A quick and easy read to get through. I enjoyed this immensely and although I am not a Tom Hiddleston fan, I thought he did an excellent job with the audiobook here. There is a good variety amongst the short stories that are collected here and they include bonds, making his way into the world of fine arts, and Jewelry and they also involve the less glamorous and more dirty part of his job with a tense and gripping stand-off in Berlin at the height of the Cold War. This isn’t Fleming at his best and the bear of melancholy that provides much of Flemings later works is still present here. However it’s not just 007 completist’s that will get a thrill out of this. It’s a worthy investment. ( )

Standard Fleming reservations about Fleming being who he was (sexism, racism, and colonialism are here in full force) are worsened because there are native characters, and an unattractive woman features in one of the stories.

Still, it is fascinating how wide-ranging Fleming's interests and experiences were. It brings out my inner process-nerd to hear discussions of how auctions work or descriptions of the behaviors of fish.

Also, standard notes about the Bond being unlike the one in the movies: he plays detective in one of these stories, and hopes his 00 status gets taken away in another. It's more interesting and complicated than one might expect.

Fleming's prose is lovely, though not quite as sparkling as in the best of his novels. It is still well worth a listen, and would be even if Tom Hiddleston weren't reading it. That Hiddleston does read it, though, elevates the material even further. ( )

I had no idea that this was a collection of four short stories but I sat down to read with some anticipation as I have enjoyed the other Ian Fleming Bond books. This is number 14 in the series according to Goodreads and this meant that I would be jumping from 7. I didn't think this would be an issue as all the Bond books can be read in any order and I was correct in this assumption.

There are four stories in this book, Octopussy, The Living Daylights, The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York. In truth, 007 in New York is only about 5 pages long and was published in a magazine so I wouldn't call it a short story really. 007 in New York is more of an aside and lets the book down a little bit as there is no tension built up. It's more like a bit of rant about why Fleming doesn't like New York.

The other three stories are great pieces of writing with The Property of a Lady being a particular favourite of mine. I think Fleming is at his best when writing about the Cold War and he slowly ratchets the tension up in this story. We also get to see the slightly softer side of Bond which is often overlooked, especially in the movies. I really enjoyed this collection of stories and it was ideal for a Sunday afternoon. ( )

It’s a mixed bag like any short story collection but I can’t give the book that contains “The Living Daylights” – one of the finest spy stories ever written – anything less than five stars. ( )

Yesterday I didn't need to go anywhere, but I did have loads of household stuff to get done, so it was the perfect time for donning the wireless headphones and listening to an audiobook (or two) while I went about my domestic goddess tasks. Since the AlphaKIT letters for March are F and I, an Ian Fleming novel makes for a perfect fit. In my James Bond reading, I was ready for book 14 in the series, and as luck would have it, this one is narrated by Tom Hiddleston. Did I mention Tom Hiddleston!!! LOVE him. He was a perfect fit. This one is a collection of short stories containing "Octopussy", "The Property of a Lady", "The Living Daylights" and "007 in New York". Although the stories were written previously, they were not compiled into this collection until after Fleming's death. The audiobook has Hiddleston reading the first three stories, followed by a short interview with him talking about loving these books when he discovered them as a teenager - so great! The final story is read by Lucy Fleming (Ian Fleming's niece), and she does a good job of introducing it and narrating it. I like the contrast we see of the Bond in the books as compared to the Bond of the films - he is less suave, less perfect, and he doesn't always get the girl. This collection is a nice entry in the series where we get to see Bond in an almost offhand manner - just going about his business as an employee of the Secret Service. ( )