Raymond Benson

Bio

Thriller writer, 4th official James Bond author, film historian/instructor, musician/composer, stage director, and former game designer The author of more than 25 published books, Raymond Benson was commissioned by the James Bond literary copyright holders between 1996-2002 to take over writing the 007 novels. In total he penned and published worldwide six original 007 novels, three film novelizations, and three short stories. An anthology of his 007 work, THE UNION TRILOGY, was published in the fall of 2008, and a second anthology, CHOICE OF WEAPONS, appeared summer 2010. 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. Raymond's latest original novel is THE BLACK STILETTO, published in 2011. Its sequel, THE BLACK STILETTO: BLACK & WHITE, will appear May 30, 2012. Other original suspense novels include EVIL HOURS, FACE BLIND, SWEETIE’S DIAMONDS (which won the Readers’ Choice Award for Best Thriller of 2006 at the Love is Murder Conference for Authors, Readers and Publishers), TORMENT, and ARTIFACT OF EVIL. A HARD DAY’S DEATH, a “rock ‘n’ roll thrillers,” was published in 2008, and its sequel, DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE, published in March 2009 and nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel. 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. Also published in 2008 was the novelization of the popular video game, METAL GEAR SOLID; its sequel, METAL GEAR SOLID 2—SONS OF LIBERTY, was published in the fall of 2009. With John Milius, Raymond penned HOMEFRONT: THE VOICE OF FREEDOM (2011). HITMAN: DAMNATION, a prequel to the upcoming HITMAN videogame, will be published July 31, 2012.