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
Auric Goldfinger ranch. Goldfinger is later revealed to be planning to place an atomic device containing cobalt and iodine into Fort Knox, rendering the gold radioactive and useless for 58 years, increasing the value of his own gold and giving the Chinese an advantage resulting from the ensuing economic chaos. Bond, at this point held captive by Goldfinger, is able to smuggle the details of the operation out to his CIA associate Felix Leiter and, taken along on the operation by Goldfinger, ultimately thwarts the operation by defusing the atomic device. With Fort Knox safe, Bond is invited to the White House