Bond has to out-gamble a Communist paymaster to help dry up the Soviet money machine in France. I adore the concept so much that the premise alone wins this book a fourth star. If it weren't for the high-stakes gambling match, with its inherent risk of funding the enemy, this book would rate about three stars. 
 After the baccarat games, the book shifts to a torture session. There, Casino Royale doesn't age well. Perhaps it was one of the first books to include a graphic, punishing scene. But compared to American Assassin or The Sympathizer, whose authors may well owe something to Fleming, this interrogation was quaint. 
 Then comes a recuperation and love scenes that last much longer than the ones in the Bond movies. This was more contemplative and darker. At first I thought it was dragging on too much, but it comes together and makes sense why the romantic questions had to linger. 
 This is a very respectable book with, again, a brilliant premise. It opens up my understanding of the character of James Bond as a cold, very precise risk-taker.