The night that Flight 229 was blown apart on landing at Washington's Dulles Airport, killing almost 400 passengers aboard, a mission began that would become an obsession for James Bond. Who was responsible for destroying the British-owned aircraft? Was it a straightforward act of terrorism, an assassination aimed at only one person or a move to put the airline out of business, the search for answers has a personal meaning: his former lover and old friend the Princess Sukie Tempesta is listed as one of the ill-fated passengers. In this white-knuckle 007 thriller, John Gardner leads master spy James Bond on the most complex and demanding assignment of his career. Across continents and through ever changing labyrinths of evil, Bond follows the traces of clues into the center of an organization more deadly than any terrorist - a society code-named COLD, the Children of the Last Days. What he finds there could very well spell his own last days.

JOHN GARDNER is the author of many suspense novels, including thirteen James Bond Thrillers, Confessor, and the epic Secret Generations trilogy. He lives in Virginia.