It was inevitable, after years of killing and chasing and being chased by the most diabolical enemies the world has ever known, that a new James Bond would emerge form the old. The man of instant reflexes, iron determination, and breath-taking audacity would begin to show a part of his secret self—his feelings.

It has happened. And this new James Bond is challenged by a conspiracy more menacing than any he has encountered before—directed by the demented Colonel Sun of the People's Liberation Army of China from his heavily armed fortress on an Aegean Island. The stakes have never been higher, the dangers more complex and terrible—nor the intervals of delight so intensely rewarding and ardently shared.