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Literary Tag


The Facts of Death - Small Title NovelLocationsEquipmentCharacters


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.

Synopsis[]

British troops in Cyprus and the goodwill ambassador of Britain die to a mysterious disease. 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. James Bond is sent to the United States to find the goodwill ambassador's son, and soon finds himself on trail of a mathematic cult in Greece called The Decada.

Plot summary[]

Cyprus, party, briefing[]

The Facts of Death starts off with several deaths occurring from mysterious diseases. We first find Bond in Cyprus where several 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 beds the latter and returns to Britain.

He is invited to attend a dinner party being held by his former boss, Sir Miles Messervey. During this, the current M (Barbara Mawdsley) introduces her to her boyfriend, Alfred Hutchinson, the Goodwill Ambassador of Britain.

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. Hutchinson's son, Charles Hutchinson, cannot be reached and Bond travels to Austin, Texas, to make contact with him.

USA[]

There, Felix Leiter informs him that Charles works for a sort of clinic, a sperm bank called ReproCare, which belongs to a pharmaceutical company in Athens, called BioLinks Limited. ReproCare is believed to have links to a terrorist group.

007 goes to Hutchinson's house and finds the home ransacked; as he consults the computer, he hears people approaching: Dr. Ashley Anderson (the head of ReproCare) accompanied by a man. Bond decides to tail the man and follows him to a house where he sees Charles through one of the windows. Bond, however, is spotted by a dog and leaves.

Bond then goes to ReproCare where he sees Charles and, having stolen an access card from Ashley Anderson, he decides to return to the premises after closing.

On site, 007 discovers that ReproCare has the means to manufacture chemical and biological weapons on its premises. He is surprised by Anderson, who explains that she and Charles used to work for a terrorist group, but now, she works for a “higher authority”.

Bond manages to neutralize her and, thanks to the information he obtained at ReproCare, the FBI raids a terrorist hideout.

Greece[]

In Northern Cyprus, two new chemical and biological attacks take place. In a castle in Chios, The Decada cult are having a meeting. The Leader, Konstantine Romanos, alias "the Monad", declares that there is a traitor in the organization, and its Charles Hutchinson, who is subsequently killed.

Bond heads to Athens on a mission to find Charles Hutchinson and investigate Konstantin Romanos, whose name Bond found at Hutchinson's home. There, he finds Niki Mirakos who explains to him that her department received a letter from The Decada, indicating that there would be ten assassinations and that they are working with the aim of reunifying Cyprus. She also tells him that Romanos formed the New Pythagorean Society and acquired BioLinks Limited. A little later, Niki and Bond are informed that Charles' body has been found.

Going to the headquarters of the New Pythagorean Society, Bond finds Romanos increasingly suspicious. He thinks the number of attacks may have something to do with the Pythagorean Tetraktys; a photo also shows Romanos with Alfred Hutchinson.

On the road, three Ferraris chase Bond and Niki. Using the gadgets of the Jaguar XK8 modified by Major Boothroyd, Bond manages to eliminate his pursuers.

Bond goes to a Greek casino located at the top of Mount Parnes to face Romanos in a game of baccarat. battles Romanos in a game of baccarat. He defeats Romanos and catches the attention of a pretty Greek woman named Hera Volopoulos. Bond chats with and later beds Hera. He then is drugged by her after they have made love.

He manages to escape his attackers again and goes to Monemvasia, town that one of Romanos' men had noted as a meeting place in his agenda.

Monemvasia, Lefkosia, Chios[]

In Monemvasia, Bond is recaptured by Hera; this brings him aboard Romanos' yacht. The latter explains to Bond that the gods communicate with him and make their orders known to him. He also says he is going to start a war between Greece and Turkey, and that he has trafficked gold with Alfred Hutchinson in the past. Romanos leaves Bond with Hera on the yacht, she wants to torture him with a knife, but Bond manages to escape and reach the coast.

Back with Niki, M explains to Bond that she found a message from Alfred indicating the targets of two of the three attacks: Istanbul and the president of the Northern Cyprus. They figure out that Manville Duncan, Alfred Hutchinson's replacement as the Goodwill Ambassador, is linked to the Decada. 007 and Niki go to Lefkosia and manage to stop the attempted attack on the president of the Northern Cyprus.

They then go to Chios to find the headquarters of the Decada. With Niki injured, Bond goes there alone and is captured. There, Romanos shows him the nuclear-tipped Pershing missile he plans to launch on Istanbul; however he decides to give Bond a chance to prevent him from taking off. That is, he gives Bond a mathematical problem, which answer tells how to defuse the procedure. However, before Romanos can leave, he is shot and killed by Hera.

She explains to Bond that she also has other plans for the Decada; including creating an viral epidemic so that BioLinks Limited can enrich themselves with a vaccine.

Once everyone leaves in the helicopter, Bond manages to solve the problem and defuses the missile. With the help of the Greek army, Bond manages to stop the Decada helicopter, kills Hera and recovers the vaccine. Later, Bond is informed by M that Alfred Hutchinson was not linked to the Decada.

Characters[]

Locations[]

Locations where the book takes place include:

Trivia[]

  • Benson's original choice for the title of this novel was The World Is Not Enough, but it was struck down by Glidrose. Although it wasn't used for the title of the book, the final chapter of the book uses it. A year later the title would be used for the 1999 film of the same name.
  • The events of John Gardner's story For Special Services (1982) are briefly alluded to in the novel.[1]

References[]

  1. Benson, Raymond [7th May 1998] (1 October 2012). "Chapter 6: Tequila and Limes", The Facts of Death, James Bond (in En-UK). Ian Fleming Publications. “Bond hadn’t spent much time in Texas. He had been to the area known as the Panhandle during the case a few years back that involved the last heir of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but he had never been to Austin or any of the other more scenic areas in central Texas.” 

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