Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Title and plot revealed for next DOUBLE O novel

A Spy Like Me is the title of Kim Sherwood's next Double O novel. A good title! After Double or Nothing, I was wondering if all the titles would be a play on the word "double." Looks like that's not the case, and that's fine by me. Below is a plot summary.

An elite team of MI6 agents must go undercover to unravel a smuggling network funding violent terror in the second thrilling adventure in the acclaimed Double O series by Kim Sherwood 
Six days. Three agents. One chance to find James Bond.
 
James Bond is alive.
Or at least, he was when he left a clue at the black site where the insidious private military company Rattenfanger held him captive. MI6 cannot spare any more lives attempting to track down one missing agent―no exceptions, even for Bond. But Johanna Harwood, 003, has her own agenda. Sidelined by her superiors while she grieves the loss of a loved one, Harwood goes on an unsanctioned mission: to find 007. Meanwhile, MI6 has another problem…
 
A bomb has been detonated in London.

Double O agents on the trail of the terrorists responsible acted quickly to prevent mass destruction and save lives. But MI6 failed to neutralize the nation’s enemies before they could strike, and one of their own was seriously injured in the blast.
 
They won’t fail again.
Assigned to root out the source of the terrorists’ funding, Joseph Dryden, 004, and Conrad Harthrop-Vane, 000, enter the field. Tracing clues from Sotheby’s auction house to Crete to Venice, they uncover a money laundering scheme involving diamonds, black market antiquities, and human trafficking. Once a major sale is made, a six-day countdown to the next terror attack begins. As the Double O’s follow the twisting trail, they find themselves unexpectedly inching closer to Bond…

You can pre-order A Spy Like Me at Amazon.co.uk. Release date is April 25, 2024.

Saturday, July 15, 2023

NEVER SEND FLOWERS blooms at 30

It's another anniversary day. This time it's Never Send Flowers by John Gardner, released in the UK on July 15, 1993. To mark the occasion, here's a review from back in the day.

I've always liked Never Send Flowers. For me, it was a step up after The Man From Barbarossa and Death is Forever. I've always suspected Gardner was influenced by Silence of the Lambs and initially decided to write a James Bond horror novel. He seems to really be going for horror atmosphere. But he's not a horror writer, and after a few chapters he seems to give up on that approach and the book turns into a tale of James Bond in the world of make believe and the theatrical, culminating with a climax in EuroDisney. People poke fun at the idea of 007 at Disneyland. But I think the climax works and is in keeping with the theatrical theme. I also liked that the U.S. edition (released in May) went with black for their cover color this time.


If you want to give Never Send Flowers a try, you can buy the 2015 reprints at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Celebrating ICEBREAKER

 Ian Fleming Publications celebrates the 40th Anniversary of John Gardner's Icebreaker, released in the UK on July 7, 1983.