The Facts of Death

Rating:
Summary: If you like Fleming, give Benson a pass
Review: ...It's a wonderful book froom the plot to ending. It's not exactly Ian's old Bond but its as close as anyone can get and I thouht this book was a non stop thriller. The sperm bank scence is good and it has a good ending especially at the end with Varsillis and Konstantine Romanos. But Felix and the charge in his wheelchair seems a little far-fetched!

Rating:
Summary: The great adventure.
Review: A great adventure to read. I would not let this one out of your sight if you happen to be a Bond fan like myself. A great tale.

Rating:
Summary: Bomb, James Bomb, Amateur Investigator, SIS
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Everything is here except for the writing!
Review: I think it is impossible to slam this book too much because, simply, I found it to be one of the best researched and constructed Bond novels in a long time if not ever. No one can ever fault Benson thus far with his first 2 efforts. The man takes the time to research and put together a fantastic story. BUT, no matter how much I liked the story and the characters and the action the prose and writing of the book are all too often just plain poor or amateurish. Ian Fleming was so smooth and never too wordy, and John Gardner had his own smoothness and solid style, but Benson's writing is strictly high school much of the time. Descriptions and action scenes read so simply it makes you wonder if the guy really cared. And to read him in interviews he constantly mentions that he is writing Fleming's Bond. Why not write Bensons's Bond? Fleming died 35 years ago. We don't need a copy. We need someone who loves Bond, and no doubt Benson does, to create great stories, which he does, and inject HIS OWN perceptions of Bond without trying to copy all the Fleming-isms. And please, if you must Mr. Benson, take some prose and fiction writing courses. I love Bond and I believe Benson truly loves Bond but the vapid prose is too damn ugly to lift the Bond novels to a higher and more read and respected level, which, with the quality of the research and the stories, they can reach.

Rating:
Summary: James Bond takes on Pythagoras in this enjoyable read.
Review: In Benson's second original Bond novel, 007 tackles a terrorist organization known as the Decada, led by a man who is upposedly the reincarnation of Pyhtagoras! The Decada is poised to provoke a war between Greece and Turkey, as well as unleashing a horrifying virus on the world. Aided by his old friend Felix Leiter(Leiter has been absent from Bond adventures for far too long) and a--surprise!-- sexy female Greek agent, Bond must follow a trail of sperm to find and stop the Decada from carrying out their mad schemes. Yes, I said "sperm." You'll understand when you read the book. Benson continues bringing Bond back to his bad habits, which were toned down in the Gardner novels-- drinking, smoking, excessive sex with women of dubious loyalty. It's about time! It's good to see Sir Miles Messervy (the former M) as well, as he has not been seen in the films since "License to Kill." Also welcome is an important appearance by Q, who had very little exposure in the Bond novels of every other author. This novel continues the tradition of making the novels a sort of "Bond boullibase"-- a sort of composite of the Bond of the Fleming novels and the films. While the story doesn't flow quite as smoothly as the Fleming or Gardner Bonds, due to prose that is somewhat lacking, it is a fun, entertaining read and worthy of the Bond tradition. Oh, by the way: awesome car!!!

Rating:
Summary: Why Glidrose? Why?
Review: Raymond Benson does a couple of things well. He actually comes up with good Bond-like stories for his books. Hong Kong, Cyprus, Gilbraltar--a focus on the British empire past and present. He also does some good research. Sometimes too good--he includes lengthy descriptions of places and encapsulated history lessons.

What Benson does very, very poorly is write. He takes the above and whittles it away with amateurish writing and an unprofessional atmosphere. But it makes sense, since Benson used to write software. It's painfully linear, and the good stories are wasted. It's like taking a steak and dipping it in peanut butter. What a shame.

I read this book and really wanted to like it. The story is a good one, and it's relevant to current events. The situation between Cyprus and Turkey has been sitting stagnant for years yet it could still go off in a second. Some strange stuff happening as well. What is with Bond's car, his Jaguar that, if I understand Benson correctly, could survive a nuke. Not enough to have missles, guns, oil slicks. Now Bond's car has skin and armor that's so powerful you wonder what kind of engine is in that thing to carry that tank around.

It gets boring quickly when you know Bond can't get harmed in his car. He doesn't even have to drive the thing. Who knows, the Bond of the future may do his mission from his flat on a laptop and cell phone while Moneypenny cooks and cleans for him.

I just can't accept Raymond Benson as a novelist. I don't get it. They need to get someone else, and fast. The books can't get any worse in the writing department. Let Benson return to his esteemed role as President of the James Bond Fanclub.

Rating:
Summary: Now Meet Raymond Benson. The New 007 Author!
Review: The Facts of Death is the 2nd book of Raymond Benson in the James Bond series. If you enjoy Ian Fleming or John Gardner, you'll like this.

Deaths are occuring around the world, and at every scene there is a number left near the victim. James Bond is after this so-called Number Killer to the first death in Athens, Greece. He then meets Niki Mirakos and try to discover who or what is behind the mystery. M's fiance is killed before he can tell what he knows about the case. Bond discovers that the group behind the murders is called the Decada, with an unknown leader. Bond follows the son Charles, of M's fiance to Texas where he worked with Ashley Anderson to kill his father. Bond gets away and the clinic with the disease is exploded. Bond ends up at a casino playing against a Konstantine Romanos who is head of the Decada. Bond leaves and is picked up by Hera Volopolous. She turns out to be the 2nd in command of the Decada and the Number Killer and captures Bond. Hera kills Romanos and leaves Bond with a vaccine for the disease that has already killed several people. Bond must solve a puzzle to escape, and does while killing Hera and retrieving the vaccine.

A wild ride of a book from the start. Raymond Benson has a very different style of writing than Ian Fleming, but it is appealing in it's own way. Novice Bond fans might want to tend to go to Ian Fleming novels, but people like me, that enjoy all parts of 007 will be enjoyed by this book!

Rating:
Summary: Read this book it is very good
Review: this book is really good. the group called the decada is killing people and starting a war between greece and turkey. The villian is Romanos and the henchman is Vassilis.The evil female is Hera Volupolis.