4. Scorpius (John Gardner)
Scorpius is often quoted by many readers as not being one of their favorite Gardner novels. Hard to tell why though. In this story Bond takes on a freaky cult called The Meek Ones who are hell bent on destroying England through the powers of brainwashing and murder. Bond first learns about them when a woman he had a connection with (no surprise there) has been killed in a murder that is traced back to the cult and one Vladimir Scorpius. Bond hunts down Scorpius in the chaos of bomb threats and assassinations. He traces him back to his island off American soil with the help of a female (surprise again) IRS agent, Harriet Horner. Telling anymore here would just result in excessive amounts of lazy spoilers so I'll refrain, but the ending is pretty cool. The whole story has that sense of urgency and theatrics, which are exactly what a Bond film needs to make it.