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  • High Time to Kill

  • James Bond (Original Series)
  • By: Raymond Benson
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 9 hrs
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (101 ratings)
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High Time to Kill cover art

High Time to Kill

By: Raymond Benson
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Summary

The Union is a criminal organization with tentacles throughout the world, specializing in military espionage, theft, intimidation, and murder. After one of its agents assassinates Bond's friend and host at a glittering dinner in the Bahamas, the Union becomes 007's priority target.

When information vital to Britain's national security is stolen, both M and Bond suspect that the Union is behind it. The trail leads Bond from one of England's most exclusive golf clubs to the cosmopolitan city of Brussels and finally to an expedition up the icy heights of the legendary mountain Kangchenjunga, the third tallest peak in the world. Led by the abrasive mountaineer Group Captain Roland Marquis, aided by the expedition's sexy and beautiful doctor, Hope Kendall, and opposed by an unknown traitor working out of SIS itself, Bond must pit his strength and guile against two deadly adversaries - the forces of nature at high altitude and the most resourceful criminal minds he has ever encountered.

©1999 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. JAMES BOND and 007 are the registered trade marks of Danjaq LLC, used under license by Ian Fleming Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

What listeners say about High Time to Kill

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

awesome bond novel

listening to the way Simon Vance delivers this story makes me feel I have just watched an extra bond film. good story and very well delivered

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Bond

If your a Bond fan it ticks all the boxes. Great escapism for a few hour

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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007

Twists and Turns everywhere - Great bond mission - Great story and plot - Could not stop listening

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Somewhat niche but top narration

An interesting story that has the majority set with Bond climbing a mountain. A somewhat niche entry in the Bond series, but as always Simon Vance's performance is absolutely incredible!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Product placement!!!

Bond novels are supposed to be far fetched but this stretches this to the max.....and OMG the unashamed product placement gets embarrassing ( think Mr Benson has earned a few extra quid).
Simon Vance does as good as job as possible but the storyline doesn't cut it......sorry but i didnt enjoy.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

More Maclean than Bond.

A reasonable book but more in the vein of Alistair Maclean than Flemming. A bit too trashy.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I didn't enjoy this one.

There are many problems I had with this book.

Bond acts like a psychopath throughout most of this. I know Fleming's Bond was sometimes cold but this Bond is almost robotic. His interactions with the women earlier on and some of the other characters in general just don't sound like things people would say.

And (spoiler) I think Bond fucks every female character mentioned except M. There isn't even really any suspense/banter just "Hello James, you look manly, want to fuck?" Well, not that bad but close. He also seems to be able to fuck inside a small sleeping bag at a Himalayan mountain top while the both need oxygen breathers in. That seemed unlikely.

There is a long game of golf at the beginning and it is ridiculous. They drive a ball 230 yards and then Bond's rival drives his balls to hit Bond's on purpose. Tiger Woods couldn't do this on his best day let alone a pair of amateurs. It was just silly.

Another problem is that one of the characters is German. He has no background, no depth but it goes unremarked that he attacks Bond with "A Nazi dagger" as his being German in the 1990s apparently sufficiently explains his Nazism.

Also, a character being a double agent or a spy should be shocking. It should be a twist. But (spoiler) almost everyone on his twelve man climbing team, some of his base camp employees, his MI5 contacts and more are all vetted by MI5 but ALL were traitors and double crossers.

Then there was the product placements. That was painful. You've start to notice it about half an hour in and then you're stuck for the rest of the book with phrases like: "Bond put on Boothroyd's OneSport Boots... His various ice tools, axes, ice screws, were made by Black Diamond, among the finest available. His snow pickets... were MRS Coyotes... He examined the points on his Grivel 2F Crampons... He carried Eidelweiss 9mm Stratoss ropes." Etc. Etc. Fleming was detailed in his descriptions to give a sense of setting. This author could have been writing for infomercials and it just goes on, and on, and on like that for almost the entire book.

Religion crops up my more than I expected in a Bond book. Lots of talk of respecting deities snd trying to not anger gods. When someone has some bad luck after disrespecting an idol Bond calls it god(s) punishing them.

M is insane. She treats Bond like shit and says things like "Well he did save the world but I should really fire him for not spotting that someone he knew was a double agent for a highly secretive spy agency."

There's also another SPECTRE clone called something stupid. I just got SPECTRE2 stuck in my head. They're meant to be a mercenary group without any ideology yet people shout things like "You'll never stop SPECTRE2!" as they die. You can't really combine a purely mercenary organisation with kamakaze/suicidal missions as it makes no sense! They also infiltrate everywhere and have men everywhere with seemingly no difficulty.

Honestly, I didn't much like the plot, characters, setting, enemies, relationships, style of writing nor the dialogue. I was going to give this a 2/5 but in hindsight I think it's more like a 1. I've read a fair few of the non-Fleming Bond books and this one is particularly bad.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Bond story

I very much enjoyed this great Bond story line and the super performance by Simon Vance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyed the listen

Good take on the Bond theme which I found compulsive listening. Highly recommended if you like this style.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Bond story that has everything!

I have listened to a lot of James Bond books and can honestly say, this is the best. It had everything you would want from our hero; extreme physical challenges, the inclusion of his great loves; golf, climbing, strong women. I would highly recommend this to all fans. Great story, great presentation from Simon Vance

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