whole thing turns into a typical Bond effort - complete with an almost absurdly long scene where the villain describes his motives (this is topped by the moment in which he basically tells everyone in London they'll be killed and they applaud anway). **1/2 out of ****