[Raymond Benson's Bond 03] • High Time to Kill

Skin 17 is the most important military/industrial secret of its generation. This scientific breakthrough, developed in England, will enable planes to achieve previously unattainable speeds, and outlaw nations will pay anything to get their hands on it. That's exactly what the Union, a new lethal criminal syndicate, is counting on. With the cooperation of an informant inside Her Majesty's Secret Service, Union members have stolen the secret microdot containing the formula, and left a trail of bodies in their wake. But something goes wrong with their plan, and the plane carrying the Union's courier crashes on Kangchenjunga, one of the world's highest and most treacherous mountains. 007 and a handpicked team of international climbers begin the perilous ascent of the Himalayan peak. Only Bond and his Gurkha sidekick know that the Union has planted a killer in their midst. One slip can mean a fatal fall from a dizzying height, but a 9mm slug means death at any elevation. In a whirlwind of action, James Bond races from the elegant hotels of Brussels to the highest peaks in the Himalayas. Whether in the arms of an exotic beauty or in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle, 007 is always ready for action.