Rating: 4 out of 5
The 11th book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series begins with Bond drafting his third attempt on a letter of resignation. For the past year in Bond's life, he has been playing detective trying to track down Blofeld, the former number 2 in the SMERSH organization (before SMERSH was disseminated after operation Thunderball). After going no were with the case and repeated attempts to return to his normal double-oh work, Bond figures his only way out of his monotonous nightmare is to resign. On his way back to headquarters, Bond makes a stop at Casino Royale and falls in love with a beautiful girl, Tracy, who happens to be the daughter of the head of the largest European crime syndicate, Marc-Ange Draco. Marc-Ange, after finding out how Bond saved his daughter's life at the hotel casino, does a favor for Bond by finding out Blofeld is alive and living in a remote area of Switzerland.
With this new information, Bond's faith in his service is renewed. He must go undercover as an officer of the College of Arms (a heraldic authority in Europe) in order to gain access to Blofeld's secret hideaway. Bond barely escapes with his life thanks, in part, to the help of Tracy (to whom which he eventually becomes engaged). After learning that Blofeld is involved with Biological Warfare, Bond must meet with Marc-Ange to come up with a plan to stop Blofeld once and for all...
Overall, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a great book with a few interesting twists that are not present in the other books of the series. A good rebound from the The Spy Who Loved Me interlude.