Showing results by author "Raymond Benson" in All Categories

When a British businessman and his family are killed in Japan by a virulent form of West Nile disease, James Bond suspects a mass assassination. Investigating with the help of beautiful Japanese agent Reiko Tamura and his old friend, Tiger Tanaka, Bond searches for the killers and the one surviving daughter, Mayumi.

When information vital to Britain's national security is stolen, both M and Bond suspect that the Union is behind it. The trail leads Bond from one of England's most exclusive golf clubs to the cosmopolitan city of Brussels and finally to an expedition up the icy heights of the legendary mountain Kangchenjunga, the third tallest peak in the world.

The intricately organized criminal conspiracy called the Union has vowed its revenge on the man who thwarted its last coup. Now, the Union's mysterious leader sets out to destroy James Bond's reputation and sanity by luring the agent into a dangerous alliance of deceit and treason with a Spanish militant intent on reclaiming Gibraltar.

It begins at a movie studio in Nice where a police raid goes horribly wrong, killing innocent men, women, and even children. It continues in an English prison, where a dead man discloses an intriguing secret about the brutal criminal organization called the Union. The trail leads James Bond to Paris, where he meets the tantalizing movie star Tylyn Mignonne and embarks on a voyage of sensual discovery.

Elliot Carver - the ultra-rich media mogul - has found a way to "create" news and broadcast it all over the world as it happens. Now he has devised the ultimate plan: to start a war between Great Britain and China. The conflict will reach every television in the world and garner the highest ratings in history. A man who can start a war anytime and anywhere he pleases - and then profit from it - will be the most powerful man in the world. But Carver didn't count on James Bond.

Someone is poisoning British soldiers in Cyprus; the same killer has murdered a British intelligence agent in Athens. James Bond himself barely escapes with his life.... But the secrets behind these and other deaths first start to come to light in Texas, where Bond goes in search of the assassin of M's friend and lover. Fearful of an international scandal that could engulf both his service and his country, he learns instead of the existence of the Decada.

Greed, revenge and world domination are just some of the ingredients in this James Bond adventure. After oil tycoon Sir Robert King is killed in a bombing at MI6 headquarters, his daughter, Elektra, inherits his fortune and the attentions of her father's killer. His name is Renard. A bullet lodged in his brain has rendered him unable to feel physical pain, and he has but one reason left to live - revenge.

In the Australian desert, a nuclear bomb explodes. There are no survivors and no clues about who has made it or detonated it. In England, two police officers are shot dead when they apprehend a cargo vessel in Portsmouth dock. Vast quantities of heroin are later found on board.

From North Korea to Iceland, Bond circles the world in his quest to unmask a traitor and prevent a war of catastrophic proportions. Crossing paths with beautiful allies and deadly assassins in a high-octane, action adventure of intrigue, revenge and betrayal. Never has Bond been so vulnerable, nor so dangerous....

Here is the new audio edition of the classic 007 reference book from the 1980s, complete with a new Foreword by the author. The James Bond Bedside Companion is an encyclopedic celebration of 007, who is still the world's most popular secret agent. The only book to cover all aspects of the James Bond phenomenon in a single volume, it includes: An intimate portrait of Ian Fleming as remembered by his friends and colleagues, a character study of James Bond, the by-products of Bondmania and the merchandising of 007, detailed analyses of every James Bond novel, and much more.

Rick Shepherd is an ordinary guy from the mid-west with a history of depression and a hospital stay for a nervous breakdown. He's in a failing marriage, a dead-end job, and is undergoing the proverbial mid-life crisis. Not the best way to begin a business retreat in Jamaica with his company. After a bizarre encounter at a tourist-trap voodoo show where he is "cursed" by an actor supposedly possessed by a spirit, he meets a beautiful young woman named Larissa on the beach. She is mysterious and enchanting, and Rick falls head over heels for her.

Could Martin Talbot's elderly, Alzheimer-stricken mother, Judy, really have been the Black Stiletto? When Martin discovers several volumes of her diaries hidden by his mother, he is stunned beyond all imagination. His mother, the underground heroine of yesteryear? The famed, still unidentified woman who battled Communist spies, took on the Mafia, and preyed on common crooks? The woman who exacted punishment on evildoers without mercy? But it is all described, in great detail, in the diaries. Could it be true? Talbot is filled with doubt and disbelief.

Nuclear brinksmanship, psychological warfare, spies, double agents, femmes fatales, and dead drops… The Cold War - a terrifying time when nuclear war between the world's two superpowers was an ever-present threat, an all-too-real possibility that could be set off at the touch of a button - provides a chilling backdrop to this collection of all-new short stories from today's most celebrated mystery writers.

For Scott Hatcher, a former television writer turned struggling novelist with a failing marriage to boot, social-distancing and mask-wearing feel like fitting additions to his already surreal life. When his wife Marie and neighbor John Bergman disappear in the middle of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Scott is naturally mystified and disturbed, but he is also about to learn that his picturesque neighborhood hides more than just the mundane routines of suburban life.

It's 1960. The Black Stiletto, in her civilian persona as Judy Cooper, volunteers to work for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, only to become involved in a devious behind-the-scenes plot that could change the course of history. Is the mysterious eastern European man she briefly dated associated with a Cuban/Soviet spy ring? Closer to home, the Stiletto must challenge dangerous tongs in Chinatown after befriending a teenage boy whose father was killed by the gangs.

It is 1961 in the fourth audiobook of the Black Stiletto series. Judy, the Stiletto, meets Leo, a charismatic man who convinces her to move to Los Angeles when she is "run out" of New York by increasingly hazardous police heat. But soon Judy suspects that Leo is not the white knight she first thought. Leo, who has connections with the West Coast mobs, has plenty of skeletons in his closet. His mysterious sister, Christina, who once served time for armed robbery, could also be a threat to the Stiletto's new life in California.

The staying power of the world's most dashing secret agent and the evolution of the James Bond franchise are explored in this smart yet nostalgic collection of essays. Leading writers, including Raymond Benson, J.A. Konrath, Raelynn Hillhouse, and John Cox, discuss the 10 sexiest Bond girls, the best villains, and the controversy surrounding the latest actor to play James Bond. Topics covered range from the playful - how to build a secret lair and avoid the perennial mistakes made by would-be world dominators - to the thought-provoking.

Sixty-one-year-old Shelby Truman, a romance novelist, has received a request to visit her childhood friend, Eddie, who is on Death Row. Though mentally ill, Eddie is scheduled to be executed for the disturbing, brutal murders of his wife and unborn child. As Shelby travels home to Texas for the unnerving reunion, she steps back into memories of her past, recalling her five-decade-long relationship with Eddie in order to understand what led the beautiful but troubled boy who lived across the street to become a murderer.

The year is 1985. Manhattan’s Times Square area is sleazy, and the streets are full of what Coleman Sackler calls “New York Street Skunk”. Cole is the night manager and self-proclaimed hotel detective for the transient Hotel Destiny, which has been plagued with scandals over the century, including several murders, gangster occupation and ownership, and fleabag status during the 1960s and '70s. Five recent slayings in the building have been attributed to - the police believe - one killer.

Musicians in progressive rock bands in Chicago are being murdered-one by one. The local police have no clues, but several of the musicians who fear they're next on the hit list claim that the killer is a ghost from the past-a woman who was reported missing and presumed dead for over thirty years! The Rockin' Security team is called into action. Spike and his partner, Suzanne, travel to Chicago to investigate the case, only to find that no one wants to talk. As Spikedigs deeper, he begins to unearth a lode of deadly secrets involving sex, psychedelic drugs, and, of course, rock ‘n' roll.