The Facts of Death

The Facts of Death, first published in 1998, was the third novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond (including Benson's novelization of Tomorrow Never Dies). Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright—the final James Bond novel to do so—it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

The novel's title was originally The World Is Not Enough, an English translation of the Latin phrase Orbis non sufficit, which appears in the novel and film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The title was later used for the nineteenth James Bond film, released in 1999.^[1]

Plot summary

The Facts of Death starts off with several deaths from mysterious diseases. We first find Bond in Cyprus where a number of British troops have been discovered murdered, under mysterious circumstances. Bond gets too close for comfort for the group behind the actions and is attacked, but rescued by a fiery Greek female agent, Niki Mirakos. Bond then returns to Britain. He is invited to attend a dinner party being held by his former boss, Sir Miles Messervy. His current boss and her boyfriend are in attendance. After the party M's boyfriend is murdered. She then tells Bond that all of the killings are connected because near all the bodies there were statues of Greek deities and numbers counting the victims of the horrible killing spree. Bond is sent to Greece and partnered with his current love interest Niki Mirakos. They both seem to be suspicious of an internationally known mathematic cult called the Decada. The head of the group is Greek mathematician, Konstantine Romanos. Bond goes to a Greek casino that is about two hours away from Athens and battles Romanos in a game of bacaraat. He defeats Romanos and catches the attention of a pretty Greek woman named Hera Volopoulos, who is also a card carrying member of the Decada. Bond chats with and later beds Hera. He then is drugged by her after they have made love. She takes him to Konstantine who talks to Bond and tells Hera to kill him. Bond manages to escape Hera's evil clutches. He then manages to figure out Konstantine's plan, to start a major war between Greece and Turkey. Bond figures out where the hideout is and gets there just in time to witness Hera murder Konstantine. She leaves Bond to stop a nuclear missile that will be fired from Greece into Turkey. Bond then figures out Hera's plan, to profit from worldwide murder through a new virus. Bond, with assistance from the Greek military, boards a helicopter and prepares for battle with Hera. He kills her and stops the missile.

Locations

Locations where the book takes place include:

• Los Angeles
• Tokyo
• Austin, Texas
• Cyprus
• London
• Greece

Publication history

• UK first hardback edition: May 1998 Hodder & Stoughton
• U.S. first hardback edition: June 1998 Putnam
• UK first paperback edition: November 5, 1998 Coronet Books
• U.S. first paperback edition: August 1999 Jove Books

See also

• Outline of James Bond

References