|
|
Zero Minus Ten (1997)
Official Blurb (British)
In 10 days, Hong Kong will pass into the hands of the Chinese--and 007 is
on his way there to undertake his most dangerous mission yet. In the Australian
desert, a nuclear bomb explodes. In England, two police officers are shot
dead when they investigate a cargo in Portsmouth dock. And in Hong Kong,
an explosion rips through one of the colony's famous floating restaurants,
killing the entire Board of EurAsia Enterprises Ltd, a multi-billion dollar
shipping corporation. These apparently random events are connected--and
007 must find out how and why. Travelling to one of the world's most exotic
locations, James Bond encounters such diverse characters as a mysterious
British taipan, a sinister Triad leader, a sadistic Chinese general and
an enchanting exotic dancer--and eventually comes face to face with one
of the most formidable adversaries of his career.
Official Blurb (American)
The clock is ticking for Hong Kong. On July 1, 1997, the British Crown
Colony will be handed over to the People's Republic of China. But
hopes for a peaceful transition are shattered when a series of
terrorist acts threatens the fragile relationship between Britain
and China. A solicitor from London is killed by a car bomb; a British "officer" retaliates
by assassinating two officials visiting from Beijing; an explosion
eliminates the elite of a major British corporation. With ten days
of British sovereignty left, James Bond is dispatched to Hong Kong
to investigate these incidents and avert a political crisis that
could jeopardize the upcoming historical event. He suspects there
are connections with the nefarious Chinese underworld Triad. But
the truth is difficult to uncover. Bond must navigate a startling
maze of characters - a suspicious British taipan, a sinister Triad
leader, a sadistic Chinese general, and an exotic dancer with alluring,
seductive skills - before exposing a fiendish plot of revenge,
with roots reaching back more than a century and a half.
-
Shamelady
-
Three Events
-
Call to Duty
-
A British Legacy
-
The Pearl in the Crown
-
The Prevailing Wind
-
Jade Dragon
-
Private Dancer
-
Interview with a Dragon
-
Marked for Death
-
Assassination
-
One of the Links
-
Triad Ceremony
-
Bedtime Story
-
Day Trip to China
-
Agony and Anger
-
Men of Honour
-
The Golden Mile
-
Farewell to Hong Kong
-
Walkabout
-
Countdown
-
No Tears for Hong Kong
|
|
|
Above: American 1st edition
Putnam hardback
Above Left: American 1st edition
Jove paperback.
Above Right: Unused
American draft cover.
|
Excerpt
"Despite these rationalizations, Bond's anger overcame him. (...) After
suffering the degrading torture Wong had inflicted upon him, and now having discovered
the extent of the general's frenzy, Bond saw red. He knew he should stay objective
and keep his emotions out of it. This wasn't a vendetta, he tried to tell himself,
but all he wanted to do was wring the mad general's neck."
Quote
Guy Thackeray: "China will blame Britain. Britain will blame China.
There are sure to be some...misunderstandings." He laughed. "It
will be wonderful!"
Trivia
When it first went on sale in the UK on April 3rd 1997, "Zero Minus
Ten" by Raymond Benson sold out within the first week. A second print
had to be quickly ordered.
Timeline
1997 |
April 3 - 1st edition Hodder & Stoughton hardback (UK)
May 5 - 1st edition Putnam hardback (USA) |
1998 |
March 5 - 1st edition Coronet paperback (UK)
August - 1st edition Jove paperback (USA) |
Reviews
Publisher's Weekly - Disorienting as it is,
James Bond will be as youthful and virile as ever on July 1st,
when Hong Kong becomes a part of China. Benson (an Edgar nominee
for The James Bond Bedside Companion) is the latest of the
literary Dr. Frankenstein's enlisted to inject life into old
007. Committing the mistake of pinning Bond down to a specific
point in time instead of letting him float in an undefined
Cold War limbo, he inadvertently reveals how Ian Fleming and
others protected Bond from the real ravages of time. An early
description here ("Dark and handsome, he had piercing
blue-gray eyes. His short black hair had just a hint of gray
at the temples, was parted on the left, and was carelessly
brushed so that a thick black comma fell down over the right
eyebrow") makes it clear that this tale is more a self-conscious
homage than an organic story to sink into. Benson moves rapidly
into pastiche and commercial rip off, skating around on the
surface of things until the action begins to seem ludicrous.
Bond goes through the motions of discovering who is trying
to sabotage the transfer of power in Hong Kong by blowing people
up, bedding the usual array of beautiful young bimbos, dodging
and fighting the same sinister crowd of ethnic heavies (including
a trio of giant albinos called Tic, Tac and Toe) and confronting
the same cliched threats to destroy the world. Benson, a games
designer, has come up with a kind of computer-game parody that
will make readers wonder why they don't just reread Fleming's
classics.
Kirkus Reviews - The author of The James Bond
Bedside Companion (not reviewed) pits Agent 007 against worthy
Pacific Basin opponents in a more than serviceable first thriller
that could give Ian Fleming's ultra cool hero yet another new
lease on life. Dispatched to Hong Kong to halt a series of violent
incidents that threaten the Crown Colony's mid-1997 return to
the People's Republic of China, Bond first checks on Guy Thackeray,
the fifth- generation head of a family shipping firm called EurAsia
Enterprises. Although the SIS troubleshooter gets the goods on
the shady businessman, the latter perishes (or appears to) in
a car bombing. In next trying to tap underworld intelligence
sources, 007 makes a nearly fatal mistake and is obliged to undertake
a personal mission for triad chieftain Li Xu Nan. Against the
odds, the master spy penetrates the PRC and returns alive, bearing
papers that put Li in his debt. With help from the grateful crime
boss, Bond heads down under to investigate a mysterious outback
blast London has told him is not his affair. In due course, he
finds a back-from- the-dead Thackeray at a remote uranium mine;
to his horror, he learns that the embittered taipan (who's used
EurAsia to make a great fortune in the drug trade) plans to put
paid to the celebration of Hong Kong's handover by detonating
a crude nuclear device on or near the island at midnight on June
30, 1997. Before 007 can beat the clock and save the showcase
outpost of empire with an eleventh-hour dash through a crowded
harbour, however, he must escape the clutches of a villainous
captor and make it out of western Australia's famously inhospitable
bush country. Benson's 007 is a chip off the old block and, if
not a gilt- edged Bond, at least a double-A.
|
|
|