The seventh James Bond novel by Raymond Benson, published in 2001.
In the aftermath of the events of DoubleShot, SIS has declared war on the Union. Months later, the said war is now on a standstill. But the Union is still in business, and they have a plan for another devious scene and another one for ridding themselves of Bond for good.
This novel has examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Dan Dulin, the director of Pirate Island, Léon Essinger's current production.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Olivier Cesari, also known as Le Gérant, the leader of The Union is the more direct antagonist this time around, while his partner Marc-Ange Draco, his half-brother, works behind the scenes.
- Big Secret: When it becomes clear that the Union has an agent at the prison where Yassassin is kept, the staff are all checked for eye tattoos. One innocent man initially refuses to see the MI6 optometrist because he's suffering from a degenerative eye disease and is afraid that he'll be fired before he qualifies for his pension.
- Call-Back: The events from On Her Majesty's Secret Service figure prominently in the plot, as Marc-Ange Draco, the father of Bond's late wife Tracy, makes another appearance after years of absence.
- Chase Scene: When Bond's cover is blown in the film set of Pirate Island he jumps in to a speedboat, with several mooks doing the same. He then has to evade them while the film production's special effects man Fripp tries to hit him with pyrotechnics.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The unnamed mother and daughter actresses who die in the explosion that Bond causes while trying to keep members of the Union from escaping in the opening scene. They are Draco's second wife and daughter, and their deaths cause him to want revenge against Bond.
- Child by Rape: Le Gérant tells Bond that he was a result of his father raping a Berber girl.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: After Mathis is captured by Le Gérant, he orders him to be tortured so that he'll comply with his plan to lure out Bond. When Bond eventually finds Mathis, he learns that he has been subjected to eye laser (used for corrective surgeries) to the point of being permanently blinded. And Bond is next in line for the treatment.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Bond and the badly burned Collette joke about how he should tell people that he cut himself shaving if asked about his condition.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Le Gérant claims to be a mazzere, a person who can see which person is going to die next in their dreams.
- Dumb Muscle: As Mathis investigates a shipping warehouse which he suspects being a front for the Union, he comes across a huge but a dimwitted guy whom he has to take out.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Goro Yoshida appears in one scene to do business with the Union, and returns in the next novel as its Big Bad.
- Evil Plan: The Union has been hired by Japanese terrorist Goro Yoshida to bomb a movie screening in Cannes Film Festival, which has many VIP's attending it, including Prince Edward from England and Princess Caroline of Monaco.
- Eyepatch of Power: One of the four mooks that Essinger has assigned to beat the crap out of Bond wears an eyepatch.
- Fashion Show: To get close to Ersinger's model/actress wife Tylyn, Bond goes to see her in a fashion show under guise of a journalist.
- Groin Attack: When Ersinger gets too grabby with his soon-to-be-ex-wife Tylyn, she knees him on the groin.
- High-Voltage Death: As Bond and Fripp fight on the catwalks, they topple over and end up dangling from wires. Fripp grabs a broken one, and is electrocuted to death.
- The Mole: Marc-Ange Draco pretends to be Bond's ally so that he can send information of his plans to Le Gérant. He not only does this because he is one of the Union's investors, but is vengeful for Bond accidentally causing the deaths of his wife and child in the opening chapter.
- Murder by Mistake: In the opening raid, Bond tries to stop some mooks of the Union from leaving in a van by shooting some petrol barrels near them, which explode spectacularly. This causes the film studio where the shootout is happening being set on fire, which kills eighteen people. Bond feels great remorse for this, and has nightmares about it for weeks.
- Mythology Gag: Bond's negative thoughts about Paris are still the same as they were in the short story "From a View to a Kill".
- Neck Snap: Bond grabs a prison guard on the Union's payroll who refuses to co-operate and threaten to twist his neck around unless he spills the beans on them.
- "Not So Different" Remark: As Le Gérant has Bond as his captive, he tells him that they're "not too dissimilar".
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Bond is shocked when he is approached by Marc-Ange Draco, his former father-in-law. When told that he was thought to be dead, Marc-Ange states that he has simply been out of the action for a while.
- Taking You with Me: Draco has decided to end his now-miserable life by staying in the Union base that has been set to explode together with Bond.
- Title Drop: Done by Le Gérant as he and Bond fight in a dark cavern.Le Gérant: You know what they say... never dream of dying. It just might come true.
