Zero Minus Ten, published in 1997, is the first novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's James Bond following John Gardner's departure in 1996. Published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in America by Putnam, the book is set in Hong Kong, China, Jamaica, England and some parts of Western Australia. Benson's working title for the novel was No Tears for Hong Kong; this was eventually used as the title for the last chapter in the novel. Continuity According to Raymond Benson, as far as character continuity was concerned, he had been given free lease by Ian Fleming Publications (then Glidrose Publications) to follow or ignore other continuation authors as he saw fit. Benson took a middle-of-the-road approach to this. While Benson treats Ian Fleming's novels as strictly canon, Gardner's novels are not, though there are some aspects that he adopts. For instance, in Gardner's Win, Lose or Die Bond is promoted to Captain, but Benson's novels have Bond holding the rank of Commander again with no explanation. Some of Gardner's original recurring characters are also not present, including Ann Reilly (aka Q'ute), who, by the end of Gardner's era, had taken over Q Branch from Major Boothroyd; Benson features Major Boothroyd, again, with no explanation. Some of Gardner's changes do remain—for instance, Benson's Bond continues to smoke cigarettes from H. Simmons of Burlington Arcade, which dates from Gardner's For Special Services (1982). Additionally, the Bond girls Fredericka von Grüsse (Never Send Flowers / SeaFire), Harriet Horner (Scorpius), and Easy St. John (Death is Forever) are all mentioned. Benson's other novels also retain aspects of Gardner's series, though there is just as much that he ignores. Some elements of the films also carry over into Benson's novels. M, for instance, is not Sir Miles Messervy, but the female M who was first introduced in the film GoldenEye (1995), although Gardner also introduced this character in his novelisation of that film and retained the character through his final novel COLD (1996). Bond also reverts to using his trusty Walther PPK, claiming he had switched to other guns (notably the ASP in Gardner's later novels), but felt that it was time he used it again. The follow-up to Zero Minus Ten, the novelization to Tomorrow Never Dies, has Bond switching to the Walther P99, which remains Bond's main weapon throughout Benson's novels. Later novels by Benson also attempt to