The central character of the novel is James Bond, the fictional MI6 agent created by Ian Fleming. Faulks modelled his version of the character on Fleming's version, ignoring the other continuation authors and the films; when interviewed, Faulks said that "My Bond is Fleming's Bond—not Connery, or Moore or Craig, for all their charms", going on to say that "my Bond drinks and smokes as much as ever". Faulks saw Bond as a man in constant peril: "This Bond, this solitary hero with his soft shoes and single under-powered weapon, was a man in dreadful danger. You feared for him." On another occasion he returned to the theme, describing the character as "a very vulnerable man, with his nice suit and soft shoes and ludicrously underpowered gun. He finds himself in terrible situations, and he's all on his own—you just worry for his safety."