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.

FELIX LEITER collected edition now shipping

Even though it still shows a November 28 release date, it appears the collected hardcover edition of Dynamite's James Bond spin off FELIX LEITER is now shipping from Amazon (U.S.).

Felix Leiter finds himself in Japan, tracking down a beautiful, Russian spy from his past. But when the mission takes a turn for the worse, he will discover that there are more deadly schemes afoot in Tokyo and beyond! From superstar creative team James Robinson and Aaron Campbell comes the Bond spin-off highlighting 007’s American counterpart, blending spy thrills with the dark alleys and darker deeds of crime fiction!

Purchase the collected FELIX LEITER at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK - Nov 28).

FELIX LEITER in action today

The first issue of Dynamite's spin-off Felix Leiter comic is released today. The story is by James Robinson with artwork by Aaron Campbell. Cover art is by Mike Perkins.

From superstar creative team James Robinson (Starman, Red Sonja) and Aaron Campbell (The Shadow, Uncanny) comes the Bond spin-off highlighting 007's American counterpart! 

Felix Leiter finds himself in Japan, tracking down a beautiful, Russian spy from his past. But when the mission takes a turn for the worse, he will discover that there are more deadly schemes afoot in Tokyo and beyond!

You can purchase Felix Leiter #1 at the Dynamite website and Amazon.com. Issue #2 is set for release on February 8.

FELIX LEITER spin off comic coming in 2017

Dynamite Entertainment has announced that Eisner Award-winning writer James Robinson and artist Aaron Campbell will team up for a new James Bond coming book miniseries spotlighting Bond’s friend and ally in the CIA, Felix Leiter.

"Felix Leiter is a fantastically interesting character," says writer James Robinson in a statement. "He combines the best elements of the James Bond universe with the dark alleys and darker deeds of crime fiction. A private detective, done with a life of spying, who is constantly dragged back into that world, like it or not. I'm excited for readers to see the tale of intrigue and big action that I've dreamed up for Felix."

"I've been a lifelong fan of James' writing and it's beyond a thrill to be working with him on not one, but two comic book projects this year," says Joseph Rybandt, Executive Editor at Dynamite. "The expansion of the 007 comic book world this time out focuses on his American counter-part, Felix Leiter, and sends him into Japan. It's a trip all Bond fans are going to want to take this January!"

Felix Leiter appeared in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Diamonds Are Forever, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and The Man with the Golden Gun. In Live and Let Die, Felix is the victim of a shark attack in which he loses part of his right arm and left leg, sporting prosthetic limbs during his subsequent appearances. In this new miniseries, we meet Leiter post-injuries and working independently from the CIA at his own detective agency.

James Bond: Felix Leiter #1 is slated for release in January 2017.