Calvin Dyson reviews THE FACTS OF DEATH

My favorite Bond fan Calvin Dyson is back with a review of Raymond Benson's second original Bond novel, The Facts of Death. Enjoy!

RAYMOND BENSON eBook omnibus released today

James Bond: The Raymond Benson Years is released today from Ian Fleming Publications. This eBook-only omnibus collects all six original Raymond Benson James Bond novels for the first time: Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death, High Time to Kill, Doubleshot, Never Dream of Dying, and The Man with the Red Tattoo.

You can purchase James Bond: The Raymond Benson Years on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or directly from Ian Fleming Publications.

Anniversary BONDS for 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to another year of The Book Bond. Here's a rundown of the Bond novels that will be celebrating notable anniversaries this year. Break out the bookmarks and champagne!

70th Anniversary

"This is the big one, Double-Oh-Seven." This year sees the 70th Anniversary of the book that started it all. Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on April 13, 1953. It wouldn't be released in the U.S. until the following year.

60th Anniversary

Another Fleming classic, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, turns 60 this year. In this one Bond gets married and, well, you know the story! O.H.M.S.S. was published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on April 1, 1963. It was released in the U.S. in August by the New American Library.

50th Anniversary

This overlooked continuation novel is, IMHO, a true gem! James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007 by John Pearson was first published in 1973 by Sidgwick & Jackson in the UK and William Morrow & Co. in the U.S. [Read: THE BEST JAMES BOND NOVEL YOU'VE NEVER READ.]

40th Anniversary

My personal favorite John Gardner Bond novel, Icebreaker, marks its 40th. In this one 007 heads to the frozen forests of Northern Finland to battle Neo-Nazis. The first U.S. edition (pictured) was published by Putnam around April 1, 1983. The UK edition by Jonathan Cape arrived on July 7, 1983. 

30th Anniversary

John Gardner's 12th original James Bond novel, Never Send Flowers, finds 007 facing off with a psychotic actor. A late era Gardner novel that I've always liked. The U.S. edition from Putnam was published on May 31, 1993. The UK edition (pictured) was released by Hodder & Stoughton on July 15, 1993.

25th Anniversary

A strong second novel from Raymond Benson, The Facts of Death finds 007 on a mission in Greece and Cyprus. The UK edition was released by Hodder & Stoughton on May 7, 1998. The U.S. edition from Putnam followed on June 15, 1998.

10th Anniversary

SOLO by William Boyd turns 10 this year. I really like this novel about the older 007 on a mission in Africa. The UK edition was released by Hodder & Stoughton on September 26, 2013. The U.S. edition from Putnam was released on October 8, 2013. [Read: SOLO is the thinking man's OO7.]

A good line-up of anniversary Bonds this year if I do say so myself. Happy reading!

The Benson PROOFS

Here are the U.S. uncorrected proofs for Raymond Benson's six James Bond novels, which have just listed for sale on eBay. (I'm thinning out my Bond collection.) But I realized I never did a post to document them, so here they are!

Jaguar from THE FACTS OF DEATH and HIGH TIME TO KILL

Bond author Raymond Benson has shared the following on his Twitter. This is great. I love the Bond book cars, and the Jaguar XK8 was a great one.

I found the awesome design/drawings by the brilliant Fergus Pollock of the Jaguar XK8 that James Bond drove in my novels THE FACTS OF DEATH (1998) and HIGH TIME TO KILL (1999). Fergus helped come up with the "extras." @JaguarUK @Jaguar @JaguarUSA pic.twitter.com/xXcBRNm9tq

— Raymond Benson (@RaymondBenson) June 3, 2019

Benson's BOND - UK hardcovers

Over the weekend I shared the Raymond Benson James Bond U.S. hardcover first editions. Here now are the UK hardcover firsts from Hodder & Stoughton.

The Hodder books featured striking cover art with series art established on the 1995 Coronet paperbacks and first used on a hardcover with John Gardner's COLD. However, the publisher changed it up with the last two books, producing covers that were a bit disappointing in comparison (IMO). Hodder also published Benson's three film novelizations in hardcover. Tomorrow Never Dies remains the rarest of all the Benson UK firsts.

Publication dates:

Zero Minus Ten – Hodder & Stoughton, April 3, 1997.
Tomorrow Never Dies – Hodder & Stoughton, November 6, 1997.

The Facts of Death - Hodder & Stoughton, May 7, 1998.

High Time To Kill - Hodder & Stoughton, May 6, 1999.
The World Is Not Enough – Hodder & Stoughton, November 18, 1999.

Doubleshot - Hodder & Stoughton, May 4, 2000.

Never Dream of Dying - Hodder & Stoughton May 3, 2001.

The Man With The Red Tattoo – Hodder & Stoughton, May 2, 2002.
Die Another Day - Hodder & Stoughton, November 7, 2002.

Benson's BOND - U.S. hardcovers

In 1997 Raymond Benson succeeded John Gardner as the official James Bond continuation author. Benson returned many of the classic elements to the series (such as Bond's Walther PPK) and chose not to continue some of the changes of the later Gardner years, such as MircoGlobe One. Per the request of IFP (then still Glidrose), Benson made M a woman as a concession to the film series.

Benson delivered six terrific original James Bond adventures with each book powered by a clear thematic "hook." They were books written by a hardcore James Bond fan and certainly appealed to this hardcore fan. I'll still argue that Benson's third book, High Time To Kill, is one of the very best of all the James Bond continuation novels.

In the U.S., all six Raymond Benson Bond books were published in hardcover by Putnam with nice uniform cover art. This new series art was an improvement (IMO) over Putnam's Gardner series cover art which had also remained uniform during his reign. Benson's three novelizations, Tomorrow Never Die, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day, where not published in hardcover in the U.S.

Publication dates:

Zero Minus Ten – Putnam, May 5, 1997.

The Facts of Death - Putnam, June 15, 1998.

High Time To Kill - Putnam, June 7, 1999.

Doubleshot - Putnam, June 5, 2000.

Never Dream of Dying - June 4, 2001.

The Man With The Red Tattoo – Putnam, June 10, 2002.

The Benson paperbacks were published by Jove in the U.S. You can check out those covers HERE.

RAYMOND BENSON U.S. paperbacks

I've been looking back at the John Gardner Bond books a lot lately, so I thought it was time to throw a little Raymond Benson into the mix. I'll kick off with his U.S. paperbacks because this one of my favorite sets. I love the uniformity of the design and the location specific backgrounds. These paperbacks were released by Jove, who after a one book break with Cold Fall, returned to their "James Bond in" series design (with the lightning bolt underline) with Benson.

Of course, Raymond Benson also produced three novelizations during his run as continuation novelist. Those paperbacks, released by Triangle, can be see below.

And as long on we're on the subject of Benson U.S. paperbacks, here's a bonus. Below are three prototype covers for Tomorrow Never Dies (using the Cold Fall series art), Zero Minus Ten, and Die Another Day. One thing I like about the DAD cover is that it uses a tagline that was never used for the film: "He's never been cooler." (Taglines pretty much vanished from Bond film marketing after GoldenEye.) And while books with these covers were never actually produced, you'll still see this artwork on listings at Amazon.com, etc.

Publication:

Tomorrow Never Dies – Triangle, November 1997.

Zero Minus Ten – Jove, July 1998.

The Facts of Death - Jove, August 1999.

The World Is Not Enough - Triangle, October 6, 1999.

High Time To Kill - Jove, June 5, 2000.

Doubleshot - Jove, June 5, 2001.

Never Dream of Dying - Jove, April 30, 2002.

Die Another Day - Triangle, November 5, 2002.

The Man With The Red Tattoo – Jove, April 28, 2003.

Benson's Choice of Weapons now 60% off

If you haven't yet picked up Raymond Benson's second anthology of 007 work, Choice of Weapons, now is a great time to do so. It is currently a whopping 60% off at Amazon.com. However, know these are remaindered books, so condition might not be the best.

The collection includes the novels Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death, The Man With The Red Tattoo, and the hard-to-find short stories "Live At Five" and "Midsummer Night's Doom."

For news about Raymond's current and upcoming original work visit his official website.

Raymond Benson's Choice of Weapons released

Raymond Benson's second anthology of 007 work, Choice of Weapons, has been released by Pegasus.

The collection includes the novels Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death, The Man With The Red Tattoo, and the short stories "Live At Five" and "Midsummer Night's Doom." Until now, "Live At Five" had only been available in a 1999 issue of TV Guide.

Choice of Weapons can be purchased at Amazon.com. For news about Raymond's current and upcoming original work visit his official website.

Pre-order 'Choice of Weapons'

K1Bond007 reports that Raymond Benson's second anthology of 007 work, Choice of Weapons, is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

The collection will include the novels Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death, The Man With The Red Tattoo, and the short stories Live At Five and Midsummer Night's Doom. Publication date, according to Amazon, is August 17, 2010.

For more news about Raymond Benson's current and upcoming original work, visit his official website.

Raymond Benson's 'Choice of Weapons'

Great news. Pegasus Books will publish a second anthology of Raymond Benson's 007 work, tentatively titled Choice of Weapons (excellent Bond title, IMO).

The collection will include the novels Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death, The Man With The Red Tattoo, and the short stories Live At Five and Midsummer Night's Doom. Tentative publication date is late spring or early summer 2010.

For more news about Raymond Benson's current and upcoming original work, visit his official website.