In a highly secret office somewhere in London, a murder is to be attempted. M is to be the victim, and the assassin is to be James Bond.

Bond, believed dead for a year following the events of You Only Live Twice, returns to England. Brainwashed by the KGB, he believes his mission is to assassinate M.

After his mind is "scrubbed," he is given a chance to redeem himself and prove he can once again be trusted. The mission: go to the Caribbean and track down one of the deadliest freelance hit men in the world, Francisco Scaramanga, the one they call the Man with the Golden Gun. He has built a deadly laser for the express purpose of killing, and with his single-action, gold-plated Colt .45 and deadeye accuracy, Scaramanga is deemed too deadly to live. And 007 had better take him out as quickly as possible, or he may just be next on the long list of British Secret Service numbers retired by the Man with the Golden Gun.