James Bond Literary Wikia
Register
Advertisement
James Bond Literary Wikia
"Live at Five"
Live at Five
Author: Raymond Benson
Publication date: 1999
Published in: TV Guide
Alternate title:
Collected in: Choice of Weapons
Publication order
Previous: Next:
"Midsummer Night's Doom" -

"Live at Five" is a James Bond short story written By Raymond Benson. It was published in TV Guide in the 13-19 November 1999 issue, purposely to coincide and compliment the release of The World Is Not Enough in US theatres.

It is the shortest of all James Bond stories, even shorter than Ian Fleming's previous record-holder "007 in New York", with only a couple of thousand words.

Plot[]

James Bond, en route to a date with a female TV news reporter, recalls how he once helped a Russian figure skating champion named Natalia Lustokov defect to the west in Chicago in full view of TV cameras with the help of a television news reporter, Janet Davis.

Background[]

In the 2011 anthology collection of Benson's work, Choice of Weapons, Benson noted in the foreword that due to the plot dealing with a Russian defector, to make sense the story had to take place prior to 1989, before the fall of the Soviet Union. So the majority of the story was written as Bond remembering the events of that time prior to meeting the girl again in the 1990's. Interestingly the year 1985 was chosen for "Live at Five", which was a year John Gardner did not publish a Bond novel, which may or may not have been intentional.

The artwork for the story evokes the classic 1962 Signet paperback book series covers with James Bond's name running down the side of the page. Some versions included additional illustrations by Steve Chorney.

References[]



James Bond Short Stories
Fleming Quantum of Solace (1959) · The Hildebrand Rarity (1960) · From a View to a Kill (1960) · For Your Eyes Only (1960) · Risico (1960) · The Living Daylights (1962) · 007 in New York (1963) · The Property of a Lady (1963) · Octopussy (1966)
Benson Blast From the Past (1997) · Midsummer Night's Doom (1999) · Live at Five (1999) · The Heart of Erzulie (2001, unpublished)
Collections For Your Eyes Only (1960) · Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)
Advertisement