The Man with the Red Tattoo

The story, without spoilers

A British businessman's family is killed in Japan, and Bond suspects an organised assassination. Japanese agent Reiko Tamura and his old ally Tiger Tanaka help investigate a threat involving a deadly virus. A forthcoming G8 meeting gives the operation a dangerous deadline.

The Japanese setting provides a deliberate point of recognition for readers of Fleming's You Only Live Twice. This is a new mission, however, and Benson's final original Bond novel is not another part of the Union trilogy.

Can I start here?

You can read the immediate case on its own. Knowing You Only Live Twice helps with Tiger Tanaka, while reading Benson's five preceding originals makes this the closing point of his own run.

What stands out

The return to Japan and Tiger Tanaka is the key Fleming-era connection. Choose it for that relationship and the biological threat, rather than expecting a continuation of the Union plot.

Who wrote it

Benson wrote The James Bond Bedside Companion before becoming the first American commissioned to write Bond; his official work includes The Man with the Red Tattoo. He wrote six original Bond novels and three film novelisations.

Where it fits in Bond’s life

The Man with the Red Tattoo belongs to Benson’s six original 1990s–2000s missions, read in publication order. The publisher gives no immediate Fleming-book placement for this adventure.

Content notes

Adult readers. A family’s deaths, assassination, biological weapons and threatened mass harm.

Setting

• Japan

Main characters

James Bond, Reiko Tamura, Tiger Tanaka, Goro Yoshida.