It begins at a movie studio in Nice, where a police raid goes horribly wrong, with innocent men, women and even children killed. It continues in an English prison, where a corpse discloses an intriguing secret about the Union. The trail leads James Bond to Paris, where he meets the tantalizing movie star Tylyn Mignonne and embarks on a voyage of sensual discovery.

But Tylyn is in mortal danger. Her former husband, a volatile French film producer, has not forgiven his glamorous ex-wife for ending their troubled marriage - and he is connected to the Union's thugs.

Meanwhile Bond's friend Mathis, a French agent, has disappeared while tracking down the Union's mysterious leader, Le Gerant. Bond's search for Mathis takes him to a thrilling underwater brush with death, a chase through the Corsican wilderness, a surprise encounter with an old friend - and a final confrontation with a twisted criminal genius.