COLD, first published in 1996, was the sixteenth and final novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming’s secret agent, James Bond (including Gardner’s novelisations of Licence to Kill and GoldenEye). Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam.

In the United States, the book was retitled Cold Fall. This was the first time a Bond novel had been given a different title for American book publication since Fleming’s Moonraker was initially published there under the title Too Hot to Handle in the mid-1950s. The British title is properly spelled as an acronym (with no full stops), but it is also common to find it spelt Cold.

Plot summary: The novel is split into 2 books, one called Cold Front and two called Cold Conspiracy. The time between each books appears to be Gardner’s previous Bond outings Never Send Flowers and SeaFire. The story opens with the crash of a Boeing 747-400 at Washington’s Dulles Airport and the apparent death of Bond’s friend & lover, the Principessa Sukie Tempesta. He is sent by M to the airport with an investigation team which leads to meetings with FBI agent, Eddie Rhabb. The main action takes place in Italy at the home of the Tempesta brothers, Luigi & Angelo where Bond gets caught in the act with one of the brother’s wives. As James later explains to M, the lady made the advances. The enemy of the story is provided by a terrorist army called COLD which stands for Children Of the Last Days. During the narrative, M is kidnapped and that is where the helicopters on the cover appear during a chase over the mountains.