The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning.Cinema's longest-running franchise, James Bond made his debut in this 1953 novel by Ian Fleming. The unstoppable British agent is dispatched to the French casino Royale-les-Eaux, where he must bankrupt the dissolute and sadistic spy Le Chiffre, in the hope that this Russian pawn will beretiredby his paymasters. It will require more than luck, however; after a brutal night at the gaming tables, Bond finds himself dodging would-be assassins, fighting off torturers, and trying to save the life of his beautiful female counterpart, Vesper Lynd.