I’ve linked to these reviews before. Keith Phipps got a “box of paperbacks” at a garage sale, from which he periodically reviews an older and/or obscure book. There were several Bond books in the box.

Now he’s reviewing Goldfinger. It’s a smart review, he hits the high points and low points.

When writers of literary fiction repeat themselves it’s called a theme. When genre writers do it they get called lazy. Here I think it’s a bit of both. As in Moonraker, Fleming suggests that anyone who cheats on trivial matters can’t be trusted. A bit of rot on the outside of the apple invariably hides a deeper flaw within. Today’s card cheat has within him or her is tomorrow’s backstabber. It’s a simple, even priggish point of view. It’s also one I largely share.

That’s insightful about both Fleming and litcrit in general.