Introducing James Bond: charming, sophistocated, handsome; chillingly ruthless and very deadly. This, the first of Fleming's tales of 007, finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called simply "Le Chiffre" - by ruining him at the baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spy-masters to 'retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James - Le Chiffre has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected saviour.