It really bothers me that there is a difference of 142 pages between this edition and the other one. Especially because on my kindle it's not showing up page numbers. This book felt really long but if it was only 242 pages then that wasn't the case.

I wanted to like this more than I did. But I don't know that it's because the book was bad as such. I loved the first lot of Young Bond books. And a lot of what I loved about them isn't present in the second half of the series. Bond is getting older, he's no longer at Eton or England for that matter and none of my favourite characters appeared. The book was a little boring but I think it was mostly that I'm reading for nostalgia of sorts and this is now a completely different series. I never really connected with Hugo or Jagua and I didn't care at all about Hardiman. James' relationship with Hardiman seemed very forced and awkward. I didn't like it.

And although I haven't given up on the series I can't quite bring myself to rate more than 2 stars. It just felt flat. ( )

I may provide a more in-depth review later, but I did want to note one of the best Easter Eggs so far in a Young Bond novel. At one point in the story, Bond is searching a room and comes across a manuscript for a book. The manuscript does not have an author, but the title is "A Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies". You'll know if you are a real Bond fan if you can explain this Easter Egg (without looking it up, of course!). ( )