Bond 24: 10 Unadapted 007 Stories We'd Love To See Made Next

2. The Man with the Red Tattoo (Raymond Benson)

In his final original Bond novel, Benson pits Bond against the Yakuza and a deadly virus. The story plays just as much to the action factor as it does suspense making it rather unique among the other entries. An evil mutation of the West Nile Virus is discovered when a Japanese woman dies aboard a plane destined for the UK causing panic. The girl turns out to be from an important family of which every member has mysteriously died and the virus has obviously been tampered with to be more deadly so Bond is sent by M to investigate in the Far East. Once there he is reunited with his old friend Tiger Tanaka as they track down the virus' origins in the seedy underworld of the Yakuza. What do they find? Another scheme to destroy the entire world of course. Killer viruses aside, a Bond film where he fights the Yakuza would be sweet. It hasn't been done before.