The Facts of Death [Hardcover]

Raymond Benson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1998

Benson's 007 is a chip off the old block, said Kirkus Reviews of the classic secret agent depicted in Zero Minus Ten, Raymond Benson's first James Bond novel. Fast-paced, fun summer reading, wrote The Boston Sunday Herald. Bond is still as irresistible as ever. Now Benson takes Bond to the heart of a fanatical cult whose sinister mission is wrapped in the teachings of the great Greek mathematician Pythagoras. His cult is committed to following their brilliant and mad leader on a series of assignments, each one more diabolical and destructive than the last. When Alfred Hutchinson, Great Britain's Goodwill Ambassador to the World, is murdered by a stranger whose umbrella tip bears a tiny capsule of ricin poison and who leaves behind a scrawled #4, Bond is called upon to halt the escalating body count of the Number Killer. His hunt will take him from the wild backroads of Texas to the crumbling ruins of Greece, a trail that crisscrosses the potentially explosive tinderbox of Cyprus. At every step he must use both cunning and brute force to stay ahead of--or even with--the grand plan of the Monad, the shadowy mastermind behind the cult. Propelled by an extraordinary Jaguar XK8 coup designed for this mission, challenged by life-threatening underwater and aerial attacks, and seduced by a galaxy of beautiful and destructive women, James Bond is once again the archetype action hero--this time caught in a final countdown, where each heartbeat could be his last.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Led by a hypnotic, self-styled Greek demigod, the villainous Decada cabal prove insanely worthy adversaries for 007 as they plan chemical and biological revenge against Turkey (and any country they perceive as its allies) in the immortal SIS agent's new outing. Benson (Zero Minus Ten; The James Bond Bedside Companion) cues off the latest Bond reels by setting up his female "M" (head of SIS) with Alfred Hutchinson, a suspicious politico linked to the Decada. When he is murdered, Bond goes to Texas in search of Hutchinson's missing son, reunites with American agent Felix Leiter (now confined to a wheelchair), stumbles onto the source for the Decada's chemical and biological weapons and follows the trail back to Greece. Sexual subterfugeAever Bond's betrayer and salvationAlands him in the clutches of Konstantine Romanos, mad leader of the Decada, and the result is several quintessential 007 escape/rescue scenes (aided by a luscious Greek agent) before the final showdown under a nuclear shadow on Cyprus. Edgar winner Benson pays homage to Fleming's plots in an amusing inventory of Bond's scars; touchingly ages Leiter, loyal Miss Moneypenny and long-suffering arms maven Boothroyd; and imbues his Bond with enough honor, sexual prowess and action-hero skills to please the purist and enthrall the novice. First serial rights to Playboy. (June) FYI: Benson is director of The Ian Fleming Foundation.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The fate of the world, and James Bond, are in capable hands in this second 007 adventure from Benson (Zero Minus Ten, 1997). Writing as both a disciple and defender of Western civilization's most enduring action hero, Benson, a director of the Ian Fleming Foundation and author of the fan bible, the James Bond Bedside Companion, attempts to meld Fleming's brooding, coolly cruel British knight with the dapper, quip-slinging techno-warrior of the Bond movies, with a few respectful bows to the superhuman stuntman Bond became when British thriller-factory John Gardner had an exclusive franchise on the series. All the canonical elements are in place--the Flemingesque fetish for brand names (were informed that Bond's crippled American sidekick, former CIA agent Felix Leiter, now zooms about in a high-speed Action Arrow motorized wheelchair), a demented, megalomaniacal father figure villain (Konstantine Romanos, an independently wealthy mathematics professor who thinks he's the reincarnation of Pythagoras), the ultimate car (a self-driving Jaguar XK8 with more gadgets than the Batmobile but, alas, no ejection seat), the corny sex jokes (Bond seduces the statuesque female director of a sperm bank who extracts her sample from 007 as passionately as possible), a superbly furnished techno-fortress with a hidden superweapon, and, most infamously, a harem of beautiful, accomplished women, some of whom are bisexual, all of whom cant resist Bond's darkly handsome charms. The plot, meanwhile, is standard Bond, with Romanos using designer weaponry to kill numerous innocent people, with a purloined Pershing missile being readied for launch. Between the requisite scenes of sex, violence, and destruction, Benson's Bond occasionally succumbs to existential gloom, but never fails to do the right thing for Queen and country. A postmodern treat for fans and newcomers that lovingly, if not ironically, duplicates a formula so familiar that originality would be sacrilege. (First serial rights to Playboy) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (June 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399144056
• ISBN-13: 978-0399144059
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As of January 2011, Raymond Benson is the author of twenty-four published books. These include six original JAMES BOND novels (now collected in the recent anthologies THE UNION TRILOGY and CHOICE OF WEAPONS), three 007 film novelizations, and the first two TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL novels (for the latter he used the pseudonym of "David Michaels"). With John Milius he penned HOMEFRONT: THE VOICE OF FREEDOM. He also wrote the novelizations of the popular videogames--METAL GEAR SOLID and METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY. Raymond writes his own original suspense books as well--stand alone thrillers such as TORMENT, ARTIFACT OF EVIL, SWEETIE'S DIAMONDS, FACE BLIND, and EVIL HOURS, or his two "Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hits" featuring a music industry detective--A HARD DAY'S DEATH and DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE. Coming soon--Raymond's entry in the "Gabriel Hunt" adventures, HUNT THROUGH NAPOLEON'S WEB, and an original thriller, THE BLACK STILETTO. There's a lot more, so if you want the full story visit the author at his website... www.raymondbenson.com!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad. Very Bad., September 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Facts of Death (Hardcover)

That so many previous reviewers have given this book high marks shows how far our literary standards have fallen. I give it one star only because Amazon hasn't provided for a zero-star rating. The story was trite and embarrassingly derivative of Fleming's Bond stories. But above all, the writing is horrendous. This book would have improved 100% if Benson had simply hired someone with average writing skills to do a sentence-by-sentence rewriting. Again, I am appalled than so many of you actually think this is a good book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bomb, James Bomb, Amateur Investigator, SIS, October 17, 2001

By 

"patchbunny" (Yuba City, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Facts of Death (James Bond Spy Series) (Paperback)

I am a person who has never cared for rating systems. If you ask someone to rate a book on a scale of '1' to '5', it is inevitable that if they even moderately like it, they will rate it a '5'. If they moderately dislike it, it will rate a '1'. Thus, you cannot trust a '1' or a '5' rating, as they are not truly representative of the book's worth.

With that said, this is why I have rated this book a '1', and why it is a valid rating.

Gosh, does this intro sound familiar?

Benson has not improved his writing skills with his latest book, The Facts of Death. Bond still lacks any real development or depth to his character, and instead comes across yet again as a bland, unremarkable character. I don't even want to go into the whole encounter with Felix Leiter, the Tex-Mex restaurant, and the wheelchair charge Felix makes into the firefight. I'll let readers laugh about that fiasco themselves. Benson is also still enamoured with the use of exclamation points in his narrative, which strikes the writing as amateurish.

Benson also has not yet gained knowledge of Bond's character. Bond couldn't call his former boss anything but "sir", then calls him Miles. Bond does a lot of running around, acting as some sort of amateur detective rather than as a top-notch spy. And the US government, which knows of the militia group The Suppliers dealing in chemical weapons, seems to have little interest in shutting them down.

One of the biggest problems I had with the book is with the gizmos. Bond's new vehicle is protected by Chobham armor, which shows Benson knows little about Chobham armor. The vehicle is protected by reactive armor tiles, which shows Benson knows little about reactive armor (don't get me started on this one). And the vehicle is equipped with a remote controlled airplane (equipped with its own armaments that can dock underneath the car while it's moving), a cruse control systems that lets Bond have sex in the back seat, and a self-sealing skin that eliminates any bullet hole, which shows Benson doesn't know a great deal about anything. I will pause to give Benson some credit, however. I do believe that the paint-changing concept for the car could well work, and is an interesting concept. But that doesn't make an exit from the corner Benson has painted himself into. Benson has created a vehicle that has effectively removed any tension from a vehicle encounter. No bullet will stop it, Bond doesn't need to drive it, and he can destroy any vehicle at any location with impunity by using that ridiculous airplane. Bond's car is now a waste of reading time.

Benson introduced a wonderful little device that will disarm any alarm system. Quite the feat, given the wide range of alarm systems out there that do not function on remote control. It does, rather nicely, save Benson the trouble of finding a way for Bond to disarm systems, or leave the reader wondering why the bad guys haven't discovered Home Alert.

Benson has dropped into an overgizmo mode, akin to the problems I felt were present in the Stainless Steel Rat sci-fi series. No matter what you encounter, there's a handy device that will solve all your problems. It's a nice way of compensating for a lack of any meaningful character to operate them. I can easily picture this conversation occurring:

Tanner walked into the room and handed a folder marked "Top Secret" to M. "It's disastrous," he said, his voice strained with apprehension. "Bond's gone missing, the double-0 section is down with the trots from yesterday's luncheon, and Blofield's third cousin Bernie has obtained a nuclear weapon and is threatening to destroy Liechtenstein! What will we do?"

M strummed her fingers on the desk in thought. "Get that janitor," she said, "you know, the one that comes in after hours? I think his name's Bob. Give him the assignment."

Tanner blinked several times before responding. "The... janitor?"

"Of course," M replied. "Just have him nip past Q branch and pick up the usual kit. It will do everything for him. We just need someone to carry it all from place to place."

I do hope that Benson will discover what he is doing wrong and works to correct his mistakes. At least have someone hand him a book by Andy McNab so he can find out how a thriller should be written. I have always enjoyed the Bond series, but right now, I can't seem to find James Bond in Benson's stories.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Facts of Death (James Bond Spy Series) (Paperback)

I don't get why some people rate this book so low. Their standards must be pretty darn high. I had great fun with this book. Terrific story, cool locales. The mathematical angle in the plot was very unique. Highly recommended!