Doubleshot (James Bond Series)

by Raymond Benson Narrated by Simon Vance

Overview

The intricately organized criminal conspiracy called the Union has vowed its revenge on the man who thwarted its last coup. Now, the Union's mysterious leader sets out to destroy James Bond's reputation and sanity by luring the agent into a dangerous alliance of deceit and treason with a Spanish militant intent on reclaiming Gibraltar.

Officially on medical leave as a result of a head injury sustained on his last adventure, 007 ignores M's orders and pursues clues that he believes might lead him to the Union's inner circle. His search takes him from the seedy underbelly of London's Soho to the souks of Tangier; from a terrorist training camp in Morocco to a bullring in Spain; and from the clutches of a murderous Spanish beauty to a volatile summit conference on the Rock of Gibraltar.

Each step brings 007 closer to the truth about the Union's elaborate, audacious plot to destroy both SIS and its best agent: James Bond.

Editorial Reviews

Chicago Tribune

A perfect read.

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

In this new James Bond adventure, a warning inside a fortune cookie serves as the catalyst for a series of unsettling events that could push the impaired Bond to the edge of madness.

Kirkus Reviews

The creakiest exercise yet in American Bond fan Benson's postmodern resurrection of Ian Fleming's peerless killer spy, has an embarrassingly witless 007 going rogue to fight a dastardly multinational crime cartel. Two months after the calamitous conclusion of High Time to Kill (1999), Bond is still depressed over the death of lover Helen Marksbury. He's also on medical leave, under the care of comely Dr. Kimberely Feare, taking pills that are supposed to heal a brain lesion but do little more than leave him paranoid and prone to blackouts. Unknown to Bond, the American white supremacists who call themselves the Union have revamped themselves into a wealthy criminal club that holds meetings in swank, dimly lit underground boardrooms presided over by the mysterious Le Gerant, a blind man who forgoes canes because he can psychically sense his surroundings. Aided by sadomasochistic sexpot Margareta Piel, Le Gerant has found a crazed Bond look-alike willing to undergo plastic surgery, wear Brioni suits, and commit un-Bondly crimes, such as killing Dr. Feare moments after she forsakes medical ethics to succumb to the real Bond's "overwhelming masculinity." Meanwhile, Spanish powerbroker (and Union member) Domingo Espada, who publicly manages bullfighters and privately kidnaps poor girls and turns them into sex slaves, has set up a meeting with the various heads of state to demand the return of Gibraltar to Spain. At the climax of the meeting, pseudo-Bond will kill the British Prime Minister. Of course, the one true Bond can thwart only so much gratuitous overplotting by himself, so he swipes a handgun from the Q Branch armory (almost no gadgetry in this outing, alas), falls inwithvoluptuous CIA twins Heidi and Hedy Taunt, and, after a inconvenient blackout, awakens in Espada's bullring, where he must first use his wits against a charging bull and then fight pseudo-Bond to the death. Nifty bullfighting scenes do not redeem an otherwise cliché-cluttered narrative. For die-hard fans only.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169787368
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	10/06/2015
Series:	James Bond Series
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Prologue: PASEO

Dramatis Personae

The Convent's Security Officer gasped when he saw what came up on the computer screen. Domingo Espada's British bodyguard had given his name as "Peter Woodward," but he was positively identified as James Bond, agent 007 of SIS.

"Better have a look at this, sir," he said to the aide-de-camp, a tall young captain from the Gibraltar Regiment.

The captain looked over the officer's shoulder at the monitor and recognized the face - it was indeed the man who had walked into the Governor's Residence that morning with Espada and the rest of his Spanish entourage. He was now upstairs with the other delegates, politicians, and their aides.

"I'd say he has a lot of nerve coming here like this," the captain said. "He knows we can't arrest him because he's here with diplomatic immunity. Had better get on to London and let them know about it. You're sure he passed through the metal detectors all right?"

"Yes, sir."

The aide-de-camp frowned. "I don’t like it. The man's a menace. 'Peter Woodward' indeed. How long before the Governor and the PM arrive?"

Another officer was just hanging up a telephone. "The PM's plane just landed. I would say half an hour."

The Convent, the Governor of Gibraltar's official residence on Main Street for over 250 years, was a hive of activity. As they were under a "red" security alert, it was crawling with extra men from the Gibraltar Regiment. VIPs from several neighboring countries were upstairs, awaiting an important summit meeting from Britain's Prime Minister, Spain's Prime Minister, and others who had an interest in the Gibraltar conflict.

Another security officer rushed to the captain with a piece of paper. "This urgent fax just came in, sir."

The captain read it. It was from the Ministry of Defense headquarters in London.

"My God" was all he could manage to say after he had absorbed the message.

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