Calvin Dyson reviews DOUBLESHOT

With news of Raymond Benson's upcoming Felix Leiter novel, The Hook and the Eye, it seems like the right time to share Calvin Dyson's latest Benson Bond book review. This time, Doubleshot is in the gun barrel. Enjoy.

RAYMOND BENSON returns with a Felix Leiter adventure

Some exciting news from IFP today. Raymond Benson is BACK with a new an original novel featuring James Bond's best friend and alley Felix Leiter. Below is the press release.

Announcing The Hook and the Eye: a Felix Leiter adventure by Raymond Benson

Ian Fleming Publications is pleased to announce a new novel coming soon from 007 continuation author Raymond Benson. The Hook and the Eye focuses on Felix Leiter, James Bond’s trusted American friend and ally. This full-length novel will be released digitally in ten instalments, beginning on May 27th, recalling the serialisation of classic pulp fiction in the early twentieth century. This will be followed by the paperback publication of the full story on October 2nd.

Felix Leiter – James Bond’s trusted friend and ally – takes centre stage in a brand new adventure by legendary Bond novelist, Raymond Benson.

It is 1952. Felix has lost his job at the CIA and finds himself working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. What starts as a simple surveillance job turns into anything but when Felix stumbles upon a murder and a cabal of spies embedded in Manhattan. Hired to transport the impossibly beautiful and impossibly secretive Dora from New York to Texas, Felix is thrust into a non-stop adventure, where danger and deceit lie in wait around every bend in the road.

The Hook and the Eye is a mystery, a romance, a spy story and a postcard to a lost Americana. It is also Raymond Benson at his very best.

IFPL’s Publishing Director Simon Ward commented “Raymond may be a Bond author, but he was born to write Felix Leiter. He came to us with a story – one filled with intrigue, mystery and danger – and it was exactly what we were looking for. We are thrilled to be working with Raymond again and we think the fans are going to love the journey he takes our favourite CIA agent on. I think it’s the best ‘Bond universe’ book Raymond has ever written.”

Author Raymond Benson added “Having worked on this project in secrecy since May 2024, I am now pleased and proud to finally present the first ever Felix Leiter novel, appropriately set in Ian Fleming's timeline of the 1950s between the character's appearances in Live and Let Die and Diamonds are Forever. As a native Texan myself, I've always had an affinity for 007's close American friend.”

So how, and when, can you read this new adventure? Starting on May 27th the eBook serialisation will begin with ‘The Hook and the Eye: Episode 1’ containing the first four chapters of the novel. This will be followed every two weeks with a new episode, concluding on September 30th with the tenth instalment. Episodes will be released via updates to the original eBook file, so be aware that in order to read them you’ll need to either enable automatic file updates on your e-reader device, or manually download the updated files. Following the final ‘Episode’ release, we’ll also be publishing a physical paperback edition of The Hook and the Eye on October 2nd. This is currently available to pre-order, exclusively via our website.

Readers in the UK can pre-order the eBook direct from us (and can also access a special bundle price for both the digital and physical versions together), whilst readers around the world can pre-order from their preferred eBook retailer.

We’re very excited to share this thrilling story with you over the coming months.

LINK: James Bond - the 'final' Jonathan Cape editions

Our friend Peter Crush is back with a look at the final Jonathan Cape hardcover printings of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels. All four parts are below:

James Bond - the 'final' Jonathan Cape editions: (Part 1)

James Bond Last impressions Part 2: Firsts & Lasts side-by-side

The 'last impressions' (Part 3): Dr No to Thunderball - compared

Ian Fleming 'last impressions' (part 4): The final four books!

This inspired me to have a look at my own "final" hardcovers. I picked these up in 1987 during my first trip to England. Not a complete set, but all still in beautiful condition.

Keep 'em coming, Peter!

LINK: James Bond copyright expires in just 10 years

Interesting article in The Guardian about James Bond entering the public domain in 2035, a mere 10 years from now. I guess I never realized how close this is. Heck, Eon has only managed to make a single (terrible) Bond film in the last 10 years. Maybe this is why Babs decided to cash out. Of course, I'm sure Amazon is aware of this, right? Right??? Anyway, click the headline or the image below to have a read.

From 1 January 2035, those bold enough to look to exploit “book Bond” would still be able to use the character and famous traits such as his “The name’s Bond, James Bond” motto, driving an Aston Martin, and ordering his martinis “shaken, not stirred”. But care would need to be taken not to have Bond drink Bollinger – 007’s go-to champagne in the films – as Fleming’s paper spy was a Taittinger man.

UPDATE: I'm not sure this article has their facts right. The 70 years after the author's death rule applies to works created after 1978. Casino Royale (1953) would fall under the rule of 95 years after publication, if the work was renewed during its 28th year (1981). I would be surprised if it wasn't renewed. That pushes it to 2048.