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 (novel) for Goldfinger, a ruse that Goldfinger initially refuses, but then accepts. Bond and Tilly are subsequently taken to Goldfinger's operational headquarters in a warehouse in New York City. They are put to work as secretaries for a meeting between Goldfinger and several gangsters (including the Spangled Mob and the Mafia), who have been recruited to assist in "Operation Grand Slam" – the stealing of the United States gold reserves from Fort Knox. One of the gang leaders, Helmut Springer, refuses to join the operation and is killed by Oddjob. Learning that the operation includes the killing of the inhabitants of