Smoke and Mirrors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mr Big

The second in the series of James Bond books by Ian Fleming is "Live and Let Die" (1954), and the action is centred in London, the United States and Jamaica. Mr Big, real name Buonaparte Ignace Gallia, is a threat to the First World thanks to his links with organised crime (in the US), SMERSH (a terrorist arm of the Russian Secret Service) and voodoo, where he is the leader of potent sect. Mr Big is funding his operations by smuggling 17th century gold coins out of the Caribbean in the bases of fish tanks holding poisonous tropical fish. He meets his end when Bond destroys his boat and he is attacked by sharks and barracuda.

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Answer: Role of Honour

When Bond receives a large inheritance, nay-sayers crawl out of the woodwork, accusing him of a range of improprieties, which eventually lead to him being kicked out of the Secret Service. Without work, Bond puts the word out that he's "available" and this draws SPECTRE to his door. Initially meeting with Jay Autem Holy, he is eventually introduced to Tamil Rahani and finds himself involved in a plot to disarm the USA's nuclear capacity and provide Russia with a significant advantage in the Cold War. Bond's initial dismissal was a set-up and he denies SPECTRE their victory and, in the process, he captures Rahini. Rahini escapes, but is seriously injured, which leaves him with cancer of the spine and not very long to live. He resurfaces in Gardner's next novel, "Nobody Lives Forever" (1986), where he places a large bounty on Bond's head but is killed by Bond courtesy of a planted "bed bomb".

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Answer: Two hands

In the novel, the prosthetic hands are merely pincers. How Dr No got them is part of his back story. He was the issue of a German missionary and a Chinese girl. He worked for a Chinese crime syndicate in New York City and stole a million dollars in gold from them. They tracked him down, cut off his hands and shot him through the left side of the chest, but wait! Dr No had dextrocardia - his heart was on the right side of his chest so he survived. And then he met Mr Bond....

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Answer: The Hildebrand Rarity

"The Hildebrand Rarity" is one of three short stories that appear in the 1960 collection published as "For Your Eyes Only". The "rarity" in this story proves to be a fish that Bond, who is on assignment in the Seychelles, and his associate, Fidele Barbey, are goaded into searching for by Krest. On the fishing trip Bond finds Krest to be a loudmouth drunk, who abuses the people around him and beats his wife with a stingray tail, which he calls "the corrector". They do find the fish, but Krest kills it by poisoning the water it's in. He proceeds to insult his guests that night and threatens his wife. The next morning Bond finds Krest dead, by having the Hildebrand Rarity stuffed down his throat. He can only suspect that it was either Krest's wife or Barbey who committed the deed. Not wanting to be compromised and subjected to a murder investigation, he covers their tracks by throwing Krest's body overboard.

(Footnote) The name Milton Krest is later used as the secondary antagonist in the film "Licence to Kill" (1989). In this film, he is a narcotics smuggler for the Sanchez cartel, and he's portrayed by Anthony Zerbe. The novelisation of that film was written by John Gardner.

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Answer: From Russia, With Love

Klebb is a supervisor in Department II of SMERSH, which controls executions. She is described as being five foot four in height, in her late forties, with lesbian tendencies and unattractive. At this point Bond has been responsible for the deaths of three of SMERSH's top agents - Mr Big, Le Chiffre and Hugo Drax. SMERSH wants Bond dead and humiliated in the process. Klebb is directed to spearhead the operation and is provided with agents Tatiana Romanova, a cypher clerk to be used as the bait, and Red Grant, a KGB assassin, to complete the task. The mission fails, but Klebb manages to stab Bond with a poisoned blade hidden in her shoe. At this point the Deuxieme Bureau, led by Bond's friend René Mathis, arrives and captures Klebb. At this point Bond falls down dead.

(Footnote) That was how Fleming finished off "From Russia, With Love" (1957). He had fully intended to kill off Bond at this point and complete the series, however, he returns his hero in the next novel, "Dr. No" (1958) where we are informed that Mathis' timely intervention saved Bond's life and Klebb is dead without any further explanation.

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Answer: Goldfinger

The novel "Goldfinger" was originally titled "The Richest Man in the World". In it, James Bond thwarts Auric Goldfinger's attempt to corner the gold market by stealing the gold reserves in Fort Knox. Interestingly, Goldfinger's name was based on the English architect Erno Goldfinger, an architect who'd built a home near Fleming's property, and who would later sue Fleming for the use of his name. The novel was adapted into a popular film in 1964 that starred Sean Connery as James Bond and Gert Fröbe as Goldfinger.

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Answer: The Living Daylights

"The Living Daylights" is a short story that appeared in the collection "Octopussy & The Living Daylights" (1966). The main antagonist is a KGB agent by the code name "Trigger" whose mission it is to shoot a Russian defector. Bond wounds her and she escapes.

Blofeld is a massive man, standing at six foot three and is the head of the criminal organisation known as SPECTRE. He is often referred to by the codename "Number One" and his sole aspiration is world domination. In "Thunderball" (1961) he holds the world to ransom with the aid of two stolen atomic bombs. In "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (OHMSS) (1963) he develops a deadly virus to wipe out world livestock holdings, and in "You Only Live Twice" (1964) he creates a "Garden of Death" where he entices the depressed to commit suicide and charges them a fee as a means to raise money for his organisation. In "OHMSS" he assassinates Bond's wife, but is strangled to death by Bond in "You Only Live Twice".

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Answer: Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Bond and Cedar Leiter, daughter of Bond's good friend Felix Leiter, team up to investigate Markus Bismaquer, whom they suspect is looking to revive the long dead SPECTRE organisation. Bond infiltrates Bismaquer's inner circle, where he falls for the man's frustrated wife, Nena. When his true identity is discovered, Bond is brainwashed by Nena into believing that he is a high ranking NORAD official and becomes part of the Bismaquer plan to take over the US's space satellites. Ironically, Nena's spell is broken by her husband, who has homosexual tendencies and has fallen for Bond. Nena kills her husband, revealing that she is Blofeld's daughter and the real brains behind the operation but, in the process, is crushed to death by her pet pythons.

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Answer: The Number

Le Chiffre is the paymaster for the "Syndicat des Ouvriers d'Alsace", a SMERSH-run trade union. He has a background as a prisoner of war and owns a stateless passport. He adopts the name Le Chiffre because he says, he is "only a number on a passport". In the novel he invests in brothels but loses all of SMERSH's money. He attends a casino in Royale-les-Eaux in Northern France to try to win back his money but James Bond is sent to the casino to ensure he does not win. Of course Bond wins at Chemin de Fer, a version of baccarat, and Le Chiffre loses big time.

Ian Fleming based his Le Chiffre on British Satanist Aleister Crowley. Le Chiffre is described as five foot eight inches tall and weighing in at eighteen stone. Casting of Peter Lorre in the 1954 TV adaptation of the book was close to Fleming's description. Casting of Mads Mikkelson, six foot and twelve stone, in the 2006 movie was not.

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Answer: The Man with the Golden Gun

"The Man with the Golden Gun" was an Ian Fleming novel published posthumously in 1965. The story picks up after the events of "You Only Live Twice" (1964), where Bond has disappeared at the conclusion. In the new story he has found his way to London but, unbeknownst to MI6, via the Soviet Union where he had been brainwashed and programmed to assassinate M. The attempt fails and Bond is cured by the doctors. In order to prove his worth again, Bond is given the seemingly impossible assignment to kill Scaramanga, a man that MI6 believe has killed several British agents.

Francisco (Paco) "Pistols" Scaramanga is of Catalan descent, with a father who was a circus owner. Scaramanga performed trick shots for the show and turned to crime after witnessing his father being gunned down by the police. MI6 label him as the finest shot in the world and their dossier indicates that he always shoots his victims through the heart. After working for criminal gangs in Nevada he is forced to flee the USA for Cuba, where he becomes an assassin for hire, generating most of his work with Castro's Secret Police. Bond catches up with Scaramanga and shoots him through the heart.

"Scorpius" (1988) and "The Man from Barbarossa" (1991) are James Bond novels that were written by John Gardner and "The Man with the Red Tattoo" (2002) is a Bond novel written by Raymond Benson.

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