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 First UK edition cover | |
| Author | John Gardner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | James Bond |
| Genre | Spy fiction |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
Publication date | 2 May 1996 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover andPaperback) |
| Pages | 264 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-340-65765-0 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 60303934 |
Cold, first published in 1996, was the sixteenth and final novel[citation needed] byJohn Gardner featuringIan Fleming'ssecret agent,James Bond[1] (including Gardner's novelizations ofLicence to Kill andGoldenEye). Carrying theGlidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom byHodder & Stoughton and in the United States byPutnam.
In the United States, the book was retitledCold Fall. This was the first time an original Bond novel had been given a different title for American book publication, other than for reasons of spelling, since Fleming'sMoonraker was initially published there under the titleToo 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 speltCold.
The novel is split into two books, one called "Cold Front" and the second entitled "Cold Conspiracy". The time between each book appears to be the time period allotted to Gardner's previous Bond outings,Never Send Flowers andSeaFire.The story opens with the crash of aBoeing 747-400 atDulles International Airport inFairfax andLoudoun counties,Virginia, nearWashington, D.C., and the apparent death of Bond's friend and lover, the Principessa Sukie Tempesta. Bond is then 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 and Angelo, where Bond gets caught in the act with one of the brothers' 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.