Grisham, Clancy, and Le Carre. In other words, Benson is no Ian Fleming. But he doesn t aim to be. He writes in straightforward flowing English, so that the story rather than the description is the key. This is a story, as we would expect, of a brave but vulnerable hero, a sexy girl, torture, betrayal, death, guilt and vengeance.
Bond is very much at the centre, as the action moves swiftly between London, France and Corsica.
Never Dream Of Dying is the final book in Bond s Union trilogy, and is an impressively gripping climax to an enjoyable series, with Bond both fighting his vendetta with Le Gerant, and trying to foil the Union s latest evil scheme. When I had reached page 70 without realising it, and without making a note, I realised that Benson had me in his clutches. His control of pace and tension has come gradually over his series. I thought that it was pretty good by Doubleshot , but here I felt the book was as difficult to put down as any thriller of recent years. In other ways too, Benson has responded to his critics.