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James Bond - Extended Series #35, 37, 42
James Bond: Choice of Weapons: Three 007 Novels: The Facts of Death; Zero Minus Ten; The Man with the Red Tattoo
Three classic 007 novels by the acclaimed Raymond Benson, featuring literature’s most celebrated secret agent.
In this new collection of James Bond novels, published in trade paperback for the first time, we are once again treated to the thrilling adventures of Fleming’s classic hero, first in The Facts of Death , which pits Britain’s famed secret agent against a fanatic cult who has murdered M’s lover; then in Zero Minus Ten , where Bond finds himself in Hong Kong to investigate a series of deadly shipping explosions; and finally in The Man with the Red Tattoo , where Bond must stop a Japanese crime ring from attempting a mass assassination with a deadly strain of the West Nile virus.
As an added bonus for the fanatical Bond fan base, the collection includes two short stories never before published in book form, "Live at Five" and "Midsummer Night’s Doom."
Through it all, Raymond Benson masterfully evokes the classic Bond flair, romance, and elan that made Ian Fleming’s novels worldwide bestsellers.
In this new collection of James Bond novels, published in trade paperback for the first time, we are once again treated to the thrilling adventures of Fleming’s classic hero, first in The Facts of Death , which pits Britain’s famed secret agent against a fanatic cult who has murdered M’s lover; then in Zero Minus Ten , where Bond finds himself in Hong Kong to investigate a series of deadly shipping explosions; and finally in The Man with the Red Tattoo , where Bond must stop a Japanese crime ring from attempting a mass assassination with a deadly strain of the West Nile virus.
As an added bonus for the fanatical Bond fan base, the collection includes two short stories never before published in book form, "Live at Five" and "Midsummer Night’s Doom."
Through it all, Raymond Benson masterfully evokes the classic Bond flair, romance, and elan that made Ian Fleming’s novels worldwide bestsellers.
864 pages, Paperback
First published August 17, 2010
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159 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Benson
158 books306 followersRaymond Benson is the author of approximately 40 titles. Among his works are the critically-acclaimed and New York Times best-selling serial THE BLACK STILETTO, and he was also the third--and first American--continuation author of the official James Bond 007 novels. His latest novels are HOTEL DESTINY--A GHOST NOIR, BLUES IN THE DARK, IN THE HUSH OF THE NIGHT and THE SECRETS ON CHICORY LANE.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 15, 2018
Zero Minus Ten is plotted well. I like Benson’s style and characterisation.
There were a few references to previous Bond stories and lots and lots of history about Hong Kong.
Bond grapples with a mad millionaire businessman, a general of the Chinese military and the triad. He travels from Jamaica to Hong King, China and Western Australia. And of course, a Bond story wouldn’t be complete without food, alcohol, action, and an attractive girl as a love interest.
Four stars for Zero Minus Ten.
Set in Greece, Cyprus, and America, The Facts of Death tries to hard to be a techno thriller murder mystery that morphs into a spy novel about halfway through. Although it wasn’t unenjoyable, it didn’t have the same oomph as it’s predecessors.
There’s the usual insane antagonists and cronies, monologues that reveal the plot but not the whole thing, and James Bond getting into lots of strife.
The twist was relatively predictable. Three stars.
Live at Five short story. Meh. Almost seemed like a pointless story.
The Man with the Red Tattoo
James Bond heads again to battle the Yakuza in Japan to investigate the many deaths caused by a mosquito-spread virus. This story, like its predecessors in this anthology, is very formulaic with similar deaths, similar psychotic villains who love nothing more than monologuing their ingenious plan but leaving out key details for Bond to solve when he escapes, and multiple love interests for our protagonist to entice into bed. 3.5 stars.
Midsummer Night’s Doom
An entertaining short story where James Bond attends a party at Playboy Mansion and meets Hugh Hefner. James must catch a spy selling state secrets. The story spends a bit of time advertising Playboy magazine and the mansion, which makes sense as Benson wrote it specifically for a Playboy magazine special issue.
There were a few references to previous Bond stories and lots and lots of history about Hong Kong.
Bond grapples with a mad millionaire businessman, a general of the Chinese military and the triad. He travels from Jamaica to Hong King, China and Western Australia. And of course, a Bond story wouldn’t be complete without food, alcohol, action, and an attractive girl as a love interest.
Four stars for Zero Minus Ten.
Set in Greece, Cyprus, and America, The Facts of Death tries to hard to be a techno thriller murder mystery that morphs into a spy novel about halfway through. Although it wasn’t unenjoyable, it didn’t have the same oomph as it’s predecessors.
There’s the usual insane antagonists and cronies, monologues that reveal the plot but not the whole thing, and James Bond getting into lots of strife.
The twist was relatively predictable. Three stars.
Live at Five short story. Meh. Almost seemed like a pointless story.
The Man with the Red Tattoo
James Bond heads again to battle the Yakuza in Japan to investigate the many deaths caused by a mosquito-spread virus. This story, like its predecessors in this anthology, is very formulaic with similar deaths, similar psychotic villains who love nothing more than monologuing their ingenious plan but leaving out key details for Bond to solve when he escapes, and multiple love interests for our protagonist to entice into bed. 3.5 stars.
Midsummer Night’s Doom
An entertaining short story where James Bond attends a party at Playboy Mansion and meets Hugh Hefner. James must catch a spy selling state secrets. The story spends a bit of time advertising Playboy magazine and the mansion, which makes sense as Benson wrote it specifically for a Playboy magazine special issue.
May 9, 2023
ZERO MINUS TEN
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Benson’s first 007 novel has a great location, an interesting plot and villain, as well as really likable additional characters.
The opening chapter with Bond arriving at his Jamaican home “Shamelady” was a great way to draw this reader In. When it’s revealed that the whole thing is a training exercise for the two young agents but also for Bond it’s exciting and an excellent world building scene. This Bond, is part of this larger machine of SIS and I like that. At the same time the end of that chapter shows he’s still the same old classic literary Bond.
The history and background on China, Hong Kong the Thackeray family and the company they own is revealed gradually in the story. It was interesting to me and it provided some complexity to the Triad leader character Li Xu Nan. It actually made me like him much more than Bond seems to.
Thackeray is wonderfully unlikable throughout. I also enjoyed the fact that Sunni Pei seems like a realistic character. She doesn’t just fall along with what Bond says or does. She has to be convinced and is even angry at Bond at times. T.Y. Woo was a phenomenal ally to Bond in this book and plays the role of local contact, ally very well the addition of his family members and son were nice as well.
The book feels like Benson put the Bond of the books into a story from the films and I like that. The main negative I have is that sometimes this story takes a long while to cover not that much ground. The story could be more economical with the chapters. I know a personal peeve I have with some stories is that I am most interested in a certain Character, in this case Bond, and sometimes the scenes or chapters focused on something else happening can make my mind wander.
THE FACTS OF DEATH
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I read this in a world post COVID-19 as well as the 25th Bond movie “No Time To Die.” Those facts made the opening of this novel, the prologue actually seem very relevant even if it was written and set back in the 1990s.
I liked how this story combined this hunt for a “Number Killer” with germ warfare as well as a strange green cult. There’s a lot of detail and plot packed into this novel. There’s also political background and Greek and Turkish border disputes as well as a much more intimate view of M’s private life than we have ever seen before. The old M, Sir Miles also makes an appearance or two and we get an extended sequence with Felix Leiter in Texas as well. Admittedly some of the political descriptions of the Cyprus border dispute and history can drag the middle section making it hard to get through. But the last third of the book really picked things up. Action where needed but dialogue and character scenes as well with Bond, the bond Girls and the villains.
LIVE AT FIVE (short story)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
By far this is my favorite of the there’s short stories Benson wrote about James Bond. I can’t decide if it being so very short is a shame or is part of the charm. It’s a tight story, concise but still detailed. The idea of Bond assisting a Soviet defector while skating on ice literally is a great conceit. And the framing of the story with Bond meeting up with an old flame sparking his memory of the event is wonderful. The twist at the end was spoiled for me by reading Benson’s introduction of this anthology but still it was quite enjoyable to read at the end. The great thing about Bond is that even his mundane, routine and smaller missions are suspenseful and exciting to read about. Sometimes they are more interesting than the big world domination plots.
THE MAN WITH THE RED TATOO
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a nice end to the Benson Era for me. The plot is ok, I'm glad to have seen Tiger Tanaka again, and The two separate girls in the story remind me of a certain era of the Bond films a lot.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DOOM (short story)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story from the start seems like it could be kitsch. Bond visits the playboy mansion seems something the Roger Moore Bond would do, with a wink and a nod and a charming smile comes a pun that we fans would love him for doing.
That said if doesn’t strike me as something that fits the Bond of the novels. All that said Benson here is the epitome of restraint. I was worried the story would be Bond running a gauntlet of bunnies in very little clothing bedding multiple women in one night like OHMSS.
The story however shows Bond alert, on the top of his spy game and spoiler alert saving the day in the end. There’s a like-able girl next door playmate and even Hef seems to be written with more character than he has in real life.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Benson’s first 007 novel has a great location, an interesting plot and villain, as well as really likable additional characters.
The opening chapter with Bond arriving at his Jamaican home “Shamelady” was a great way to draw this reader In. When it’s revealed that the whole thing is a training exercise for the two young agents but also for Bond it’s exciting and an excellent world building scene. This Bond, is part of this larger machine of SIS and I like that. At the same time the end of that chapter shows he’s still the same old classic literary Bond.
The history and background on China, Hong Kong the Thackeray family and the company they own is revealed gradually in the story. It was interesting to me and it provided some complexity to the Triad leader character Li Xu Nan. It actually made me like him much more than Bond seems to.
Thackeray is wonderfully unlikable throughout. I also enjoyed the fact that Sunni Pei seems like a realistic character. She doesn’t just fall along with what Bond says or does. She has to be convinced and is even angry at Bond at times. T.Y. Woo was a phenomenal ally to Bond in this book and plays the role of local contact, ally very well the addition of his family members and son were nice as well.
The book feels like Benson put the Bond of the books into a story from the films and I like that. The main negative I have is that sometimes this story takes a long while to cover not that much ground. The story could be more economical with the chapters. I know a personal peeve I have with some stories is that I am most interested in a certain Character, in this case Bond, and sometimes the scenes or chapters focused on something else happening can make my mind wander.
THE FACTS OF DEATH
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I read this in a world post COVID-19 as well as the 25th Bond movie “No Time To Die.” Those facts made the opening of this novel, the prologue actually seem very relevant even if it was written and set back in the 1990s.
I liked how this story combined this hunt for a “Number Killer” with germ warfare as well as a strange green cult. There’s a lot of detail and plot packed into this novel. There’s also political background and Greek and Turkish border disputes as well as a much more intimate view of M’s private life than we have ever seen before. The old M, Sir Miles also makes an appearance or two and we get an extended sequence with Felix Leiter in Texas as well. Admittedly some of the political descriptions of the Cyprus border dispute and history can drag the middle section making it hard to get through. But the last third of the book really picked things up. Action where needed but dialogue and character scenes as well with Bond, the bond Girls and the villains.
LIVE AT FIVE (short story)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
By far this is my favorite of the there’s short stories Benson wrote about James Bond. I can’t decide if it being so very short is a shame or is part of the charm. It’s a tight story, concise but still detailed. The idea of Bond assisting a Soviet defector while skating on ice literally is a great conceit. And the framing of the story with Bond meeting up with an old flame sparking his memory of the event is wonderful. The twist at the end was spoiled for me by reading Benson’s introduction of this anthology but still it was quite enjoyable to read at the end. The great thing about Bond is that even his mundane, routine and smaller missions are suspenseful and exciting to read about. Sometimes they are more interesting than the big world domination plots.
THE MAN WITH THE RED TATOO
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a nice end to the Benson Era for me. The plot is ok, I'm glad to have seen Tiger Tanaka again, and The two separate girls in the story remind me of a certain era of the Bond films a lot.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DOOM (short story)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story from the start seems like it could be kitsch. Bond visits the playboy mansion seems something the Roger Moore Bond would do, with a wink and a nod and a charming smile comes a pun that we fans would love him for doing.
That said if doesn’t strike me as something that fits the Bond of the novels. All that said Benson here is the epitome of restraint. I was worried the story would be Bond running a gauntlet of bunnies in very little clothing bedding multiple women in one night like OHMSS.
The story however shows Bond alert, on the top of his spy game and spoiler alert saving the day in the end. There’s a like-able girl next door playmate and even Hef seems to be written with more character than he has in real life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2020
It's a James Bond novel if you came seeking high art you were in the wrong place
August 3, 2013
I really do enjoy this version of Bond. Benson really sets the scenes the way Flemming did. Bond enjoys himself in style and class while acknowledging the fact that he is not young anymore. I think that this aspect of Bond's lifestyle was somehow lost in the last Gardner books. I am really relieved to find Bond enjoying his food and also having the classic gambling scene in a James Bond book.
Zero Minus Ten
The first story in this book takes us to Hong Kong during the handover ceremony of 1997. A classic Bond tale with intrigue and suspense, good food and good women. I enjoyed the little references Benson throws at the reader. It shows that he did his research prior to writing for the James Bond franchise.
The Facts of Death
As always Benson make all these stories relevant to the Bond universe by the references he makes. He clearly researches his work as this is the only time I have been reading James Bond books that there is a reference to the Colonel Sun book (the first Jame bond Story that was not written by Ian Flemming). However i must say that I found this story long and not so great. I felt the story dragged a bit and i was not particularly interested in the villain. Even though there is Felix Leiter in the Texas part of the book, I still did not enjoy it.
The Man with the Red Tattoo
I preferred this story from the previous one. I always like it when Bond visits Japan. The whole atmosphere is classy and filled with amazing locations. Bond eats a lot in this story and each meal is rich and has traditional flavors. We get to meet Tanaka once again and he takes Bond all around Japan. The story is related to other books by Benson but only through the villain. An average story in an amazing local.
The other 2 short stories are enjoyable and fun especially the one where Bond attends a Playboy Mansion Party.
Zero Minus Ten
The first story in this book takes us to Hong Kong during the handover ceremony of 1997. A classic Bond tale with intrigue and suspense, good food and good women. I enjoyed the little references Benson throws at the reader. It shows that he did his research prior to writing for the James Bond franchise.
The Facts of Death
As always Benson make all these stories relevant to the Bond universe by the references he makes. He clearly researches his work as this is the only time I have been reading James Bond books that there is a reference to the Colonel Sun book (the first Jame bond Story that was not written by Ian Flemming). However i must say that I found this story long and not so great. I felt the story dragged a bit and i was not particularly interested in the villain. Even though there is Felix Leiter in the Texas part of the book, I still did not enjoy it.
The Man with the Red Tattoo
I preferred this story from the previous one. I always like it when Bond visits Japan. The whole atmosphere is classy and filled with amazing locations. Bond eats a lot in this story and each meal is rich and has traditional flavors. We get to meet Tanaka once again and he takes Bond all around Japan. The story is related to other books by Benson but only through the villain. An average story in an amazing local.
The other 2 short stories are enjoyable and fun especially the one where Bond attends a Playboy Mansion Party.
December 24, 2013
I enjoyed the three novels collected here, but I read (and rated) those separately. I bought this anthology purely because it was the easiest way to find and read the two short stories, but they were fairly lightweight and frivolous pieces (yes, even for James Bond) that went a little too far in terms of "product placement" (and/or people placement - like Hugh Hefner and local news anchor Janet Davies) for my taste. However, they were written specifically for Playboy and TV Guide, so they're not supposed to match up to the level of For Your Eyes Only, but rather Property of a Lady perhaps, which was originally commissioned by Sotheby's.
September 8, 2010
The closest to Ian Fleming since Ian Fleming.
February 24, 2013
Three solid Bond adventures, with all the gadgetry, action, sex, and fun you'd expect.
June 15, 2013
Typical James Bond. Pretty women and lots of action.
February 17, 2016
Excellent! Like others have said, Raymond Benson did the James Bond books justice! His writing kept true to Mr. Fleming's version of Bond, James Bond.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews