Doctor No by Ian Fleming is a James Bond novel. This novel begins where the last left off, with James Bond recovering from poison injected into his shin by a Russian SMERSH officer. M is concerned that Bond is not up to returning to his job so he sends him to Jamaica on what he believes will be an easy assignment. However, the assignment proves to be one of the most difficult Bond has ever encountered, both physically and mentally. Doctor No is a novel that will push Bond to his limits and will prove highly entertaining for both die-hard fans and readers new to the Bond saga.

M calls Bond into his office and tells him that he is concerned with his ability to return to the job after allowing himself to be injured by a Russian SMERSH officer. M announces that he expects Bond to change weapons, since his small Berretta proved to be ineffective in his struggle with the Russian. After a new weapon is chosen, M sends Bond to Jamaica to find out what happened to a Secret Service agent there who is reported to have run off with his secretary. M believes that this is exactly what has happened and that the assignment will essentially be a vacation in the sun for Bond.

When Bond arrives in Jamaica, strange things begin to happen that warn him that this is not going to be a vacation. First, a young woman meets him at the airport and takes his picture, making Bond feel that someone has been made aware of his arrival and has sent this girl as a sort of recognizance. Later Bond finds someone has sent fruit to his room, but all the fruit has signs of having been tampered with. Upon laboratory examination, Bond learns that every piece of fruit in the basket has been poisoned. Finally, Bond finds a centipede in his bed that could only have gotten there by human hand.

Bond teams up with an old friend and begins to train for what he believes will be a simple spying trip to an island called Crab Key. The missing Secret Service agent was investigating the deaths of two men on Crab Key when he disappeared, so Bond believes that the mysterious man who bought Crab Key many years before, Doctor No, might be behind the agent's disappearance. Bond plans to go to Crab Key and gather intelligence that will enable him to return and arrest Doctor No. However, before Bond has been on the island a few short hours, Doctor No's men are alerted to his presence thanks to a young Jamaican girl who sailed to the island in order to hunt seashells.

Bond, his friend, and the girl manage to evade Doctor No's men for the better part of a day. However, when the men infiltrate their camp in a vehicle made to resemble a dragon, Bond can no longer fend them off. Bond and the girl are taken to Doctor No's camp that has been built inside a mountain. Bond and the girl are treated like guests in an expensive spa, given food and a bed. However, the food was full of drugs and Bond and the girl spend the day sleeping off their effects. That night, Bond and the girl go to Doctor No's private study for dinner. Doctor No treats them like guests, offering them good food and all the drink they could want. However, Doctor No makes it clear that he intends to have them killed at the end of the meal in order to prove his power over humanity.

Bond is taken into a room where he is told that he must participate in an endurance course. Bond finds the entrance to this course is a grate in the wall that leads through massive amounts of ductwork. Bond makes his way through despite searing heat and bruising passages, only to find himself deposited into a small pond. Bond manages to climb partially out of the pond. However, living in the pond is a giant squid. The squid attacks Bond, intent on eating him, but Bond manages to injure the creature and get away. Bond quickly makes his way toward the sounds of civilization and takes the opportunity handed him to kill Doctor No. Bond then finds the girl and escapes to the mainland of Jamaica.