The Facts of Death

The Facts of Death by Raymond Benson

Whenever I read a great book by a new author, I feel I’ve read a great book.  Whenever I read another great book by the same author, I feel I’ve read a great book by a great author.  Such is the case with Raymond Benson’s second “official” James Bond book which came out around 1998.  Benson took over from John Gardner, who had the arduous task of taking over from the original author Ian Fleming.  Most thought Fleming’s books were outstanding, yet Gardner’s were received in a much more lukewarm fashion.  By the time Gardner was writing the books (he started in the early 1980s), nobody really cared about the literary James Bond anymore, it was all about the movies. (On a slightly unrelated note, none of Gardner’s books were ever made into movies, yet most of Fleming’s were).

Raymond Benson, however has always been a major fan of the books, and it was his intention to resurrect, so to speak, the James Bond of the books.  Well, even though his works never made any best seller lists anywhere, it is of my opinion, that he is doing a wonderful job so far.

When I read Benson’s first effort, I expected him to mimic Ian Fleming’s style.  Something I wasn’t sure would work.  Even though Fleming was very popular, styles change and tastes change, and I’m not sure today’s literary crowd would consume one of these books with the same level of enthusiasm as one might have 60 years ago.  Fortunately, it doesn’t seem that Benson is copying Fleming to any great extent, he simply writes a great novel.

His books are not very lengthy, yet seemed packed with adventure.  Adventure is not an easy thing to write about with conviction.  Oh, sure, it looks great on the movie screen when 007 drives a boat under water, or is thrown out a plane without a parachute, but it’s very difficult to maintain the same level of excitement on a printed page when describing such situations.  So Benson knows his limitations, yet still manages to make these stories far from ho-hum.

The plot takes place largely in Greece and, like his first work, incorporates a lot of real life current tension within the plot.  There’s a big focus on the Greece-Turkey animosity, and it’s used as a backdrop for the story.  There’s been a rash of mysterious illnesses around the world – an infectious virus that is hard to detect is killing any human being that comes in contact with another human being who is already infected.  Think of something like Ebola.  Well, fortunately the disease is somewhat slow moving, allowing Bond time to go to Greece, investigate, have several sexual encounters, drive a few Q-developed special vehicles, and even visit a sperm bank in Austin, Texas (Benson’s hometown – he wanted to get it in one of his books).  Benson gives us just enough detail to where we feel we have a solid understanding of the environment without miring us in the weeds of too much detail.  

One curious thing about this particular book, is that Benson seems to be trying to uncover the “real” Bond.  Sure, we all know he’s handsome, swarthy, swashbuckling, and good with his fists, but there’s a lot of hurt and emptiness in this man’s life as well.  Bond himself seems to be the most vulnerable after one of his many sexual encounters (emphasis on “many”).  I’m not really sure this is completely necessary, but these diversions never take away from the action for very long, so it’s a very minor detail.

Raymond Benson is no Ian Fleming – but I don’t mean that is an insult nor a compliment.  He simply does a great job bringing 007 back to the books in a very exciting fashion.