Zero Minus Ten

James Bond Series

By: Raymond Benson

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

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.

©1997 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Good plot construction otherwise nothing extraordinary

On the whole, Raymond Benson constructs an intriguing plot with measured tension to pull the intrigue forward and make the story compelling, even if it is trite and stale. It is the writing that lacks extraordinary exuberance. Can we agree that “Suddenly” and “All of a sudden” should be recognized as lazy writing and be excised by a minimal of good writing? And Benson uses these introductory prompts like most spy novelist. And yet I keep reading Bond novels because I like 007, and await that extraordinary one that’s fresh, exciting, and fulfilling. As to the Audible, Simon Vance provides another fine job as Bond.

Could not finish it.

I tried so hard to finish this book, but the story is just so bad and unfathomable. I know that the writing mentions the Chinese having stereotypical accents, but the narration is just too much. Pass.

Wow, surprised. Really good bond story.

I was surprised. I liked the John Gardner bond stories and was worried Raymond Benson would change Bond or not capture him as well. I was wrong. This was a very very good book. I look forward to more of his work. I hope he keeps it up. This story had all the classic Bond features and I was more interested in it then the final few Gardner books. Check it out. If you love Bond l, you’ll really enjoy this one.

Great!

Excellent! Highly recommend anyone who love James Bond 007 to listen to this awesome book!

Well written and narrated

While James Bond stories may no longer shock and awe us I found this one well written by Raymond Benson and well narrated by Simon Vance. The characters and plot were well developed and interesting and I find this Bond series can be entertaining when I'm in the right mood. Top tier for value and entertainment.

Benson's first go at 007 - quite enjoyable

I have read various of John Gardner's James Bond novels. Some were very good, though he ended off with the same old recipe. In Raymond Benson's first James Bond novel, he does what I thought could not be done anymore - he blew life into the recipe.

Staying true to Ian Flemming, he seems to take more freedom not to include all of John Gardner's changes to the Bond scene, though he keeps enough to ensure continuity.

Placed against Gardner's last novel "Cold" "Zero minus Ten" is more believable. By using the handing over of Hong Kong to China as a setting, Benson merged fact and fiction in a very entertaining and original way.

One thing that is a bit strange to me, is how smitten James Bond with the Bond girl Sunni Pei. It is important for the story-line, but I felt it was a bit overdone.

Be that as it may, Benson succeeds to "update" Bond. I enjoyed his eye for detail. There must have been quite a bit of research into making Bond believable.

With the solid narration of Simon Vance, it would be quite wrong not to give this novel 5 stars. Good story, good performance and quite original for James Bond.

As good as Fleming.

The best non-Fleming Bond book bar none. Narration by gold standard Vance. Really enjoyed the story.

True to Bond

True to Bond and Ian Fleming. Looking forward to the next one. Recommended to all fans.

Action-Packed and Entwined with Hong Kong History

Zero Minus Ten is one of the best of the "non-Fleming" James Bond novels and is expertly read by Simon Vance.

This book feels like the novelization of an unused Daniel Craig Bond script. Lots of brutal action that is very visually described, featuring a James Bond that is physically very powerful. The locations are described well (Hong Kong, Macau, and the Australian Outback.) The right amount of leisure and travel-writing occurs with games of Mah-Jong and an Australian Walkabout.

Definitely worth a listen for any James Bond fan.

Worst Bond Novel I’ve Listened to

I’ve read or listened to every Fleming novel and several Benson novels. This was by far the worst. After listening to all but two hours of this book I just couldn’t go any further. Didn’t feel like a bond novel. Very dry. Soft plot. No character.

Enjoyable.

Written in the style of Flemming, excellent descriptive narrative, a pleasure to listen to from start to finish.

Pretty good Bond thriller.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand it was insanely clichéd: Westernised, smart, beautiful, asian kung-fu master women fall into Bond's lap, there's some gambling, some torture etc. nothing surprising or original.

On the other hand, it's a Bond novel. I can't really blame it for being what it says on the tin. I whizzed through the book and really enjoyed it despite the plot and characters being a bit thin.

The mahjong scene was over-detailed but Fleming did love to go into detail when he'd done his research so that's fair. Some of the characters jumped about and cropped up all over the place. Bond was often a bit too blunt for a top rank secret agent, this Bond seemed to think questions like "I hear you're head of SMERSH, how does that work?" would yeild results.

I don't know. Mindless thriller is about the level I'd put it at. The setting of pre-handover Hong Kong makes it worth listening to in my opinion.

Great continuation of the Fleming Novels.

Benson writing feels like a natural continuation to Fleming's Bond despite the shifting timeline. I much prefer his writing to that of John Gardener. Simon Vance as always gives a solid performance.