"Midsummer Night's Doom" is the eleventh James Bond short story and the second written by Raymond Benson. It was first published in the January 1999 issue of Playboy magazine. It was later reprinted as a bonus feature in the 2011 omnibus Choice of Weapons: Three 007 Novels.
Synopsis[]
In a special story commissioned to help celebrate Playboy's 45th anniversary, Bond is assigned to attend a party at Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills California where Ministry of Defence secrets are expected to be sold to a representative of the Russian Mafia.
While there, Bond meets Hefner who is aware of his mission and who actually provides Bond with several gadgets à la Q. Bond also has time to enjoy a quick romance with real-life Playmate Lisa Dergan, flirt with other Playmates including Victoria Zdrok, and rub elbows with the likes of actor Robert Culp and singer Mel Tormé.
Dergan has the distinction of being, to date, the only real person ever to be awarded the status of Bond Girl. (Several other Playmates are referred to by name in this story, but Dergan is clearly Bond's girl of choice on this adventure.)
Trivia[]
- Some sources give this story the erroneous title "A Midsummer Night's Doom", since the title is a play on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Victoria Zdrok later returned the favour, by appearing in a 2005 piece called For Your Ass Only, whose title is clearly a parody of For Your Eyes Only.
| James Bond short stories |
|---|
| Ian Fleming For Your Eyes Only (1960): "From a View to a Kill" -- "For Your Eyes Only" -- "Quantum of Solace" -- "Risico" -- "The Hildebrand Rarity" Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966): Raymond Benson (1997-1999) Samantha Weinberg (2006) Charlie Higson (2009) |