Thrilling Cities

By Ian Fleming

James Bond in NY. 007 in NY!!! A short story by Ian Fleming, nestled in a book titled Thrilling Cities. Oh man was I excited. Here I thought I had read all of the James Bond books, only to find this “lost” story. (Plus a quick summary of 14 cities by Ian Fleming.)

First the cities. This book was written back in 1963. So much has changed in the world. But I guess Ian Fleming traveled to these cities and then used his experiences in the James Bond books. It was interesting. It was also odd. The reviews told of his meeting friends in some of the cities, visiting an attraction but mostly about hotels and restaurants and what to eat in the restaurant. Well now I know where James Bond gets his exacting tastes. Ian Fleming was a man who knew what he liked. These stories were written for a newspaper and then put into book format.

I guess the biggest thing going against this one for me was that I’m not a big fan of traveling. Weird seeing that I’m a pilot. But I like the flying part, just not so much the once I get their part. Also I once had a subscription to National Geographic Traveler. Not the magazine for me. Stories about where to go and what to do when you get there. So I switched to Adventurer. A much better magazine. I ended the subscription when it started to look more like Traveler but with a focus on what to do at the location. Instead of the adventure articles it started out with. I picked one up a couple of months back and it was still the same. Oh well, I still enjoy the original NG.

Oh and the James Bond In NY story? You shouldn’t have asked. No really, you shouldn’t have asked. Forget you were ever curious to know what he did in NY. Pretend there never was a short story hidden in this travel diary. So you really want to know? Well, when they say a short story, they mean it. Hell it’s only about 6 pages long. More like 5 and a half. It felt like an outline for part of a chapter in a real James Bond book. A humorous way to end a tense day for James. I guess I just wasn’t expecting the big let down that I ended up with. Maybe I built up the idea in my head until there was no way that poor Ian Fleming could have ever satisfied my desire to relive more adventures together with the man with the 00 number. Oh well, live and let die.