James Bond abandons his 007 status, resigns from the Service, and heads south for Monte Carlo in his new Bentley Mulsanne Turbo in search of a new life in Role of Honor.

The choice is exercised partly by renewal of Bond’s passion for that prince of cars, the Bentley. His departure from the Service requires rather more explanation. Questions in the House all revolved round a possible security leak, with Her Majesty’s Opposition declaring a cover-up. Bond’s grievance is less that he should come under suspicion than that his honor is impeached by the manner in which the truth is exposed.

John Gardner’s fiendish plot embroils his hero with a computer wizard absconding from his duties at the Pentagon, a sinister mercenary army training in secret for an audacious terrorist operation, and a white-knuckle flight over Geneva while Summit Peace Talks are in progress there, before Bond’s honor is fully restored.