Goldfinger (novel) "was presented as a complex character". Continuation author Raymond Benson agrees, and sees "Goldfinger" as a transitional novel, with Bond becoming more human than in previous books and more concerned with what Benson calls "the mortal trappings of life", which manifest itself with the opening chapter of the book as Bond sits in Miami airport and thinks through his fight with and killing of a Mexican thug. Benson also sees that Bond has developed something of a sense of humour in "Goldfinger", verbally abusing Oddjob, to Bond's own amusement. Auric Goldfinger was described by Raymond Benson as "Fleming's most successful
Goldfinger (film) hero with an insultingly cool, commanding air." He saved his praises for other actors in the film, saying that "Gert Fröbe is aptly fat and feral as the villainous financier, and Honor Blackman is forbiddingly frigid and flashy as the latter's aeronautical accomplice." In "Guide for the Film Fanatic", Danny Peary wrote that "Goldfinger" is "the best of the James Bond films starring Sean Connery...There's lots of humor, gimmicks, excitement, an amusing yet tense golf contest between Bond and Goldfinger, thrilling fights to the death between Bond and Oddjob and Bond and Goldfinger, and a fascinating central crime... Most enjoyable,