Fleming Ian. Casino Royale (James Bond #1)

Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1953. --128 p.British Secret Service agent James Bond, a.k.a. 007, is sent to play in a high-stakes baccarat game in an effort to take down Le Chiffre, a financier for the villainous SMERSH. Things get more complex when Bond is partnered with Vesper Lynd, a beautiful and smart MI6 employee with a dark secret.In the first of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, 007 declares war on Le Chiffre. The battle begins with a fifty-million-franc game of baccarat, gains momentum during Bond's fiery love affair with a sensuous lady spy, and reaches a chilling climax with fiendish torture at the hands of a master sadist.James Bond is one of the most iconic characters in 20th-century literature. In addition to the 12 novels and 9 short stories written by Ian Fleming, there have been over 40 novels and short stories written about the spy by other authors, and 26 films produced, starring actors such as Sean Connery and Daniel Craig as 007.