ON HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE enters 2nd printing

Ian Fleming Publications has tweeted that Charlie Higson's On His Majesty's Secret Service has entered its second printing. I don't know how large the first printing was, but it certainly sounds like the book is a success beyond expectations and I think that's fantastic news!

I've read the book and LOVED it. It fully lives up to its name. A traditional heroic James Bond 007 adventure with all the proper ingredients beautifully written by a man born to write Bond. I loved Charlie's Young Bond series and he nailed first crack at the adult Bond. I really hope this inspires IFP to commission more James Bond novels from Charlie as he's clearly the man for the job.

Congratulations to Charlie Higson and Ian Fleiming Publications for scoring this success. Oh, and congratulations to King Charles III as well!

You can purchase On His Majesty's Secret Service from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, and direct from Ian Fleming Publications.

BOOK BOND REVIEW: With A Mind To Kill the memory of No Time To Die

Anthony Horowitz's third and final James Bond novel, With A Mind To Kill, is released today by Jonathan Cape in the UK. I've had the pleasure of reading it and I can report it's excellent! Horowitz mines one of the richest untapped veins of the literary James Bond; namely, what happened to 007 in Russia between the books You Only Live Twice and The Man With The Golden Gun. It's Horowitz's darkest Bond with a powerful climax that perfectly caps his time as the reigning continuation novelist and, possibly, this particular era of period Bond novels.

For a third time Horowitz proves he knows exactly what makes a great James Bond adventure. The book is packed with tension and moves like a rocket. Without going into major spoilers, the book delivers an epic action sequence set in London before moving onto Russia where much of the novel is set. Bond's mission is clear cut, the locations are atmospheric, and the stakes are sky high from page one. We also have a solid Bond Girl in Katya Leonova. And it certainly isn't hard to see Russia as the villain these days, which makes this book, set in 1965, feel (tragically) up to the minute.

If I have a criticism (and this wouldn't be a proper review without) it would be with the frequent callbacks to past Fleming books. While call backs to The Man With The Golden Gun are integral with the plot and expected, it's possible every book gets a nod in some form. This feels a bit calculated and while fans may like it, I thought it was a touch distracting. But that's a quibble.

So how does With A Mind To Kill stand against Horowitz's two other Bonds? I think most will agree With A Mind To Kill is his best and I wouldn't argue with that. However, it is a darker book, and I'm still very much suffering PTSD from the last James Bond film, No Time To Die, with its relentless bleakness, hopelessness, and humiliating death of 007. I really need some fun! So while With A Mind To Kill is superb and going dark has never troubled me in the past, at this moment in time I still rank Trigger Mortis at the top of my Horowitz list as it seems the lightest of his outings. But talk to me again in a year.

I've never been more happy to add a new Bond book to my bookshelf and continue the adventure. Thanks to the caring custodians at Ian Fleming Publications and the talented Anthony Horowitz, JAMES BOND LIVES!

You can purchase With A Mind To Kill at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Special UK editions are also available from Waterstones and Goldsboro Books.

REVIEW: 'Forever and a Day' is both great and okay

Anthony Horowitz's second Bond novel, Forever and a Day, is released today in the UK by Jonathan Cape. (The U.S. edition will wait until November 6.) This time we see Bond's first mission as a double-oh agent in what amounts to a prequel to Casino Royale. I've had the great pleasure of reading the book, and I'm happy to report that it's a another strong Bond novel from Horowitz.

But I have to be honest in saying that while I thoroughly enjoyed Forever and a Day, I preferred Horowitz's Trigger Mortis. Every beat of that first book felt original to me, while every beat of this book felt familiar. It has familiar locations (South of France), familiar situations (a casino, a party, warehouses), familiar allies (CIA agent), and a familiar villain's plot (I'll keep this review spoiler free, but this one comes right out of a movie). Also, the original Fleming material, a story about a mad Russian who threatens to shell the casino at Monte Carlo, is related as a past event. It's a great story (or scene), and I'm surprised it wasn't integrated into the plot, as Horowitz did with the race car action in Trigger Mortis. And the idea that Bond "saved the casino" a year earlier undermines the whole idea of this being 007s first mission. Bond walks into the casino and he's greeted like Roger Moore!

The action also takes an unusually long time to kick in, but this is because Horowitz takes time to develop a strong Bond Girl in Sixteen. And once the action finally does kick in (around page 200), it is a relentless rush with a spectacular extended climax aboard the villain's luxury cruise ship. Again, no spoilers, but what Bond has to endure physically -- always a highlight of any Bond book -- is something we've never seen in any Bond adventure, and it's harrowing! This chapter alone makes Forever and a Day unforgettable and a classic among continuation novels.

So apart from my quibbles, I'm thrilled to have another beautifully written James Bond novel from the pen of Anthony Horowitz. I hope we get some more.

Purchase Forever and a Day from Amazon.co.uk.

STEVE COLE'S NEW YOUNG BOND 'STRIKES' TODAY IN UK

Steve Cole's third Young Bond novel Strike Lightning is released today in the UK in paperback and as a limited hardcover.

Steve Cole's first two Young Bond novels were serviceable adventures with some good ideas. But Strike Lightning is a HUGE step up. In my opinion, this is far and away Steve's best Young Bond novel, and one that even challenges Charlie Higson's books. I'd even place it in my top ten best James Bond continuation novels.

What I like best about this adventure is it has a strong narrative flow and a great sense of the period (which was almost completely absent from Heads You Die). Also, this time Steve doesn't overpopulate the book with Bond's friends along for the ride. Here we only have a Bond ally (Perry Mandeville) and a Bond girl (Kitty Drift). Classic. In fact, this one truly nails all the aspects of a classic James Bond adventure, and continues the story of Young Bond very effectively. This feels like the book we've been waiting for.

Congrats to Steve Cole. His third strike is a HIT!

No sign yet of a U.S. eBook, but know that the UK editions are available via third party sellers on the U.S. Amazon.com.

'TRIGGER MORTIS' REVIEW: No experiments, Mr. Bond.

This review contains SPOILERS.

The last few official James Bond continuation novels have each in their own way been experiments. Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks attempted an out-and-out Ian Fleming imitation. Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver rebooted the literary Bond into the present day. Solo by William Boyd offered a moody meditation on an aging 007. These were all experiments I very much enjoyed (yes, even Devil May Care, haters). So what would be IFP's next experiment?

With Anthony Horowitz's Trigger Mortis, this time the experiment is to attempt no experiment at all. Instead, Horowitz delivers a straightforward, furiously entertaining James Bond adventure set comfortably within the world and rules of Ian Fleming's classic 007 (the novel is set in 1957 right after the events of Goldfinger). In doing this, Horowitz hits the bulls-eye and gives us a James Bond continuation novel that easily stands among the very best (if not the best).

Horowitz's choices are all conceived from and aimed at the gut. Placing James Bond into the world of formula 1 auto racing -- perfect! It's amazing that no other continuation novelist, or screenwriter for that matter, has thought of this idea. Bond and auto racing are a natural fit, especially in the dangerous early days of the sport. (This idea actually came from Ian Fleming as Trigger Mortis incorporates an unpublished Fleming outline, "Murder on Wheels"). The book jacket tells us Bond Girl Jeopardy Lane is "a girl like no other Bond has encountered." No, she isn't. No experiments! She's a classic Bond Girl very much like the others in the best possible way. Likewise, the villain, Jason Sin, is typically foreign and typically fiendish. The book has rockets toppling and American motels exploding. And having Bond endure a buried alive ordeal... Again, why has this idea taken so long to dig up?

Horowitz clearly has an instinct for Bond and he knows exactly which classic notes to play. Like Fleming, he seems to be writing a book to entertain himself -- a book meant to be taken on vacation. The chapters are short and tight and the action never becomes laborious with over description. Tension is maintained perfectly. And by the end of the book, when Bond is racing to stop the destruction of the Empire State Building aboard a speeding R-11 subway train, Horowitz is firing on all thrusters, perfectly capturing the essence of Fleming's Bond with passages such as:

Bond was filthy again. The wind had blasted him with years of accumulated dirt and soot. He could taste it in his mouth. It had penetrated his skin. The very clothes he was wearing had turned black. But he didn't care. He grinned and his white teeth flared in the darkness. This was the moment of reckoning.

Now, granted, the inclusion of Pussy Galore could be considered an experiment, or at least the attention-getting stunt of this book. But it's a stunt that works. This is the Pussy of the novel Goldfinger, not the film, so she is a black-haired "former" lesbian. And it's here that Horowitz has the opportunity to rework the Bond canon for the better. Pussy's sexual transformation at the hands of 007 in Goldfinger certainly seems ridiculous today. So in Trigger Mortis, Horowitz redeems the character–and Fleming–by having Pussy return to her natural lifestyle following her adventure with Bond. Yes, apparently 007 does not have a license to bestow heterosexuality. Pussy was just waiting for the right Bond Girl to come along.

Now, if one so chooses, everything I've said here in praise of Trigger Mortis could also be turned into a negative. The book doesn't experiment. It doesn't strive to give us a deeper understanding of James Bond. The plot is familiar and follows the familiar formula. But if this is a problem for anyone, they have only themselves to blame. Because IFP and their Bond authors have now provided a full buffet of James Bond adventures appealing to different tastes and imaginations. Fans can choose their own style, era, and approach. Trigger Mortis now rounds all that out with a main dish of classic Bond.

For me, this is exactly where I want to be and where I want to stay for a while. No more experiments. No more authors. You have me, Mr. Horowitz. Now take me around the world one more time.

Purchase Trigger Mortis U.S. edition.

Purchase Trigger Mortis UK edition.

BOOK BOND REVIEW: Young Bond's license renewed

Young Bond illustrated by Kev Walker.

The hardest part about reviewing Steve Cole's first Young Bond novel, Shoot To Kill, is not comparing him to Charlie Higson. In fact, it's too hard. So this will be a review loaded with comparisons, and I will start by making a comparison of a comparison that will probably only be understood by Bond fanatics (but that's why you're here).

With this first book, Steve Cole is to Charlie Higson what John Gardner was to Ian Fleming. This is not a criticism! The John Gardner James Bond continuation novels were solid books that carried on the Bond literary tradition for a new generation. But one had to accept that you were no longer in the hands of the original master -- there's a certain Bondian flavor that's just no longer present -- and how you feel about that will have a lot of do with how much you enjoy Shoot To Kill.

Charlie Higson's five Young Bond novels were dark and layered and embraced by both kids and adults. They were also books about loss. They started with James losing his parents and ended with him losing his innocence and a fair chunk of his soul. The Higson books were about Bond becoming England's "blunt instrument" -- becoming Ian Fleming's James Bond. Cole's first book suggest that his series might be more about building the heroic and stoic 007 -- less Ian Fleming's hero than the James Bond of popular culture. Shoot To Kill is lighter and more straightforward than Higson. It's also a book that feels much less about the times in which it's set (more on this later). While there might not be enough thematic meat here for adults, this might serve the core young readership and the overall Young Bond franchise extremely well. Here's another comparison: If Higson gave us Harry Potter, Cole is giving us Alex Rider. Choose your mega-success.

The plot of Shoot To Kill is well handled and the opening chapter has a terrific Film Noir feel and a nice twist. Young Bond himself feels much like Higson's character, and the Young Bond Girl, Boudicca "Boody" Price, is very well drawn. Steve also does a nice job with the secondary Bond Girl/ally, Tori Wo, an LA journalist. The author offers up several nods to Fleming that hardcore fans will appreciate. The first chapter is titled "You Asked For It" (the title of the first American Casino Royale paperback), and at one point James passes himself off as the son of Hoagy Carmichael (Fleming's physical model for 007). One new contribution Steve makes to the Young Bond universe is that James gets his first handgun -- a custom made air-pistol christened "Queensmarch." I expect this will become the PPK of the continued series.

Bond Girl Boudicca "Boody" Price illustrated by Kev Walker.

Bond ally Tori Wo illustrated by Kev Walker.

(Minor spoilers ahead.)
Steve seems most comfortable with the UK locations, with terrific early action set in a Devon movie palace, nicely foreshadowing the Hollywood adventure to come. Steve even introduces a new Bond car: a Hillman Minx. The author obviously researched airships for Bond's Transatlantic crossing on the Allworld, although he does seem to drift a bit trying to find a way to inject action into the sequence, before finding a windstorm that does the trick nicely. But with the explosive cover art, one is just waiting for Bond to get back onboard the villain's sister ship, Zelda, and do what Bond, young or old, does best -- blow it up!

While Steve doesn't quite yet have the Higson touch when it comes to penning atmosphere, he is just as capable with the action scenes. However, Shoot To Kill feels a touch light on action overall, with maybe one too many "tours" of L.A. locations instead of discovering them on the run. The book deflates every time Bond is able to safely return to his hotel (also a problem with Gardner) and talk things over with the many friends and allies who share this adventure with him.

Hollywood is a location that is LONG overdue for a Bond visit, and it's exciting to finally have a Hollywood-set James Bond adventure. Maybe it's because I'm from L.A. and a bit of a Hollywood history buff (I made a point to drive past Bond's Hollywood hotel on release day), but I' feel like the author's handling of the Hollywood locations isn't as well researched or as realized as it could be. There are a few perplexing errors that are hard to get past, such as mentions of the San Diego and Hollywood Freeways, which didn't exist in 1934 (remember Roger Rabbit?). And after establishing LAs famous street cars, Steve has Bond reliant on taking cabs for rides that are in reality only a few blocks.

Bond villain Anton Kostler illustrated by Kev Walker.

Steve places villain Anton Kostler's compound in Beverly Hills -- which certainly conjures up visions of wealth and power -- but this somehow feels a bit too contemporary. The Hollywood Hills or even the arid and up-for-grabs expanse of the San Fernando Valley would have been more accurate to the period, especially as space is needed for a studio backlot and an airship. There are also times when it feels like Steve inadvertently lapses into writing a contemporary, or at least a '60s-set, James Bond novel. Not only are there the aforementioned freeways, but there are also "malls" and even an appearance of a Corvette! (The first Corvette rolled off the assembly line the same year of the first James Bond novel, 1953.) But, again, I doubt any of this will matter to the core readership, who might dig the mentions of Beverly Hills, malls, and a Corvette. (I'm also reviewing this from a proof, so it's possible these errors have been corrected in the final UK hardcover.)

On the plus side, when young Bond and his friends become caught up in a Hollywood Blvd. riot, it recalls The Day of the Locust, and paints a city bubbling with unrest and contradictions. This feels very nicely keyed into the period and here at last is the Young Bond book of my imagination. I also appreciated the astute choice of the Hollywood Plaza Hotel, and the mentions of landmarks such as the Chinese Theater, the HOLLYWOODLAND sign (as it read back then), and the Hollywood Forever cemetery.

Steve Cole is off to a very good start with Shoot To Kill. But like young James at his Hollywood party, he seems a bit star-struck on this first outing, and who can blame him. So like John Gardner in his first book, License Renewed, Steve stays within the formula and guidelines and concentrates on getting the character of James Bond correct, and in this he succeeds admirably. Now here's hoping Steve will write a Young Bond book that will challenge his new fans and himself. It took Gardner three books until he felt he could slip out from under Fleming's shadow and write his own James Bond novel, and he knocked it out of the park with Icebreaker.

I'm really looking forward to Steve Cole's next Young Bond novel, and I'm especially looking forward to reading his own Icebreaker when he's ready to take that step.

Young Bond in action in Shoot To Kill.

Purchase YOUNG BOND: SHOOT TO KILL by Steve Cole from Amazon.co.uk.

Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Children’s for the beautiful Kev Walker illustrations.

BOOK BOND REVIEW: SOLO is the thinking man's OO7

Let's start by talking about the James Bond movies.

Bond movies can be stupid. Gloriously, magnificently, stupid. This is not a criticism. Stupid can be fun. Stupid sells! But in recent years we've seen that Bond movies can also be smart. With the arrival of Daniel Craig, we now have Bond movies rooted as much in character as formula action. And it's amazing how well that has worked out. How many billions has Skyfall made so far?

The James Bond continuation novels, which have run concurrently with the films for most of Bond's post-Fleming existence, have always occupied a conservative middle ground tonally. They never got stupid. They also never got especially smart. They always aspired to offer solid spy stories rooted in reality, but also in a formula that would be familiar to fans of the original Fleming books (or what they chose to remember of them) and the latest Eon films. Overall, the Bond continuations have offered a steady flow of very satisfying, familiar, if maybe a bit unchallenging James Bond. But with Solo by William Boyd, this has now changed.

Solo is the right name for this book. Not because "OO7 goes solo" -- a nifty marketing slogan. It's because author William Boyd goes solo into the juggernaut that is "James Bond OO7" and fearlessly does his own thing. Not since the very first continuation novel, Colonel Sun, has there been a Bond book less concerned with the industry that is James Bond. Boyd simply tells a riveting story of espionage, geopolitics, and a British secret agent in 1969. But the ghost of Ian Fleming is right there by his side.

UK edition

Solo is smart, serious, and much more concerned with capturing atmosphere than action. In fact, Solo is largely action free. Those who think this isn't "Bond" need to re-read their Fleming. This is Bond at the core. The real Bond. The thinking man's Bond. You don't read this book for exploding trains. You read it to visit West Africa. You read it to get a lesson on geopolitics in a post colonial Britain. You read it for sex. But above all, you read this book to walk with a committed middle-aged bachelor in the 1960s with a fetish for the finer things in life and a damn dangerous job. It's like paging through an issue of Playboy from the '60s when it was a true male lifestyle magazine that mixed sex, politics, fashion and toys "for the discerning bachelor." Fun.

Solo is also a hugely moody and internal book; a book that brings us back inside James Bond. Turns out that's a pretty dark place. Because the James Bond of Solo is an extremely Dark character. But not in the obvious commercialized "darkness" of a Batman (or even Skyfall). Bond is simply a man who is resigned to living a solitary, voyeuristic, and dangerous existence which, like a cancer, is eating away at his soul and will kill him one sunny day. But Bond never openly thinks this himself. The Bond of Solo only worries about where his next shower and plate of scrambled eggs might come from.

And drink.

Because James Bond drinks in Solo. He drinks a lot in Solo. He drinks morning noon and night. He drinks alone. He drinks full bottles. And when faced with the prospect of a 24-hour stretch without a restaurant or ready pub, he buys and pockets a bottle of whisky just in case (and indeed drinks it). In fact, Bond thinks more about alcohol than his mission in this book. That's because the James Bond of Solo is an alcoholic. Again, not in the falling down obviousness of a Hollywood production. In fact, those who have read the book might be surprised at my declaration here. But the book quietly screams Bond's functional alcoholism as many of the Fleming books quietly scream it as well. But how can a guy as cool and in control as James Bond be a drunk? There you go again. Don't think "James Bond OO7" of the films or even recent books. Think Don Draper of Mad Men. Coolest guy in the world? Absolutely. Cold, tormented, war-damaged alcoholic? That too. And that's the real James Bond. The James Bond of Fleming and the James Bond of Solo...if you think about it.

U.S. edition

Okay, enough about The Man, what about the plot? Does Solo have a ripping good story? The answer is...somewhat.

(Spoilers ahead)
Solo challenges convention, both as a Bond novel and as a thriller. Boyd is not a thriller writer and he doesn't try to be. The book is not packed with twists, not a single chapter ends in a cliffhanger, and there is no countdown to Armageddon. You walk with OO7 in this book, you don't run with him. The plot peels away slowly (sometimes very slowly) and is resolved with an explanation, not a shoot-out. It's much more of a mystery than a thriller. You might even go as far to say Solo's mostly a character study. But none of this is criticism. Not to join the mob of Devil May Care bashers (I enjoyed the book myself), but while reading Solo I couldn't help but think that this was the mature Bond book from a seasoned writer that we all expected from Sebastian Faulks.

But this also means Solo doesn't have a central show-stopping moment -- no Casino Royale torture scene or Goldfinger buzz saw. That's how Fleming often overcame his own penchant for plots that sometimes meandered. And Boyd misses some easy opportunities to build suspense. A prime example is Bond's meeting with the mysterious Gen. Adeka. Shouldn't Boyd have taken his Heart of Darkness idea here all the way and had OO7 gripping a gun or knife in his pocket ready to complete his mission for M? Then the revelation of Adeka's condition would have had even greater impact. Instead, it's unclear what, if anything, Bond is intending to do other than actually interview the General. It's as if both Boyd and Bond have forgotten the mission completely. If I have a complaint about Solo, it's that Bond's plans are too often ad hoc.

But what Boyd does better than many of his fellow continuation authors is his handling of female characters and sex. Solo is a sexy, even erotic book. But it's also kinky and carnal. Bond's observations of the women of Solo are highly voyeuristic (literally in the case of Bryce), and Boyd takes his time building up lust for Blessing in both Bond and the reader. When it finally culminates, its not only sexy, but also a little alarming. It's a kill rather than a winking conquest and certainly not love. All that can come after is loss, which Boyd, like Fleming, heaps onto his secret agent.

Boyd also fearlessly upends the convention of the Bond villain. Bond's main antagonist in Solo is Kobus Breed (think Sharlto Copley), who's really more of a henchman. I kept waiting for the revelation of the main villain -- the Blofeld in the volcano pulling the strings. Boyd even hints at a master villain throughout. But in the end the villain in the volcano is just a collection of legally operating oil companies. The only lawbreakers are the blood-soaked Bond and Breed. The true villain is indifference to suffering and greed. The villain is the future. And the villain wins. For James Bond the only future is to be stalked by the past (literally), and the reality that he probably can't afford the new car he covets; a Jensen FF Mark I. The future for James Bond is greater darkness, greater loneliness, and more alcohol.

But if you hadn't caught on in the proceeding 232 pages, the ending of Solo is your final clue that what you just read was not a thriller or action book and certainly not an adventure of jolly old James Bond OO7. It was the next -- and maybe last -- chapter of Ian Fleming's dark man in silhouette. A man we have not heard from in a very long time.

Solo is available now in the UK from Jonathan Cape (Amazon.co.uk) and the U.S. from Harper (Amazon.com).

THE BOOK BOND REVIEWS

Over the past few weeks I've been gathering the various reviews I've written over the years from my old Young Bond website, CBn, and Amazon, and relocating them here under a common tag: BOOK BOND REVIEW.

So if you'd like to revisit reviews of the Young Bond novels, a Moneypenny Diary, a few Benson titles, and even my review of the film Casino Royale (it was a book adaptation, afterall), just click on the BOOK BOND REVEW tag and enjoy.

BOOK BOND REVIEW: Deaver mixes a strong Bond cocktail with CARTE BLANCHE

The last James Bond novel was 2008's Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. A celebration of the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth, Faulks elected to write the novel as a grand pastiche, imitating Ian Fleming's style and structure, and even going as far as placing on the title page that he was "writing as Ian Fleming." While this could be seen a tribute (and I thoroughly enjoyed the novel for what it was), one could not escape the feeling that Faulks treated the assignment as beneath him -- that James Bond was not worthy of being a true "Sebastian Faulks Novel".

Happily, this is NOT the case with Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche. Deaver, an international bestselling thriller author, has embraced the assignment full throttle and delivered a terrific James Bond novel that respects all the franchise elements (girls, guns, cars, locales), but is also very much "a Jeffrey Deaver novel." The mix works like a well shaken martini (sorry, couldn't resist). Deaver has not only created a book that, literally, moves James Bond into the 21st century (although it is not as radical a reboot as some expected), but he's also produced a thoroughly modern thriller that I think would sit comfortably among his other bestsellers even if the main character wasn't named James Bond.

Deaver's pacing is superb (I love the short chapters), his choice of locations are original and all new to the Bond universe (hard to believe it took Bond this long to make it to South Africa), and his action set-pieces have just the right Bondian flair without going overboard (the books have always managed this far better than the films). But what makes Carte Blanche so strong apart from the pacing and evocative prose, is Deaver's pantheon of fully developed supporting characters. His three Bond Girls are each unique, compelling and sexy without being clichés. Bond's dinner with Ophelia Maidenstone (great name) I found to be particularly enjoyable, with an edge of melancholy that recalls Fleming's Bond, who didn't always get the girl. Likewise, Bond's various partners in the intelligence agencies all have shading, complexities and subplots. And his main villain, Severan Hydt, is top notch and very much in the Bondian tradition of a bizarre obsessive. I've always felt the best Bond books (and films) are those in which 007 is increasingly immersed in the villain's world - a Heart of Darkness journey into danger, violence, and perverse revelations. This is very much the case in Carte Blanche.

My only complaint is that the Dubai section -- which features Bond's traditional ally Felix Leiter -- seems to miss somewhat. This despite the freshness of the location (another first for Bond) and some real tension whether Deaver is going to "reboot" Felix's tragic injuries. Deaver seems to overplay his hand here, mentioned the ticking clock threat so many times that it starts to become obvious that it will be anything except what he is saying. But this is the only time one of Deaver's famous twists didn't utterly surprise me. These twists, by the way, multiply exponentially as the book races toward it's climax, making this, this longest James Bond novel yet written, a real page-turner.

Conceptually, Carte Blanche reminds me most of the very first James Bond continuation novel, Colonel Sun, by Kingsley Amis. It's James Bond in the hands and voice of a major writer at the top of his game. But the plot reads most like a John Gardner Bond novel, with an emphasis on real-world spycraft and threats of double-cross. Crafting a reality-based spy novel while still delivering a James Bond adventure, with all it's formula conventions and expectations, is a not an easy thing to pull off. (Faulks stuck rigidly to the formula.)

With Carte Blanche, Jeffery Deaver has delivered what I feel is certainly one of the strongest James Bond continuation novels yet written. Yes, there will always be Fleming purists who will not accept any book by another author (just as there are movie fans who only accept Sean Connery in the role), and there is a contingent who bitterly resent an American taking over the Bond mantle (some cloak their prejudice behind snarky one-star reviews on Amazon). But for those of who are happy to read a new James Bond adventure from a top writer, Carte Blanche is a delight.

It's my hope that, like 007, "Jeffery Deaver Will Return."

BOOK BOND REVIEW: Young Bond loses his innocence

With By Royal Command Charlie Higson brings the Young Bond series in for a picture perfect landing, touching down cleanly and evenly on every aspect of James Bond’s past and future life. Within its own universe, By Royal Command is the equivalent of 2006’s Casino Royale or this year’s The Dark Knight -- a surprisingly profound, introspective, and ultimately tragic chapter that takes a leap in quality and maturity from all that has come before.

At the same time, By Royal Command is a kinder and gentler Young Bond novel that doesn’t have nearly the level of gruesome violence that has become a hallmark of the series (and may have actually gone too far in the last book). It’s an utterly surprising book in just about every way. Of course, all the Young Bond books have been individualistic and, in their own ways, surprises, so By Royal Command fits perfectly into a series that has never repeated itself.

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD

By Royal Command is divided into three sections so distinct that it’s worth reviewing one section at a time.

PART ONE (“Kitzbuhel”) finds James Bond joining a school skiing party in the Austrian Alps. For my money, these pages contain Charlie Higson’s best work. Without much main plot to address, Charlie serves up an atmospheric slow burn. His descriptions of the Alps and his skiing details put the reader right into Bond’s snow boots. The reader is transported and even lulled into the beauty of the mountains. But then the clouds come in and so does the danger, and Charlie turns his skills toward creating a thrilling and frightening battle for survival. It’s brilliant and harrowing stuff. For those who have resisted the Young Bond series, read these first 100 pages and I guarantee you will pick up the entire series.

PART TWO (“Eton”) finds young James back at school in England, and here’s where the main plot and caper kicks in. For Fleming buffs, this is what they have been waiting for as we are finally introduced to the infamous “boys’ maid,” who Ian Fleming established in You Only Live Twice as being instrumental in Bond leaving the school. Yes, By Royal Command gives us the full “maid incident” and, no, it’s not sexual (well, at least not on the page -- adult readers may be able to read between the chapters). Feisty Roan Power is a raven-haired Irish beauty who likens herself to a witch, and young James falls hard for the older woman (she’s 17). Despite saying he’d avoid romance in the Young Bond series for fear of putting off his young male readers, Charlie takes the plunge and gives us a full-blown love story in By Royal Command.

But it’s clear from the very first chapters that Charlie is not necessarily writing a book for kids, or at least he is asking more of his young readers. By Royal Command is full of sophisticated political and historical references, especially in this second section (Bond has a historically fascinating conversation with the Prince of Wales), and the plotting is an intricate web of spy intrigue. Far from being a turn off, I expect even the youngest readers, having invested in the first four books, will be rapt with attention, waiting for the next revelatory shoe to drop. But even if they ultimately opt for the eels of SilverFin, the pirates of Blood Fever, the puzzles of Double or Die, or the death mazes of Hurricane Gold, the mature themes of By Royal Command will certainly attract over time and provide a perfect bridge to a possible Young Bond Series II (please oh please).

Interestingly, the big caper in By Royal Command – an attempt to assassinate King George during a visit to Eton – is resolved near the end of this second section, which still leaves a good 100 pages to go. This is where By Royal Command takes its most surprising turn.

In PART THREE (“Fugitives”), James Bond resolves to do the wrong thing – bigtime. He follows his heart instead of his new SIS controllers, says the hell with King and Country, and uses all his formidable skills to help Roan – revealed to be a communist conspirator – escape to Europe. It’s here that By Royal Command becomes a wonderful NOVEL, throwing off all conventions of a typical James Bond book. It’s as exhilarating for the reader as it is for Bond to be freed of convention and plunge back into Charlie’s wonderful descriptions of the Austrian Alps, this time during a summer bloom (nicely symbolic). But danger is close behind, and Higson throws us a wonderful surprise twist in the form of a returning character that plunges Bond back into familiar territory for an exciting climax, where we finally get a generous helping of Young Bond gore (I knew he couldn’t resist).

As for the very end… I’ll leave it to the reader to discover. Suffice to say, I was able to brings tears to the eyes of a female friend by just describing it.

Structurally, By Royal Command is somewhat similar to Devil May Care (the celebrated Centenary adult Bond novel by Sebastian Faulks), particularly in its post-caper third act flight. But By Royal Command has an emotional depth that the adult Bond adventure didn’t. There is a real sadness that permeates By Royal Command, a steady drip drip drip of Bond’s innocence, of which Bond is all too aware. After the bloody events of the past four books, especially the relentless Hurricane Gold, this James Bond wants nothing more than to live a normal schoolboy’s life. He’s a 14-year-old with post traumatic stress. (Ironically, the young Bond of By Royal Command is much more the damaged “old gunslinger” as described by Faulks.)

But Bond discovers he is fated to be a magnet for danger and death, and his reserves of stamina and strength in such situations have not gone unnoticed by leaders who soon need young men with such reserves. Not only does Bond lose what remained of his innocence in By Royal Command, it’s made clear to him that the world will soon lose what remains of its innocence as well. The specter of World War II and the Cold War looms large over this novel and, in the end, Bond is resigned that his will never be a normal life. In time, he will become a number.

Okay, what are the flaws? I’ll leave it to fandom to nitpick, but for me, I was never able to completely fall in love with Roan as I was past Bond girls. Maybe it’s because her calling James “darling” sounded to matronly. But this also contributed to the tragedy. Despite Roan’s own claims of love, Bond was clearly in a relationship that was one-sided. And after the last two books, some may find By Royal Command too light on gore and violence. But this is not a complaint I’d level. Like Blood Fever, I think this book strikes a perfect, realistic balance of all elements that make up a great James Bond novel.

So where does By Royal Command stand among the other Young Bonds? For me, it’s clearly the best -- which qualifies it as one of the very best James Bond continuation novels, period. For fans who still refuse to read the series based on the concept alone, it’ll be hard to justify why they won’t at least read By Royal Command, as it depicts a key event established by Fleming and IS a spy novel. While it’s preferable to have a knowledge of what came before (the book touches on all the past Young Bond novels with several returning characters), By Royal Command can still be read as a stand alone.

While there has been talk of more Young Bond adventures at some point in the future, Charlie makes it clear in his acknowledgments that By Royal Command is the end of a five book cycle started in 2005 with SilverFin.

What a spectacular end it was.

Prof. Dumphart reviews HURRICANE GOLD

Review by Prof. C. Sterling Dumphart, Esq.

Egad!!! I have just had the distinct displeasure of reading this book, Hurricane Gold, and I must warn all of good breeding and proper sensibility to BURN this tome and do not let it fall into the hands of what, astoundingly, is its intended audience: children! For Hurricane Gold is, without a doubt, the most thorough collection of relentless action, sadistic violence, perverse wit, and sheer heart palpitating pace that this cultured reviewer has come across since the days of… oh, what was that man’s name?

Well, never mind the name. We know the name of THIS perpetrator: Charlie Higson. Obviously a man without children. Obviously a man for whom “restraint” means something entirely different from us who show ourselves in the daylight. For if Mr. Higson had children, he would understand that children should be chaste reflections of their parents' best virtues and will certainly have NO interest in a book that features gangsters, gunfights, hurricanes, quick sand crocodiles, scorpions, Mayan ruins, killer ants, black panthers, evisceration by razor wire, and a 13-year-old powering through the flood-swept streets of a Mexican village behind the wheel of a super charged Duesenberg. On this I stake the good name of Dumphart!

Perhaps the most horrific part of reading this 355-page “novel” is the sheer relentless speed at which it travels. I mean, it is impossible to settle down with a cup of warm milk and read a chapter before bed. No. This book is not a proper sleep conduit. In fact, I found my heart so racing that I would frequently have to put the book down and get up and pace! Can you imagine a child’s reaction?

But, apparently and appallingly, these “Young Bond” books do have a following (hellions, delinquents, and arrested adolescents, no doubt) and for those sad miscreants this latest novel may be the equal of the luridly titled Blood Fever. No doubt these “fans” will applaud such flesh-crawlers as Manny the Girl -- a henchman who prowls Mexico severely brain damaged thanks to our “hero” –- and the Avenida de la Muerte –- an obstacle course made up of the most unspeakable horrors –- as new classics. I fear this book will only increase the perverse predilection for more just like it, and do little to dissuade the curious who have yet to indulge. Be warned!

And the girl. Oh yes, the girl. It all starts off well enough. It is nice to see a proper Southern Belle once again grace the pages of a novel, even if she is in… Mexico. But this Precious Stone is a monster! A spoilt brat who, incredibly, speaks in the most unpolitically correct language of the time and browbeats her servants. Yes, it is the 1930s, but, really Mr. Higson, why inject realism into all this? Why not, um, whitewash the less flattering aspects of us members of the ruling class? Are you just trying to be subversive!?

Of course, our proper Southern Belle is soon ravaged by all forms of menace and grows into something of a female version of this despicable and frequently blood-soaked (yes, blood-soaked!) hero… this Bond, Bond James. The less said of Mr. Bond the better. I shudder in recalling his name because with his relentless destruction of property and overt defiance of his elders, he is obviously a symbol of societal ANARCHY even at the age of 13 (a fact which I had to keep reminding myself –- certainly it is possible to read this entire book and picture the hero as age 35).

And what of Jack Stone, the responsible parent in this pulp! He is a World War I flying ace. Very nice. It is commendable to see Mr. Higson, the sadist, include a nod to our boys in uniform. But, really! To inject complex themes about what happens to war heroes when they are not needed anymore (oh, yes, Mr. Higson, we noticed). One only has to study recent wars to know that is… well, forget that for now. My point is this author has the gall to inject DEPTH of characterization and complexity into this adventure fantasy as if it were a proper novel! Again, this reminds me of… oh, what was his name!?

Really, our children had a proper literary hero in Harry Potter (apart from the devil worship). But Mr. Bond is no Harry Potter. At least Mr. Potter went to school! Here, apparently for the first time in this “series,” we have no scenes set at Eton College whatsoever and I suppose those who enjoy these lurid tales will find the book better for this.

Oh, Mr. Higson does remind us of Mr. Bond’s more civilized life back in England with the occasional letter from his better bred classmates. But even those are tinged with MENACE! Who is this beastly Theo Bentinck who is delivering beatings to the boys, and what of this attractive new maid, Roan? No doubt she will be subjected to the attentions of this brute Bond upon his return. Yes, there will be a fifth and final novel, and one can only fear what new perversities Mr. Higson is dreaming up at this moment inside his garret!

Finally, the very form of the book itself… Suffice to say it is as much a vulgarity outside as in. It is GOLD. So golden one can see one's own appalled expression in its face. And this is not a quick coating of flock. It is done with care! Likewise, the pages are leafed and the endpapers emblazoned with the logo of this series. Good money was spent here by publisher Puffin suggesting PRIDE in this book! Oh, what is happening to the world of letters?

Let me close by saying that Hurricane Gold by Charlie Higson is the most objectionable novel I have had the bad fortune to encounter since the days of…ah, at last the villain’s name has come to mind…

Ian Fleming!!!

BOOK BOND REVIEW: Young Bond gets smart in DOUBLE OR DIE

Minor Spoilers

Charlie Higson’s third Young Bond novel, Double or Die, is the center pivot on which the Young Bond series turns. Double or Die both pulls from past books and points to the future. In Double or Die we get a clear sense that the Young Bond series is one large story – how James became BOND. Whereas SilverFin infused Bond with a fearless instinct and Blood Fever developed his brawn, Double or Die works his brain (and ours).

This time out, Higson builds a Young Bond novel on a metaphor. Double or Die is an adventure of the mind – the skull. This is clear from the Flemingesque prologue in which an Eton professor muses on the mind as a “hungry machine” (this might have been a good title). Higson plays this motif throughout. References to the mind and skulls abound. The henchman has an oversized skull-like head; Bond examines pickled brains at the Royal College of Surgeons; and the object at the end of Bond’s quest also perfectly ties into this theme (but I will not spoil it).

Brainpower also drives the narrative. Bond and his band of friends must decrypt puzzles and crossword clues contained within a mysterious cipher. Bond discovers he has a talent for calculating gambling odds under pressure (gambling -- a ferociously mental activity when done right -- gets terrific play in this novel). Likewise, Bond’s greatest physical struggle in this novel is also a mental one, as he must keep his mind from caving into the effects of severe alcohol posing, a literally gut wrenching sequence that makes one wonder how 007 ever developed a taste for martinis.

Where Blood Fever was bright and expansive, Double or Die is dark and contained, even claustrophobic (just as you would except the inside of a head to be). While this may make it a lesser Bondian adventure for some, the smaller canvas allows Higson to work in greater texture and detail, making Double or Die the most vivid and visual of all the Young Bond novels to date. Higson’s screenwriting skills are in full bloom here. Bond’s discovery of a dead professor in Cambridge is a powerfully cinematic moment, as is his car chase and the effects of its fiery finale.

With its various London locations -- including an illegal casino and prizefight den called “Paradice” -- Double or Die is the Young Bond novel that showcases its period setting the best. Higson peppers the book with delightful slang and idioms of the period. Long forgotten brand names are resurrected like product placement circa 1933. The book’s timeframe is compressed into an action-packed weekend, which makes it unique among Bond novels (and echoes Fleming’s own third book, Moonraker).

While the body count in Double or Die is lower than Blood Fever, Higson doesn’t skimp on the gore, especially during the terrific climax on the London Docklands and inside an abandon pneumatic railway (wonderful Bondian locations both). The gore will certainly delight the target audience, as well as seasoned Bond fans. The fact that henchmen, Wolfgang, comes away from each encounter with young James missing another body part is grisly good fun.

All the Young Bond novels contain inside references for Fleming fans to discover, and Double or Die is no exception. Noteworthy here is Bond’s use of a familiar alias; his sighting his future London headquarters; a reference to a famous casino; and his first delivery of “Bond, James Bond” across a gaming table. We even hear Bond called “Young Sherlock Holmes” at one point, which may or may not be a nod to the 1985 movie that gave us a pint-sized version of THAT classic English literary hero. Double or Die also contains a postscript unlike anything that has yet appeared in a Young Bond novel. I will leave it to the reader to decide whether it belongs in the Young Bond universe (I’m somewhat unsure myself).

Absence of a Bond Girl (or any female for that matter) is missed during the first two thirds of the book, but the arrival of the perfectly named Kelly Kelly and her “Monstrous Regiment” (a sort of cockney street urchin version of Pussy Galore's Flying Circus) is a highlight of the final third. Higson again toys with romance, but he’s mindful about offending the prepubescent sensibilities of his youngest male readers. At the risk of getting a schoolyard beating, I admit that I’m looking forward to the “love story” Higson promises will feature in his fifth Young Bond novel, By Royal Command.

As a villain, Sir John Charnage is not quite in the same league as Higson’s past creations, although his fetish for collecting poisons is pure Bond. But Higson may be underplaying Charnage in order to set up a larger villain for a future book (there is a nice climatic twist in this regard). Plot-wise, Bond’s motivations and justifications for not going to the police might not hold up under intense scrutiny -- but why scrutinize James Bond? These are adventures for the Right brain, not the Left. (Ah, there we are back talking about the brain.)

The measure of any James Bond continuation novel, and novelist, is how they compare to Ian Fleming. Charlie Higson matched Fleming with his second Young Bond novel Blood Fever. Now, with the complex and thrilling Double or Die, Higson appears to be steering the Young Bond series toward even loftier literary achievement.

The Bond movie that made me cry (well, almost)

WARNING: CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

This movie shook me up (no, I’m not going to make a “shaken not stirred” joke). I really don’t know how to write a proper review, so I will just jump right into what, for me, were the pros and cons of Casino Royale, the first proper adaptation of an Ian Fleming book since Live & Let Die.

PROS

Daniel Craig IS James Bond:
I LOVED him! I couldn't take my eyes off him. I wanted more, more, more! My private fear going in was, while I knew DC was a great actor, was he a leading man? Could he carry a movie? The answer is YES. I've been saying Craig is a British Steve McQueen. Not so. He's better than Steve McQueen. His ability to communicate pain, both physical and mental, is astounding. He deserves all the praise he’s getting. Craig really is one of the best Bonds, and if the quality of the movies stay high, he could easily become the greatest. He’s also now a true Movie Star. His casting was pure genius.

Eva Green IS Vesper Lynd:
I fell in love last night – and then I watched her die...horribly. Eva Green’s Vesper wrecked me! She was beautiful and spooky and sexy and tragic. She is the female animal that I will always love and never understand. Watching her and Daniel play against each other…my god!…every scene between them was sweet, sad, funny, tense…and when she finally offered herself to him (offered herself, he did not take her), it was one of the sexiest moments in cinema. And, yes, when she killed herself, I felt a wave of emotion and, had I let myself, I could have easily cried. Needless to say, emotion like that has never hit me in a James Bond movie before. Today, all I can think about is Craig and Green/Bond and Vesper. They’re haunting me.

Torture scene:
It was perfect! Daniel Craig…oh, I don’t need to keep saying it…just assume everything that works in this film comes largely down to Craig’s huge talent. As painful as it was, I actually wanted it to go on a bit longer (a few more hits) because Craig was just so thrilling to watch as an actor. And to insert the movie’s biggist laugh into this scene was pure genius. Thank you, Eon, for having the balls (hehe) to include this scene.

Main titles:
Daniel Kleinmann delivered. He reinvented the Bond titles in a way that was new, yet old…whatever…they just worked! I saw them as a tribute to Fleming and the literary Bond in the way they seemed to evoke book cover art. Hope he sticks with this style.

The poisoning scene:
Every bit as good as I hoped it would be, and I had high hopes. Ditto to...

The Madagascar foot chase:
Loved it! The audience applauded at the end. One of the best Bond action sequences ever with a terrific ending. A new classic.

Felix:
Jeffrey Wright’s Felix has one brief scene with Bond…and instantly we have the best Felix moment and the best Felix actor in the series history. He MUST come back.

Sets, locations, costumes:
All beautiful and all Bond. First class. The special, timeless world of James Bond is alive and well. Unlike other “back to basics” Bond movies, we lost nothing. And what we gained was...

The emotion:
For years the filmmakers have tried to inject real emotion into the Bond franchise…this time they succeeded. After this movie, it’s going to be very hard to watch something like TWINE (with its tortured attempts at DRAMA). Normally, I don’t like the personal element in my Bonds. But here it MADE the movie for me. In fact, when this movie hits DVD, I see myself fast forwarding though the action just to get to the next Craig/Green scene. But this injection of emotion also brings something very new to a Bond film...

The movie is genuinely upsetting:
This may be an odd thing to list under “pros”, but I found Casino Royale to be a very dark and truly upsetting movie. I applaud the artistic achievement here. But maybe this is why I can’t seem to write a proper review or have one feeling about it. It freaked me out. This is not Goldfinger or The Spy Who Loved Me. This movie is by no means “fun.” It’s rough. It plunges us into a very dark, dangerous, and violent world and stays there. Good people and bad people die at the hands of some great unseen evil that is still out there. In the end, the world is not saved, and Bond does not win. He loses everything, including his soul. 24 hours after seeing the movie I still feel unsettled. It’s that powerful.

No puns:
Thank you!

CONS

David Arnold's score:
Didn’t David Arnold promise us a “new sound for a new Bond”? Well, to my ear, he didn’t deliver. It just sounded like every other Arnold Bond score and that REALLY bothered me because this movie demanded and deserved better. I hated watching Craig play his scenes against the soundtrack for TND-TWINE-DAD. I also felt the movie was over scored. Too much music! Look, here comes Solange with her tinkly theme that tells us she’s female. The music worked against the new realism and too often gave the movie a bombastic feel. I don’t know, maybe I’m being hard on Arnold (God knows I couldn’t score a movie), and maybe on repeated viewings I will come to appreciate the score (I think I said this about DAD as well -- I haven’t). But walking out of the theater last night, my strongest reaction to this movie, besides my love of Craig and Green, was that I hated the music. (But this does not extend to Cornell’s song which I like a lot).

Sony product placement:
I normally don’t mind product placement in Bond films, but the constant close-ups of ONLY Sony products was laughable and became distracting. Seriously, did 10 minutes of this movie go by in which we didn’t get a giant close-up of some Sony device? This is, without question, the Bond movie with the most obvious and obnoxious product placement. Oh, and you know what? I thought all those Sony products looked like junk.

Bahamas and Miami action:
Rushed and confusing. The museum knife fight, which should have been pure Bond, was poorly staged and had no atmosphere whatsoever (shocking, considering the eerie setting). Again, natural sound instead of on-the-nose Action Music could have helped here. After the Miami airport sequence, I turned to my companion and asked if she understood what just happened and why. She said, “I have NO idea what’s going on in this movie.” I felt the same way. For all the talk of this movie being different, here I was watching just another Pierce Brosnan era Bond rushing to get to the next overloud action sequence (then Vesper came along and saved us).

QUIBBLES

Le Chiffre:
Mads Mikkelsen is a good actor and his Le Chiffre was very creepy. But I didn’t want creepy. That’s the role of a henchmen. I wanted gravitates. Le Chiffre is one of the great Fleming villains (and our last chance to see a true Fleming villain on screen), and I feel like a casting opportunity was lost. Daniel needed the modern equivalent of Peter Lorre (CR ‘54) or Orson Welles (CR ‘67) sitting across from him. Weak villains played by (young) minor actors is very business as usual. Shame this didn’t get a “back to basics” reboot (Gert Frobe, Robert Shaw anyone?).

The gambling:
These scenes were good, but they should have been the highlight of the movie and they just weren't. Maybe I needed a quick lesson in Texas hold'em. I don’t know the game, so when cards turned up, I had to wait for someone to tell me who won. How was there not a quick little “lesson” inserted in there for the audience? Also, the inclusion of score, which too often telegraphed what was about to happen, was a real tension killer. Gambling scenes should be played dead quite, IMO.

Pre-titles sequence:
A bit of a let-down after all the hype. The recent PTS’s have been too long, now we have one that’s a little too short. The bathroom fight side of the story felt cut down to almost nothing (shame they cut the scenes shot at Eton).

Martin Campbell:
I sometimes feel like he'll sacrifice anything for the sake of speed. Still, he was there helping craft those wonderful scenes between Daniel and Eva, so he deserves a lot of credit. And the last Bond flick I liked as much as this one was GoldenEye, so....

Aston Martin DB5:
Why is it in this movie? I felt sorry for it. It’s the villain’s car. Bond has no connection or love for it. He probably dumped it in the bay when he left The Bahamas. They should have left it in the past.

OVERALL

Today I give the film an 8 out of 10...but this will probably go up to 9 (or even 10?) on repeated viewings. Congrats to Eon, Daniel Craig, and all involved for giving Bond a new beginning.

JAMES BOND WILL RETURN

UPDATE: Just back from my second viewing and my opinion of this movie is even higher. My cons are now quibbles and my quibbles are now nitpicks hardly worth mentioning. As predicted, CR is now a solid 9 and will probably grow into a 10 by DVD time (when, in the privacy of my own home, I can finally cry my eyes out for Vesper). This really is one of the greatest Bond films...ever.

BOOK BOND REVIEW: Miss Moneypenny is BACK

The Moneypenny Diaries series really "clicks" with Samantha Weinberg's deft second book, Secret Servant. Like espionage itself, you're not too sure where things are headed nor what information is relevant, until a startling revelation suddenly makes your vision clear and you realize EVERYTHING is relevant and danger abounds. Secret Servant reveals this series to be a single narrative, reaching all the way into the present. It also reveals it to be intricately layered, ambitious, and very very clever.

Secret Servant uses a structure similar to the first book of the series, Guardian Angel. In the first half of the novel Miss Jane Moneypenny is generally an observer. This first half is tricky for the author and a little challenging for the reader as Miss Moneypenny is pretty passive. In this regard, it's very much a personal diary (Bond fans will delight in the "behind the scenes" take on Bond's assassination attempt on M). But because it's a diary there is also unique tension in how suddenly, and dramatically, the world can change in a day. In Secret Servant there are several of these dramatic entries which turn the world and the narrative on its head, including that most startling and transforming of all days, November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was killed.

The second half of the book sees Miss Moneypenny thrown (convincingly) into a mission of her own (this time without James Bond by her side). Here the book assumes a more conventional thriller narrative, and a very good one at that. Unlike Guardian Angel, the mission in Secret Servant remains modest in scale (maybe because it doesn't included 007) and is much better for it. But the paired down scale still delivers plenty of Cold War suspense and some genuine Bondian action. Miss Moneypenny's hotel-room encounter with a sadistic Russian masseuse feels like something out of Fleming.

What is most surprising about Secret Servant, and what makes it the better of the two Moneypenny novels IMO, is the emergence of a contemporary story-line involving the consequences to fictional author Kate Westbrook (niece of Miss Moneypenny) over the publication of the first book. The real author, Samantha Weinberg, very cleverly interweaves the adventures of "Kate" throughout the novel, creating a parallel story -- a parallel diary of sorts -- which eventually ties into the story of Miss Moneypenny and provides the most intriguing springboard for the third book. It's also fun to ride the shift in tones between Miss Moneypenny's formal and domestic writing style and the more modern, independent style of Kate. Their voices and points of view define their worlds as clearly as the subtle change in font.

Unlike the first book, James Bond is largely absent for Secret Servant. That's okay. He's not missed. In Secret Servant, Miss Moneypenny and "Kate Westbrook" confidently assume front and center of this series, hurtling along with the reader toward an exciting (and possibly tragic?) climax in volume 3 -- which cannot come soon enough for this reader.

BOOK BOND REVIEW: A more mature Young Bond

For this old 007 fan, Charlie Higson's first Young Bond novel, SilverFin, was a mixed bag. Clearly a book written for a preteen target audience, it too often seemed to mimic a Harry Potter adventure. A risky concept this Young Bond idea, and in SilverFin, author Higson and the 007 copyright holders showed signs of understandable uncertainty.

This is NOT the case with Young Bond Book 2: Blood Fever, which takes a confident quantum leap into maturity and gives Bond fans of all ages one of the best James Bond novels yet written. Notice I didn't qualify this by saying "Young Bond" or "continuation" novel. I said JAMES BOND novel because this is a book that could have come from the pen of Ian Fleming.

The key difference seems to be that SilverFin was written as a children's book (that could still be appreciated by adults) while Blood Fever appears to have been written with a more adult readership in mind. This is a tougher, darker, much more violent book than SilverFin. It even includes a classic Bondian torture scene (but don't panic, parents, the torture is more about endurance than person-to-person sadism). Not only is the content of the book much more adult, but so is the form. Words like "hell" and "damn" flow freely in descriptive passages as the tension mounts. But because Blood Fever chronicles the adventures of a 13 year old, it's still a novel young readers will find thrilling. However, with its surprisingly high body count, Blood Fever might not meet with a chorus of approval from parents and grade school teachers, as did its predecessor. This book is bloody and dangerous, just as a James Bond novel should be, and it may need to be read beneath the sheets at night by flashlight or smuggled into the back bleachers of the schoolyard. Good! This is exactly where a James Bond book should be read. Ian Fleming would be proud.

Plotwise, Blood Fever spends far less time at Eton than did SilverFin, getting Bond quickly to Sardinia where the bulk of the novel is set. The exotic setting clearly inspired author Higson, who infuses his story with a terrific sense of location -- its history, culture, its sights and smells. This is something that was always a highlight of the best Bond novels by Fleming and later Raymond Benson, and it's great to see the tradition continue in the Young Bond series.

As with SilverFin, Blood Fever's narrative is driven by the slow unpeeling of mystery and the discovery of character rather than nonstop action one might expect (or dread) from something bearing the James Bond name. But make no mistake. Blood Fever does contain action. Clues to the subterranean caper simmer until it all boils over into a series of action-packed climatic set pieces, culminating with a scene of destruction as spectacular as anything in a big-budget James Bond film.

The villain in Blood Fever, Count Ugo Carnifex, is a true Bond baddie in the most classic sense, with a lair and scheme reflecting every inch of his megalomania. This is the best drawn Bond villain, book or film, we've encountered in some time, even if his plot isn't of the "ticking clock" variety. Secondary characters are also marvelously conceived, particularly the pirate Zoltan the Magyar and the delicious Vendetta. Amy Goodenough, who exists largely in a parallel storyline, is a true Bond Girl in the best literary sense and carries her part of the narrative so authoritatively, her passages could have been plucked from her own novel.

But it's the character of young Bond who stands head and shoulders above all others. The timid, apologetic youngster of SilverFin is long gone. Here, we have a teenage James with all the confidence, athletic skill, and luck of Ian Fleming's secret agent. He coolly defies the villain, finds kinship with bandits, and derives visceral excitement by diving off high cliffs and driving fast cars. When forced into a gladiatorial boxing match with a much larger boy, Bond relishes the opportunity to "get his fight on." This Bond is no Harry Potter clone or Alex Rider wannabe. This is the boy who will become 007 and who could kick the pixy dust out of any character in the Potter universe.

One thing that is still not a part of the Young Bond universe, even in this more mature version, is sex. However, there is some simmering eroticism in how Ugo's decrepit sister leers at handsome young James, and clearly, the animalistic Vendetta has some carnal curiosity. Bond even delivers his first "hard kiss on the mouth" in Blood Fever. But that's as far as Higson takes it. Bond's resistance to his female admirers seems more rooted in chivalry than nervous preadolescence (as in SilverFin), and besides, danger is always too close for such "distractions." However, with Higson's writing abilities and IFP's willingness to push the boundaries, one wonders if the series may take a chance down the road. But, for now, Higson and the copyright holders are keeping the series "child safe" in this regard.

Some Bond fans have resisted the Young Bond series based on concept alone. Even I admitted that SilverFin wouldn't change the minds of the most entrenched fans. However, with Blood Fever, that resistance is now foolish. Bond fans are denying themselves a better Bond adventure than most of the recent James Bond films with their overblown action and under drawn characters. Here, that formula is reversed. There has been much talk lately about bringing Bond "back to basics." Well, those basics are being practiced right here in the Young Bond series.

So for you holdouts, my advice would be to take the plunge with Blood Fever. Young or old, this is James Bond at his very best!