The next Raymond Benson 007 novel, takes place a few short months after High Time to Kill. Ian Fleming’s creation, James Bond, is on medical leave and isn’t doing so well. There may be a lesion in his brain causing blackouts, and his medication seems to be exacerbating things.

Even dealing with these issues, Bond is determined to continue his hunt for The Union and take down the villainous organization once and for all. But in his condition, he could be manipulated by The Union to their own ends, as they seek to exact revenge on Bond and Britain for his actions, and make the world turn against the United Kingdon with a plan of assassination that will see Bond as the killer and Gibraltar returned to the Spanish.

It’s a fairly fast-paced tale, but of Benson’s tales to this point, this is probably my least favourite, it just didn’t have the same pop as his other tales, and I didn’t care for how some of it played out. I love the idea of Bond on enforced medical leave, but the ideas at work here of Doppelgangers, and even The Union, have all been done before in the book and film series.

Consequently, it didn’t feel like it added anything new to the story or character for me.

There are some solid moments, and Benson continues Fleming’s tradition of details and punchy sentences, but I wasn’t as caught up in this one as I had been in others.

The Bond girl(s), the Taunt sisters, are a nice idea, at least from the perspective of the CIA work they do, but even that feels a little silly. But there are things I really like, the suggestion that Bond is really ill, that he may not be in control of himself. We, the reader, and the fan, know that he can’t have committed the crimes that his doppelganger does, but it doesn’t even feel as if the narrative suggests that it could be Bond. If there was evidence, or even a suggestion in Bond’s own mind that he recognized the possibility that he could have done the crimes committed in the story, that would have been an interesting turn for the character.

Instead, it’s played fairly straight, out hero is our hero, and obviously, there’s something else happening around him making him look guilty.

Set predominantly against the backdrop of Spain and bullfighting, Benson moves 007 along quickly and smoothly, and honestly, just a little too easily sometimes. I know there are formulas for Bond stories, but I also think Benson is a solid enough writer that he could have shaken this one up a bit more and left us stirred.

James Bond will return in Never Dream of Dying.