Zero Minus Ten, published in 1997, was the first James Bond novel by Raymond Benson, picking up where Ian Fleming and John Gardner left off. It is set in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and some parts of Australia.

Benson’s approach to the character was more in keeping with the film version of 007 than the literary version of Fleming and Gardner. Continuity with the Gardner books was also, for the most part, not maintained. For example, Gardner had promoted Bond to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy in previous books, but Benson demoted him back to commander. Benson later stated in interviews that, as far as character continuity was concerned, he had been given free lease by his publishers to follow or ignore other continuation authors as he saw fit.

The book was first published in Britain by Hodder & Stoughton and in America by Putnam. Benson’s working title for the novel was No Tears for Hong Kong; this was eventually used as the title for the last chapter in the book.

Plot summary: The plot of Zero Minus Ten involves a wealthy British shipping magnate who, as a result of the exchange of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese, loses his business, EurAsia Enterprises. Bond is first alerted to the case after a chain of events that culminate in a nuclear blast in the Australian outback. 007 is sent to Hong Kong to determine the cause of these events. He gains the trust of local triad leaders, who in turn inform him about a shady business man, Guy Thackeray — founder of EurAsia Enterprises. Through the sort of espionage that can only be performed by Bond, we learn that Guy Thackeray has obtained a nuclear bomb and plans to destroy Hong Kong. Bond determines the specifics of Thackeray’s scheme. He confronts Thackeray and then drowns him in Victoria Harbor after a brutal fight, then stopping the nuclear bomb.