Dr. No

by Ian Fleming Book 6 in the James Bond 007 series.

First published 1958

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4.4(4,505)

After the disappearance of the British Secret Service station chief in Jamaica, Bond is sent to investigate what appears to be a minor colonial posting gone wrong. The trail leads to Crab Key, a privately controlled island dominated by the reclusive Dr Julius No. With Quarrel and Honeychile Rider, Bond crosses a landscape of swamps, reefs and industrial secrecy to learn what No is protecting.

The island conceals a technical operation intended to disrupt American missile tests by radio interference. Bond’s confrontation with Dr No turns a local disappearance into a Cold War security case linking Jamaica, British intelligence and United States defence technology. The characters and plot are fictional, while the colonial setting and missile-testing anxieties belong to the late 1950s.