I believe High Time to Kill has the widest appeal of all the Bond novels.
It is a cracking good read in its own right, which just happens to have James Bond as one of the main ingrediants.
It differs to the usual story line because of the number of characters featured.
A lot of the action takes place outside of Bond's influence, and the time scale of the story plays out over the longest time period of the Bond adventures.
This actually seems to effect the way Bond operates, and his awkwardness and abilty to "toe the line" points to his motiviation and desire to be the lone assissin.
Mr. Benson still plays by all the Fleming rules and guide lines, he just takes Bond out of his comfort zone; and for that I like it.
Edited by volante, 17 April 2009 - 08:35 PM.