Raymond Benson

They call him the Number Killer. A calculating assassin who always leaves a numerical calling card. But now he's picked the wrong victim – M's lover – and James Bond is going to beat the odds and make things even. From the desolate badlands of Texas to the crumbling ruins of Greece, the danger multiplies as Bond tracks his quarry to a sinister cult of fanatics shrouded in the teachings of the Greek mathmatician Pythagoras. With a vicious cadre of killers trying to subtract him from the equation, Bond must infiltrate the cult and stop their chaotic computations – or the next number that comes up may be his own...

One job, one dame, one deadly detour. Felix Leiter James Bond's trusted friend and ally takes center stage in a brand-new adventure by legendary 007 novelist, Raymond Benson. It is 1952. Felix Leiter has returned to Manhattan after losing his job at the CIA. Determined to continue doing what he loves, he finds himself working at Pinkerton's Detective Agency. What starts as a simple surveillance job turns into a matter of life and death when Felix stumbles upon a murder and the beautiful, yet secretive, Dora Wysocki. When Felix agrees to accompany Dora on a road trip from New York to Texas the mystery grows - along with the heat between them - as danger and deceit lurks behind every corner.

In ten days, Hong Kong will pass into the hands of the Chinese - and 007 is on his way there to undertake his most dangerous and thrilling mission yet. In the Australian desert, a nuclear bomb explodes. There are no survivors and no clues about who has made it or detonated it. In England, two police officers are shot dead when they apprehend a cargo vessel in Portsmouth dock. Vast quantities of heroin are later found on board. And in Hong Kong, an explosion rips through one of the colony's famous floating restaurants, killing the entire Board of Directors of EurAsia Enterprises Ltd, a multi-billion dollar shipping corporation. The People's Republic of China is about to resume control after a century and a half of British rule – and the colony is a powder keg waiting to explode. The tension reaches breaking point when a solicitor from one of Britain's most prestigious law firms is killed in a car bomb at Government House. These apparently random events are connected – and Bond must find out how and why. From the heady casinos of Macau to the seedy strip clubs of Kowloon, 007's investigations bring him into conflict with ruthless Triad gangs, a power-hungry Chinese general – and a beautiful night club hostess called Sunni Pei. All inquiries seem to lead to EurAsia Enterprises Ltd – and its assassinated owner. James Bond is about to come up against one of the most formidable adversaries of his career.

For Scott Hatcher, a former television writer turned struggling novelist with a failing marriage to boot, social-distancing and mask-wearing feel like fitting additions to his already surreal life. When his wife Marie and neighbor John Bergman disappear in the middle of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Scott is naturally mystified and disturbed, but he is also about to learn that his picturesque neighborhood hides more than just the mundane routines of suburban life. When a fire claims the empty house for sale next door, the entire community is shocked when the charred remains of Marie and John are found inside. Stranger still, stockpiles of valuable Personal Protection Equipment, clearly stolen, were destroyed in the blaze alongside them. As the neighborhood reels from the loss, Scott and Bergman’s earthy and enticing widow, Rachel, not only find themselves under investigation for the crime, but also inexorably drawn to one another. As tensions reach a fever pitch, the tale—which is at once familiar and ordinary, yet bizarre and eerie—shows that, just like life in 2020’s uncertain times, dread and danger lurk below the hidden underside of everyday suburbia.

What if you, as a ghost, had to solve your own murder? From internationally acclaimed and New York Times best-selling author Raymond Benson comes a novel that is a ghost story with a distinctive noir sensibility mixed with David Lynchian surrealism. The year is 1985. Manhattan's Times Square area is sleazy, and the streets are full of what Coleman Sackler calls New York Street Skunk. Cole is the night manager and self-proclaimed hotel detective for the transient Hotel Destiny, which has been plagued with scandals over the century, including several murders, gangster occupation and ownership, and fleabag status during the 1960s and '70s. Five recent slayings in the building have been attributed to the police believe one killer. During the gala grand re-opening Halloween party, Cole Sackler himself is murdered by a masked man. But hold on Cole awakes and is still in the hotel as a ghost. Prior to his death, a mysterious woman had told him that hidden portals located throughout the building can lead one to other time periods, and that the key to Cole's destiny is in the hotel's past and embedded in its many secrets. Thus, Cole's spirit sets out to solve his own murder by dropping in on living characters throughout Hotel Destiny's history and observing and/or interacting with them. His goal is to discover the identity of his killer, as well as learn the ironic truth about his own family, his heritage, and himself

Raymond Benson's The Black Stiletto: Endings & Beginnings is the startling, climactic finale to the five-book, critically-acclaimed saga of The Black Stiletto. It's 1962. Judy Cooper, the Black Stiletto, is devastated at the betrayal by her nemesis and former lover, mobster Leo Kelly. Additionally, Leo and his psychotically dangerous sister, Christina, have set out to ruin the Stiletto's reputation in L. A. with a series of crimes that are made to appear as if the crime-fighter is responsible. The very pregnant Judy must fight back only with her wits and cunning-until disaster strikes and she is forced to flee to her old home town in Texas for the final showdown with destiny. Meanwhile, in the present, the Alzheimer's that afflicts elderly Judy is in its last stage, but her son and granddaughter, Martin and Gina, must continue to protect her from the past's last remaining assault, culminating in a cathartic and explosive conclusion.

In Raymond Benson's chilling new James Bond novel, Agent 007 comes face-to-face with the most cunning criminal mastermind he has ever fought, the blind genius behind the brutal organization called The Union. At a movie studio in Nice, a police raid goes horribly wrong, killing innocent people. In an English prison, a dead man discloses an intriguing secret about The Union. The trail leads Bond to Paris, where he meets the tantalizing French movie star Tylyn Mignonne and embarks on a voyage of sensual discovery and mortal danger. Bond's journey leads him into an underwater brush with death, a chase through the Corsican wilderness, a thrilling climax at the Cannes Film Festival, and a final confrontation with a twisted criminal genius.

It's 1960. The Black Stiletto, in her civilian persona as Judy Cooper, volunteers to work for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, only to become involved in a devious behind-the-scenes plot that could change the course of history. Is the mysterious Eastern European man she briefly dated, associated with a Cuban/Soviet spy ring? Closer to home, the Stiletto must challenge dangerous Tongs in Chinatown after befriending a teenage boy whose father was killed by the gangs. She soon discovers what a different-and very deadly-world exists in lower Manhattan. In the present, Martin, the Stiletto's son, must deal with his mother's worsening Alzheimer's symptoms, his own mental health issues, and the dilemma of whether or not to reveal his family's secrets to the new woman in his life. Meanwhile, his daughter, Gina, continues to bring trouble to herself, exhibiting behavior that suggests she is closer in spirit to her grandmother than Martin would like. Every major character, past and present, experiences a turning point in this third chapter of the Black Stiletto series.

Selected by Jeffrey Deaver and Raymond Benson, this is a collection of mystery/thriller short stories from some of today's top writers. Nuclear brinksmanship, psychological warfare, spies, double agents, femmes fatales, and dead drops... The Cold War-a terrifying time when nuclear war between the world's two superpowers was an ever-present threat, an all-too-real possibility that could be set off at the touch of a button-provides a chilling backdrop to this collection of all-new short stories from today's most celebrated mystery writers. Bestselling authors Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson-the only American writers to be commissioned to pen official James Bond novels-have joined forces to bring us twenty masterful tales of paranoia, espionage, and psychological drama. In Joseph Finder's Police Report, the seemingly cut-and-dried case of a lunatic murderer in rural Massachusetts may have roots in Soviet-controlled Armenia. In Miss Bianca by Sara Paretsky, a young girl befriends a mouse in a biological warfare laboratory and finds herself unwittingly caught in an espionage drama. And Deaver's own Comrade 35 offers a unique spin on the assassination of John F. Kennedy-with a signature twist.

It's 1959, and Judy Cooper, the Black Stiletto, sets out to confront a dangerous gangster known as the heroin king of Harlem when the teenage daughter of her beloved martial arts instructor ends up a prisoner in an uptown narcotics den. The Stiletto has troubles of her own- a shady filmmaker is threatening to reveal her identity to the world- a close friend of her landlord and substitute father may be in cahoots with the Harlem criminals- she's fighting for racial equality- and she has fallen in love again- this time with an FBI agent who has standing orders to arrest her. Meanwhile the Stiletto's son faces his own blackmail crisis when he finds out that there is a second copy of an 8mm film he found in his mother's strongbox - showing the Black Stiletto unmasked in a film studio dressing room. As he tries to stop the filmmaker's son's extortion plot, he learns that his daughter, Gina, has been brutally assaulted in New York City. The past and the present meet.

Agent 47 might be the best assassin the Agency has ever had, but he'll need all of his skill, cunning, and ruthlessness if he is to survive his toughest assignment yet. Since the devastating conclusion of Hitman: Blood Money, Agent 47 has been MIA. Now fans awaiting the return of the blockbuster video-game and film phenomenon can pinpoint the location of the world's most brutal and effective killer-for-hire before he re-emerges in Hitman: Absolution. When the Agency lures him back with a mission that will require every last ounce of his stealth, strength, and undercover tactics, they grossly underestimate the silent assassin's own agenda. Because this time, Agent 47 isn't just going to bite the hand that feeds him ... he's going to tear it off and annihilate anyone who stands in his way.

Could Martin Talbot's elderly, Alzheimer-stricken mother, Judy, really have been the Black Stiletto? When Martin discovers several volumes of her diaries hidden by his mother, he is stunned beyond all imagination. His mother, the underground heroine of yesteryear? The famed ,still unidentified woman who battled Communist spies, took on the Mafia, and preyed on common crooks? The woman who exacted punishment on evildoers without mercy? But it is all described, in great detail, in the diaries. What caused her to begin her quest for justice. Her decision to act outside the law. Her feats as the famed and feared vigilante. How her reputation exploded. In short, how it all played out. Could it be true? Talbot is filled with doubt and disbelief. But the reappearance of one of the Stiletto's old enemies with a thirst for merciless revenge makes the story more than real and could imperil the life of not only the Stiletto, but her son and granddaughter as well.

A gripping adventure set in the world of the epic videogame Home is where the war is America may be reeling from endless recessions and crippling oil wars, but hack reporter Ben Walker never expected to see his homeland invaded and occupied by a reunified Korea--now a formidable world power under Kim Jong-il's dictator son. The enemy's massive cyberattack is followed by the detonation of an electromagnetic pulse that destroys technology across the United States. Communications, weapons, and defense systems are rendered useless; thousands perish as vehicles suddenly lose power and passenger jets plummet to the ground. Fleeing the chaos of Los Angeles, Walker discovers that although America's military has been scattered, its fighting spirit remains. Walker joins the soldiers as they head east across the desert, battling Korean patrols--and soon finds his own mission. Walker reinvents himself as the Voice of Freedom, broadcasting information and enemy positions to civilian Resistance cells via guerrilla radio. But Walker's broadcasts have also reached the ears of the enemy. Korea dispatches its deadliest warrior to hunt the Voice of Freedom and crush the ever-growing Resistance before it can mount a new war for American liberty.

A novel based on the hugely popular all-action METAL GEAR SOLID video games.

A novel based on the hugely popular all-action Metal Gear Solid video games.