Product Description

Tiffany Case is the sort of beautiful, devil-may-care blonde who could get a man into deep trouble - if he wanted.She stands between James Bond and the leaders of a diamond-smuggling ring that stretches from Africa via London to the States. Bond uses her to infiltrate this gang, but once in America the hunter becomes the hunted. Bond is in real danger until help comes from an unlikely quarter..

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29077 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Born in London in 1908, Ian Fleming worked variously as a banker and journalist before serving in the British Naval Intelligence during World War II. He published his first novel CASINO ROYALE in 1953 and thus started the astoundingly successful James Bond novels and films. Fleming died in 1964.

Customer Reviews

Yep, it is a classic
I first read this when I was in my teans and now I am in my mid-forties I thought it was time for a revisit. I'm a Bond fan, love the films and have read all the various books from Fleming through to Benson and I have to admit I was surprised how much I had forgotten about this book, my memories having been tarnished by the film and the more modern versions of Bond.
Initially I was astonished how old this book was (1956!) and this is more of a detective story with a Bond that is over confident and too casual at times who is at odds with the emerging American mob.
In many ways it does show its age, and this adds to the charm.
Well worth reading to remind oneself where and how it all started...

Diamonds Are Forever - An Enjoyable 007 Thriller
I think this may be the most underrated James Bond book by Ian Fleming. It literally is a thrilling read. While not his very best, it is a true gem, just with some rough edges.

Tiffany Case is one terrific leading lady by Fleming, one of his better ones, I think. A woman with a strong wall surrounding her for the most part, and one that you do not get to call all the shots with. She goes through quite a change in the story from being the frosty version we meet with Bond's alias of Peter Franks to the much happier one during their nighttime escape and Queen Elizabeth trip.

If there is one problem with this book, it is the obvious one, the villains. Yes, they are hardly some of Fleming's best. Jack and Serrafimo Spang, the beginning and end of the pipeline from England/Africa to the USA, while described as being some of the toughest of the bunch, and made out to be quite the villains, are never given enough actual time in the book to show off exactly what they are. Serrafimo gets a few minimal scenes with Bond, and Jack is....to save for spoilers...hardly in the book much at all. Wint and Kidd are fairly good though. They receive a general amount of time to be shown as a threat to Bond, as odd as they both may be.

The location switching is often claimed as a huge fault of this book, I even used to always harp on that myself, but I've come to see that it really doesn't bother me much at all. London and the USA are done fairly well for me, and I really, really love the moving around in this book. I like reading about the Tiara in the US, and the House of Diamonds, it just feels like a James Bond book.

Very excellent little aspect in this book...

A strong story overall, at times it gets murky, such as in the horse racing, and that sort, but I don't think anything in this story detracts too heavily from the overall plot.

Death is Forever. Diamonds are Forever. And this book is Forever. 4/5

Not as good as others, but one hell of a read,
I've read almost the entire Bond sereis and among all these books, Daimonds stands out. Why does it emerge as an almost seperate book, its style. this story is told less like Flemmings very british thriller and more like an american effort. Though this is well accomplished you feel a little cheated. The plot is also quite odd, daimonds are being smuggled out of seira leon (which belonged to Britain at the time) and this makes for good reading but leaves the question as to why Bond was needed. The characters a uniform Flemming creations, but not as inteligent as those of ,say, From Russia With Love. It's a thriller but if your not a Bond fan I suggest You start elsewhere.