Cold, first published in 1996, was the sixteenth and final novel[citation needed] by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond[1] (including Gardner's novelizations of Licence to Kill and GoldenEye).

The British title is properly spelled as an acronym (with no full stops), but it is also common to find it spelt Cold.

The story opens with the crash of a Boeing 747-400 at Dulles International Airport in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., and the apparent death of Bond's friend and lover, the Principessa Sukie Tempesta.

Bond is then sent by M to the airport with an investigation team which leads to meetings with FBI agent Eddie Rhabb.

The enemy of the story is provided by a terrorist army called COLD, which stands for Children Of the Last Days.