The third ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel by Ian Fleming, released in 1955.

The novel involves a revenge seeking invidual named Hugo Drax developing a ballistic missile for the British Government, with the intention of nuking London [[MnogoNukes with Soviet help]]. [[BellisariosMaxim Try not to think]] [[CommieNazis about that too much]] and note the brilliant NewEraSpeech instead.

The eleventh Bond film has very little to do with the book, only sharing its title and the BigBad's name.

!!This novel contains examples of:
* AteHisGun: Egon Bartsch, the scientist who killed the original chief of security of Drax's base.
* BeardnessProtectionProgram: Drax has his underlings shave their heads and grow moustaches, meaning they can later disguise themselves by shaving off their moustaches and letting their hair grow out.
* BedsheetLadder: Bond fakes one up to cover the fact that he and Gala are still in the base.
* BottleEpisode: This is the only novel to be set entirely inside the United Kingdom; in fact the action never leaves London and Kent.
* CommieNazis: Drax turns out to be in league with the Soviets, more out of convenience than ideology however. Why the Soviets would trust a former Nazi with a nuclear weapon is not explained.
* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: Hugo Drax is really a Nazi officer who adopted the identity of one of the countless British servicemen missing in action in the aftermath a large battle in WorldWarTwo. The identity he assumes was that of an orphan with no close friends.
* CoolCar: Drax drives a Mercedes 300 S, which Bond describes as "ruthless and majestic". 007 himself owns a 1930 Bentley Coupé, in which he chases Drax towards the end of the book.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Drax chooses to dispose of Bond and Gala Brand by leaving them to be incinerated by the Moonraker's exhaust on lift-off. Incidentally, this is one of the few bits that made it into the 1979 film.
* DamselInDistress: Gala Brand is a notable aversion; she proves to be as important to foiling Drax's plot as Bond ([[spoiler:it's actually her that discovers that the rocket is to be fired at London]]) and while she does get captured, Bond also does shortly afterwards.
* DeepCoverAgent: [[spoiler: Drax, in reality a former Nazi soldier, has masqueraded as a proud, distinguishable Briton for the past several years after he was "rescued" in his British military disguise, stole the identity of a missing British soldier, and faked amnesia to justify not remembering his pre-World War II life.]]
* DidNotGetTheGirl: Because as it turns out, [[spoiler: she's engaged to another man]]. This results in a BittersweetEnding.
* TheDragon: Willy Krebs.
* GratuitousGerman: A lot of dubious German is (naturally) used, as ex-Nazi villains play a prominent part. Most memorably, Krebs and Drax's other henchmen will frequently address their boss as "''Herr Kapitän''," or "Captain." The problem is that Drax was an infantry captain in the ''Heer'', and later ''Waffen-SS'' in his glory days, while ''Kapitän'' specifically denotes a ''naval'' captain in German. Better researched Nazis would have addressed Drax either as ''Herr Hauptmann'' (an army captain) or ''Hauptsturmführer'' (an SS captain).
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Drax is killed when the Russian submarine he and his cohorts are escaping in is blown out of the water by the Moonraker, which Bond and Gala have redirected back onto its original North Sea target.]]
* IShallTauntYou: Bond does this to Hugo Drax in a desperate attempt to make him leave behind a blowtorch (intended for torture) that can be used to burn through Bond's ropes. It works.
* LiteralAsskicking: When Bond finds Krebs rummaging through his stuff, he gives a swift kick to the arse.
* MadScientist: Dr. Walter.
* MotiveRant: Drax gives Bond an epic one when he has him tied up and defenceless. Bond responds by taunting Drax into a VillainousBreakdown, which gives him the opportunity he needs to free himself and Gala.
* NewEraSpeech
* RansackedRoom: Both Bond and Gala are victims of Kleb's ransacking during their stay at the Moonraker base, with Gala noting that her [[ReadingtheEnemysMail mail has been tampered with]].
* ThoseWackyNazis
* TortureTechnician: Krebs and possibly Dr. Walter, as described by Drax. Fortunately, we never get to see them exercising their talents.
* UltimateDefenceOfTheRealm
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Drax is revered by the British public as a great patriot, who is using his enormous wealth to gift Britain her own nuclear defence system. In fact, he is a Nazi in the guise of a British citizen who plans to use the missile to destroy London.
* WackyWaysideTribe: The Blades sequence has no impact on the main rocket missile plot, although it does serve as an extended intro for Sir Hugo Drax, as well as giving M some much-needed characterisation.
* WeaponizedExhaust: One of the few scenes from the novel to make it into the movie.
* WorldWarII: The background for many of the novel's events.
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