Disappointing

 

It was 1964 when, as a middle teen, I discovered Ian Fleming. He is, of course, the author of the James Bond series and the first of many books that make up the vastly successful franchise. Ironically, that was also the year in which he died. I read every one of his books, but not the subsequent books in the series written by other authors.

Now along comes Damian Stevenson who is cashing in on Bond's popularity by writing a series of novels based on the life of Ian Fleming. The Bond character was created out of the imagination as well as the real life experiences of Fleming who played a vital roll in England's repelling of Nazi Germany. Of course, you know they were vastly fictionalized, and modernized, if you have read the books or seen even one of the movies. And in keeping with this tradition, Stevenson has created a much larger than life Ian Fleming who is more like a super hero than a down to earth secret operative.

I was disappointed to say the least. I was expecting a real life account of WWII espionage and what I got was comic book scenarios and impossible scrapes and last second escapes.

The plot, put quite simply, regards the fate of the French Navy after Hitler invades France, but there is too much illogical sequencing in the story to make it even remotely realistic. The wall to wall action is over the top and unbelievable. The first installment of the chronicles, Operation Armada is a free Kindle download, presumably an enticement to purchase subsequent episodes. I, for one, will not be doing this.

How it got so many 5 star reviews on "goodreads" is beyond me.

I give it 2 1/2 stars at best.