Raymond Benson delivers his last original James Bond novel. His last 007 book was the adaptation of Die Another Day. So that means he has to wrap up the villain, Goro Yoshida, that he set up in the previous book, Never Dream of Dying.

At the PM’s request, James has been assigned to look out for the British politician at a G8 conference being held in Japan. 007 is a little reticent to go back to Japan considering what happened to him the last time he was in Japan, as depicted in the novels You Only Live Twice and it’s follow-up, The Man with the Golden Gun.

In addition to the babysitting detail, he is to head to Japan early, meet up with his old friend Tiger Tanaka, who works for the Japanese secret service, and investigate the death of a British businessman and his Japanese family.

What Bond discovers is a horrifying threat. Yoshida has genetically modified mosquitos to carry a tweaked version of the West Nile Virus, accelerated to increase symptoms, and escalate the timeframe to death.

Bond is paired with an attractive Japanese agent and sets off across the ultra-modern country to figure out Yoshida’s plan, and put a stop to it, but things aren’t going to be that easy for 007. Yoshida has a dangerous assassin in his employ, known as Kappa, and even if James can best Kappa, Yoshida has delusions of being a Shogun and is ready to duel to the death with his katana.

Benson delivers a very fast-paced tale that ties in with lots of continuity established through the course of the novels, even if the timeline doesn’t always work, and needs to be adapted (something I’ve never had a problem with).

I have really enjoyed Benson’s run of novels and I wish he had been given one more after the Die Another Day adaptation to go out on a high note. Course I wish the same thing for Pierce Brosnan’s 007. I wish he’d been given a better film to leave the series on.

The Man with the Red Tattoo is a solid James Bond story. Benson continues to honor the Ian Fleming tradition of detailing locations, clothes, weapons, and style. He delivers lots of action, that aren’t quite at the Bond cinema level but aren’t that far off. In fact, his action sequences have always walked a fine line between the movie 007 and the literary one.

One thing we do know even if Benson is leaving the world of 007 behind…

James Bond will return.