Raymond Benson

RAYMOND BENSON. Between 1996 and 2002, Raymond was commissioned by the James Bond literary copyright holders to take over writing the 007 novels. In total he penned and published worldwide six original 007 novels (including ZERO MINUS TEN, NEVER DREAM OF DYING, THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO), three film novelizations, and three short stories. His book THE JAMES BOND BEDSIDE COMPANION, an encyclopedic work on the 007 phenomenon, was first published in 1984 and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America for Best Biographical/Critical Work. THE POCKET ESSENTIALS GUIDE TO JETHRO TULL was published in the UK. Using the pseudonym "David Michaels," Raymond is also the author of the NY Times best-selling books TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL and its sequel TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL-OPERATION BARRACUDA. Raymond's most recent original suspense novels are EVIL HOURS, FACE BLIND, and SWEETIE'S DIAMONDS (the latter won the Readers' Choice Award for Best Thriller of 2006 at the Love is Murder Conference for Authors, Readers and Publishers). A HARD DAY'S DEATH, the first in a series of "rock 'n' roll thrillers," was published in 2008, and its sequel, DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE, is out in March 2009. Also published in 2008 were the novelization of the popular videogame, METAL GEAR SOLID, and an anthology of some of his 007 work-THE UNION TRILOGY.