The James Bond Novels and Stories

Part 3: Raymond Benson, 1996-2002

Books and audiobooks can be ordered online. See Raymond Benson's Bond Books in Print

Note: the short stories are not available for downloading on the internet (at least legally -- there are copyright issues involved). Back issues of Playboy can be ordered from their website, or try eBay.

"Blast from the Past" (1996) ***

Reviewed by Tom Zielinski

Short story published in Playboy Magazine (January 1997)
Places: Bond's flat in Chelsea; New York City
Time: Girl: Cheryl Haven
Villain: Irma Bunt
Villain's Employer: Self-Employed
Villain's Project: Psychopathically motivated revenge against Bond for the physically disfiguring damage caused by him, and also avenging the assassination of Ernst Stavro Blofeld; as related in Fleming's You Only Live Twice
Minor Villain(s): Three gun-wielding henchmen working for Bunt
Bond's Friends: None
Highlights: Essentially a sequel to You Only Live Twice, this story ties up the last loose ends from Fleming's "Blofeld Trilogy". Highlights include Bunt shaving/torturing Bond with poisoned razor; the death of Irma Bunt
Remarks: Very good plot (death of Bond's son, their relationship, the return of major nemesis Irma Bunt) demands more exposition than short-story format allows. Concludes too quickly. More risqué than most. Welcome return to many familiar Fleming elements -- Walther PPK, Major Boothroyd, Bond's exercise regimen, etc.

Zero Minus Ten (1997) ****

Reviewed by Tom Zielinski

Places: Jamaica, England, Hong Kong, China, Australia
Girl: Sunni Pei
Villain: Guy Thackeray
Villain's Employer: Self-Employed
Villain's Project: Nuclear bombing of Hong Kong to avenge loss of family business empire, triggering war between China and Britain.
Henchmen: 3 albino Chinese brothers
Bond's Friends: T.Y. Woo
Highlights: Bond's training exercise and introduction in "pre-titles sequence"; travelogue and history of Hong Kong; Triad Ceremony; M scene; walkabout.
Remarks: Reads much like a "screenplay", similar to the style of On Her Majesty's Secret Service; a welcome return to many familiar Ian Fleming elements and characters, further adding to what was initially re-introduced in the short story "Blast from the Past" [above]
Villain's Best Line: (Referring to the planned bombing of Hong Kong): "China will blame Britain. Britain will blame China. There are sure to be some...misunderstandings." He laughed. "It will be wonderful!"

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) ***

Reviewed by Jeffery Westhoff

Places: Khyber Pass; South China Sea; Beijing; Oxford; Hamburg; Okinawa; Saigon
Girls: Wai Lin; Paris Carver; Prof. Inga Bergstrom
Villain: Elliot Carver
Villain's Employer: Self-Employed
Villain's Project: Triggering war between China and Britain to boost his cable news network's ratings and newspaper circulation.
Henchmen: Stamper; Gupta; Dr. Kaufman
Bond's Friends: Jack Wade
Highlights: Battle in pressroom; conflict between M and Naval brass; HALO jump and dive to Devonshire.
Remarks: Fine flow for a novelization; Benson fills the screenplay's gaps without the awkwardness found in John Gardner's novelizations. Because this was based on one of the earliest drafts of the shooting script, we learn that the notorious rewrites amounted to dialogue changes (Paris Carver's scenes were most revised - and the film version is far improved). The HALO jump and subsequent dive to the Devonshire are beautifully described. Benson's most evocative writing yet. His focus on the real Bond remains sharp. Distracting, though, are frequent redundant phrases ("brief instant, " "completely destroyed").

The Facts of Death (1998) ****

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places: Cyprus; London & Windsor, Austin, Texas; Greece and environs; Chios.
Time: October-November 1998
Girls: Niki Mirakos, Dr. Ashley Anderson
Villain(s): Hera Voulopoulos ; Konstantine Romanos (Monad)
Villain's Employer: self (Decada)
Project: The start of a major war between Greece and Turkey; Worldwide murder through a new virus.
Minor villains: Ashley; Markos &: Ari; Vassilis Romanos &: Nikos; Manville Duncan; other Decada members
Bond's Friends: Felix Leiter; Manuela Montemayor
Highlights: Bond's helicopter flight; truck and motorcycle chase; shootout at Bastrop; car chase in Greece; fight in cable car and fight with Vassilis; Bond's escape from the "Persephone"; Bond's final fight with Hera in the sea.
Remarks: Hera Volopoulos is the most sadistic Bond Villain so far, lots of action & the Jaguar XK8 is the perfect Bond car for the 21st Century.

"Midsummer Nights Doom" (1999) **

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Short story published in Playboy Magazine (January 1999)
Places: M's office: Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills
Girl: Lisa Dergan
Villain: Anton Redenius
Villain's Employer: The Russian Mafia
Villain's Project: The selling of microfilm to the Mafia containing designs for a new class of infrared focal plane arrays (FPA's) that can imitate human eye capabilities.
Minor Villain(s): Estragon and Martin Tuttle
Bond's Friends: Hugh Hefner and Victoria Zdrok
Highlights: Bond's fight with Estragon; Hugh Hefner giving Bond a listening device and briefing him on it as if he were 'Q' !
Remarks: Good plot, story could possibly be turned into a novel, for it ends suddenly; No death for villain but fab Bond Girl

High Time to Kill (1999) ****

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places : The Bahamas; London, Buckinghamshire & Hampshire; Belguim; Delhi (briefly); Morocco; Kangchenjunga & Nepal; Brighton
Time: March to early June 1999
Girl(s): Dr. Hope Kendall; Gina Hollander
Villain(s): Roland Marquis; Le Gerant
Villain's Employer: The Union
Villain's Project: The sale of 'Skin 17' -- a top secret British formula -- to a major foreign power
Minor Villains: Dr. Steven Harding; Basil; assorted Union agents
Bond's Friends: Sgt. Chandra Gurung
Highlights: The Visual Library; Bond's drive to Brussels & fight with Basil; plane hijack; the final 3 chapter climax [spoiler!]
Remarks: Excellent, a good old fashioned spy thriller with action and intrigue.Good to see Bond driving a DB5 as well as the return of the XK8. Benson's best so far.

The World is Not Enough (1999) ***

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places: Bilbao, Spain; London; Scotland; Caucasus Mountains; Baku, Azerbaijan & environs; Kazakhstan; Istanbul, Turkey
Girl(s): Dr. Christmas Jones; Dr. Molly Warmflash.
Villain(s): Elektra King; Viktor Zokas aka "Renard the Fox"
Villain's Employer: Self
Villain's Project: Revenge and to have complete control of the world's oil, in the Caspian Sea
Minor Villains: Guilietta da Vinci aka Cigar Girl; Sasha Davidov; Maurice Womasa aka "The Bull"; Gabor; Colonel Akakievich; Trukin; Lachaise
Bond's Friends: Valentin Zukovsky
Highlights: Thames River boat chase; ski chase in the Caucasus Mts; chase among the walkways; Elektra's torture chair; submarine climax
Remarks: Benson has included a chapter in regards to what happened during Elektra's kidnapping which may not appear in the film, but is an essential part of the story. Fast-paced, never boring, an excellent read.

Live at Five (1999) **

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Short story published in TV Guide (November 1999)
Places: London; Chicago
Girl(s): Janet Davies; Natalia Lustokov
Villain: Natalia's coach
Villain's Employer: n/a
Villain's Project: n/a
Minor Villains: 2 Russian bodyguards
Bond's Friends: Max (an FBI agent)
Highlights: Bond's fight on the ice-rink
Remarks: Set in the late 1980s, Bond assists the FBI with the defection of a beautiful Russian iceskater to the West. A quick but entertaining story.

Doubleshot (2000) ****

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places: London; Tangier & Casablanca, Morocco; Marbella, Malaga & Ronda, Spain; Gibraltar
Time: August 1999
Girl(s): Heidi & Hedy Taunt; Dr Kimberley Feare
Villain(s): Le Gerant; Domingo Espada
Villain's Employer: the Union
Villain's Project: (i) Framing 007 for various murders and then eventually killing him; (ii) Starting a war between Great Britain and Spain
Minor Villains: Margreta Piel; Jimmy Powers; Nadir Yassasin; Peredur Glyn; Agustin
Bond's Friends: Latif Reggab; Felix Leiter
Highlights: Fight in Soho; training camp escape; Bond's bullfight; Gibraltar finale
Remarks: Suspenseful and good character development for Bond; very imaginative; evenly paced.

Never Dream of Dying (2001) ****1/2

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places: Nice, Paris & Cannes (France); Monte Carlo; Corsica; (L.A., Japan & Chicago briefly)
Time: January & May 2000
Girl(s): Tylyn Mignonne
Villain(s): Le Gerant, Julius Wilcox & the Union
Villain's Employer: Goro Yoshida
Villain's Project: A terrorist attack on the Cannes Film Festival
Minor Villains: Leon Essinger; Rick Fripp; Emile Cirendini; Dr Gerowitz; "The Sailor"; Che-Che
Bond's Friends: Rene Mathis; Bertrand Collette, Draco
Highlights: The raid on the studio; Bond's escape from the TV station; Bond's underwater journey; eye-torture; fight at the Film Festival; final showdown.
Remarks: Full of excitement and gore; Tylyn's character the best so far; Excellent twist at end

The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002) *****

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places: London & Uxbridge, England; Kuril Islands, Russia; Tokyo, Saitama, Kamakura, The Cassiopeia Train, Sapporo, Noboribetsu & Naoshima Island, Japan
Time: June 2002
Girl(s): Mayumi McMahon; Reiko Temura
Villain: Goro Yoshida
Villain's Employer: Self - Ryujin-Kai
Villain's Project: Mass assassination at G8 conference with new "biological" weapon
Minor Villains: Yasutake Tsukamoto; Shinji Fujimoto; Noburo Ichihara; Junji Kon (Kappa); Fujio Aida
Bond's Friends: Tiger Tanaka; Ikro Yamamaru; Yoshi Nakayama
Highlights: Fight in Kabuki theatre & in Fujimoto's office; On the Cassiopeia train & fight in Seikan Tunnel; Chase across Jigokudani; Red Widow Dawn
Remarks: Very exciting; Symbolic for Bond, one scene quite haunting; Another great book.

Die Another Day (2002) *****

Reviewed by Justin Todd

Places: Korean DMZ (38th Parallel) & South Korea; Hong Kong; Cuba & Isla Organos; London; Iceland; North Korea
Girl(s): Jinx; Miranda Frost; Peaceful Fountains of Desire
Villain(s): Gustav Graves; Tan Ling Zao
Villain's Employer: Self
Villain's Project: To use Icarus weapon to destroy land mines in the DMZ so Colonel Moon's army can takeover South Korea, then Japan and ultimately the West
Minor Villains: Colonel Tan-Gun Moon; Mister Kil; Vlad; The Three Generals; Dr. Alvarez
Bond's Friends: Mr Chang; Raoul; Verity; Damian Falco
Highlights: Hovercraft chase; Fight at the Clinic; Fencing duel; Scene with Q; Ice chase; Finale; Moneypenny's scene with Bond
Remarks: Film novelization. Very well written and a great story line, a bit sci-fi but still Bond all the way.

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Kingsley Amis and earlier movie tie-ins

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