Double O Section 10th Anniversary: Top 10 Spy Novels of the Past Decade

While I haven't seen all the spy movies to be released around the world over the past ten years, I have certainly seen the majority of them. The same can't be said for spy novels. There are simply too many published every year to possibly keep up with all of them. But I do read a whole lot of spy fiction, and try to stay on top of the new stuff. Here are ten of my favorite spy novels published during the past ten years.

My Favorite Spy Novels 2006-2016

1. The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer (2010)

If you haven't read this book, it's a bit unfair of me to list it as the best spy novel of the decade, because it can't really be read as a one-off; it actually requires you to read three books. The good news is... all three are fantastic! The Nearest Exit is the middle novel in Steinhauer's Milo Weaver trilogy, which begins with The Tourist (2009) and ends (for now, anyway) with An American Spy (2012). It's tough to pick a favorite of those (especially between the last two), but when it came out The Nearest Exit blew me away with the best "knot," to use Connie Sachs' term, since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The characters are compelling; the tradecraft is impressive, and the espionage plot is ingenious. Publishers absolutely love to label any new spy novel with a variation on "le Carré meets Ludlum" (odd as those particular bedfellows are), but Steinhauer really delivers on that, combining exciting action of the latter with the rich characterizations, complex plots and moral uncertainty of the former. It astounds me that these books have not yet been filmed. Perhaps if Steinhauer's new TV show Berlin Station proves successful, that will be remedied.

2. A Most Wanted Man by John le le Carré (2008)

Speaking of le Carré, the all-time master of this genre is still as sharp as ever in his eighties. Not only has he remained prolific (I don't begrudge his contemporary Len Deighton enjoying his retirement, but oh how I wish he were still publishing as well!), but he's remained topical. Le Carré may have written about the Cold War better than just about anyone else, but that period was hardly the limit of his outrage. If anything, he's gotten angrier as he's gotten older. Some of his later books might suffer a bit from getting overly polemical, but A Most Wanted Man is the perfect concoction of literary fury. It's not only the best novel of the "War on Terror," but easily among the best in the author's justly celebrated oeuvre, featuring some of the most memorable characters he ever created. How many authors are still producing some of their best work in their eighth or even ninth decades? Le Carré is a towering talent still at the top of his game. His follow-up novel, Our Kind of Traitor, was also fantastic, as was his memoir this year, The Pigeon Tunnel. I can't wait to see what he does next.

3. Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013)

Proving once again that spies and authors draw from similar skill sets, former CIA officer Jason Matthews penned as impressive a debut novel as you're ever likely to read in this compelling tale of the spy games very much still being played between America and Russia. The novel follows Russian SVR agent Dominiki Egorova and up and coming CIA officer Nate Nash first separately, and then as their paths ultimately converge. While most of us will never be able to judge a spy novel for its accuracy, Matthews certainly lends an air of authority in his descriptions of tradecraft and Agency politics that feel incredibly realistic. Red Sparrow was the first in a trilogy, and unfortunately the second novel, Palace of Treason, was a serious letdown, but I'm holding out hope that Matthews will bounce back with his third novel and cement himself a spot among the great spies-turned-writers like le Carré, Greene and Fleming.

4. The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss (2006)

Before Mark Gatiss shot to Internet superstardom as co-creator of the BBC's terrific Sherlock, he penned a trilogy of fantastically fun spy/adventure novels featuring the unlikely secret agent "by appointment to His Majesty" Lucifer Box. Box is a sort of debonair, bisexual mash-up of Sherock Holmes, James Bond and Oscar Wilde, and as witty a narrator as you could ask for. In my review here when this second book in the Box trilogy came out, I wrote that it gave me "just about the most pure enjoyment I’ve gotten out of any book in a long time." All these years later, it still stands out for that. Granted, I must admit that that might have something to do with my specific tastes, which seem to be nearly identical to Gattiss's. Into this supernatural John Buchan/Dennis Wheatley pastiche,/parody, he mixes healthy doses of James Bond, Hammer horror, Adam Adamant, Doctor Who and P.G. Wodehouse. For me, that adds up to sheer joy. Anyone who enjoys Gatiss's work on Sherlock and Doctor Who should definitely seek out The Devil in Amber (as well as its precursor, The Vesuvius Club). Read my full review here.

5. The Last Run by Greg Rucka (2011)

For his work on the sublime spy series Queen & Country (comprised of both comics and novels), Greg Rucka made that very first list that started this blog ten years ago, so it's not surprising that he's making this one too. What is a bit surprising (and disappointing), is that he hasn't written more spy novels since then! But the one new Queen & Country novel to come out in the past decade was more than worth the five year wait that led up to it. This is by far my favorite of the subgenre of contemporary espionage that Lee Child memorably and humorously dubbed, "something about Iran." Rucka uses Iran to tell a very contemporary twist on the classic Cold War spy novel. His field heroine, Tara Chace, finds herself on the run deep in enemy territory (quite a Quiller predicament), while his desk hero, Paul Crocker, is faced with that age-old dilemma of trying to figure out whether a potential defector is too good to be true. You don't have to have read any other entries in this superb, Sandbaggers-inspired spy series to enjoy The Last Run, but if you have, it rewards on multiple levels. I really, really hope that Rucka returns to the Queen & Country universe again, be it in a new novel or a new comic series. In fact, that's one of my dearest spy fan-related hopes. Read my full review of The Last Run here.

6. A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming (2012)

Along with Olen Steinhauer, Charles Cumming is probably my favorite contemporary spy writer. He reliably delivers a great read every time, but A Foreign Country, the first of his novels featuring British agent Thomas Kell, is my favorite of his to date. Though the stakes (involving the first female head of MI6) are incredibly high, the story itself is relatively small for contemporary spy ficiton, and I found that appealing. It's also a great example of one of my favorite type of spy plots, the secret war between friendly nations. In this case, that secret war turns deadly. Like Jason Matthews, Cumming is a master at describing tradecraft with a palpable sense of realism, and a lengthy shadowing operation with a very limited surveillance team is the highlight of this novel. This was optioned by Colin Firth's company back in 2013 as a potential starring vehicle for the actor (who I think would be great as Kell). Earlier this year it was reported that the project is still alive, but might take the form of a miniseries rather than a movie. That's something I would love to see!

7. The Moneypenny Diaries: Secret Servant by Kate Westbrook (2006)

When The Moneypenny Diaries concept was first announced, it sounded like a terrible idea. It seemed like a blatant attempt by Ian Fleming Publications to capitalize on the then zeitgeisty success of Bridget Jones' Diary... which seemed like an odd zeitgeist to capitalize on for the heirs of Ian Fleming. So who would have predicted such an odd experiment would produce the best James Bond continuation novel of the last decade? Unfortunately, it was so under the radar that hardly anyone outside of hardcore Bond fans ever found out about it. But the second book, in particular, in Samantha Weinberg's really quite brilliant trilogy definitely deserves a larger audience. Weinberg, writing as Kate Westbrook, actually wrote a Bond novel with the potential to appeal to the sorts of spy fans who don't normally give 007 the time of day. She penned a Bond novel, with Miss Moneypenny as the protagonist, set in John le Carré's world—mixed with actual history. In Secret Servant, we see Bond's Service torn apart by a mole and M acting like Control in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Add to that real-life traitor Kim Philby and his wife Eleanor, and you've got the makings of a Bond novel unlike any other and a treat for Bond fans and fans of the "desk" half of the spy genre alike. Read my full review of The Moneypenny Diaries: Secret Servant here, and my interview with Weinberg here.

8. Double or Die by Charlie Higson (2007)

The Moneypenny Diaries wasn't the only seemingly bad idea by Ian Fleming Publications to strike unlikely gold in the past decade. The announcement that they would explore the adventures of James Bond as a boy in a series of Young Adult books seemed like an equally blatant Harry Potter (and Alex Rider)-inspired cash-grab, and initially provoked consternation among many fans. But author Charlie Higson improbably made this unlikely premise work, and ended up penning some of the very best James Bond continuation novels to date, as well as some of the best of the very rich trend of Young Adult literature in the early 2000s. It's a toss-up for me whether Blood Fever (which pre-dated this blog) or Double or Die is my favorite, but there is no question that the latter is a fantastic read. In attempting to decrypt a secret code, James and his Eton friends find themselves on a scavanger hunt across pre-WWII London involving gambling, Soviet spies and a nascent Bletchley Park. It's a great Young Adult adventure that feels authentically Bondian, and a fantastic read. Read my full review of Double or Die here.

9. Restless by William Boyd (2006)

William Boyd eventually became a James Bond continuation novelist himself, and penned a decent 007 entry with Solo. But it wasn't nearly as good as his original spy novel Restless, a literary thriller about a young woman in 1970s Britain searching for the elusive truth about her mother's past as an agent of William Stephenson's British Security Coordination during WWII. The BSC makes a fascinating backdrop for a spy novel, dealing again with that theme of spying between friendly nations. In this case, that spying includes the real-life historical efforts of Stephenson's organization to draw America into the war to aid Britain. But both the 1940s and 1970s storylines are compelling (unlike in the miniseries, which gave short shrift to the Seventies one), and Boyd creates two terrific heroines. It should be noted that there's an excellent audio version read by Bond Girl and Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike. Boyd's masterpiece is Any Human Heart (a novel that features a little bit of spying—and Ian Fleming as a character—but which isn't really a spy novel), but Restless is also well worth reading.

10. Dead Line by Stella Rimington (2008)

Stella Rimington is another former spook turned successful author, and like Jason Matthews, she lends credence to the theory that the two professions rely on some of the same skill sets. Like Matthews, the former Director General of MI5 brings an air of undeniable authenticity to her Liz Carlyle spy novels. Dead Line is among Rimington's best, and expands the tapestry a bit from her previous books. Rather than focusing on Carlyle and her antagonist, she follows many different agents working for different countries and different branches of the British intelligence community this time around. While it isn't immediately clear how all of these storylines are related, the converge in a most satisfying manner, culminating in an assassination attempt at a peace conference in Scotland. Rimington also proved prescient (again, not surprising given her former profession) in predicting the significance of Aleppo in world affairs. Read my full review of Dead Line here.

Those were ten of my favorite spy novels of the past decade, though I could easily make a list of fifty! (Well, maybe not easily. These things take time to write!) What were some of yours? I'd love to get some recommendations for my reading pile.

Addendum: I cannot believe that I forgot to include Jeremy Duns' excellent debut novel, Free Agent! It was easily among my favorites of that period, but for some reason I had thought it came out sooner.

The contest code word is: AMBER.

Book Review: By Royal Command By Charlie Higson

While I reviewed the exterior of the latest Young Bond book when it came out in England over a year ago, I never got around then to reviewing the actual contents–which some people claim are the best part of a book!  (That didn't stop me, however, from listing it on my year-end Best Of list in 2008.) Since By Royal Command was finally released in America last week (along with hardcover and paperback editions of the SilverFin graphic novel), now seems like an appropriate time to finally review it.

Charlie Higson concludes his initial cycle of Young Bond novels with a fantastic, exciting Boy’s Own-style adventure. By Royal Command blends together all of the elements the series is known for, then adds that final James Bond ingredient that’s been (rightly) absent from the previous books: spying. This is the culmination of all of the books so far, and pays off many things set up in the earlier novels. I don’t mean plot points (though there are a few that come back to haunt James); I mean themes. We’ve watched the boy James Bond grow throughout the first four books, and now he gets to use everything he’s learned over their course. Here we see him expertly navigate the peculiarities of public school life so alien to him in SilverFin, cope once more with the sort of treachery he first encountered in Blood Fever, and put to use both his mystery-solving skills honed in Double or Die and the boy-versus-nature survival techniques demanded of him in Hurricane Gold. On top of all that, James is plunged for the first time into what Higson calls “the shadow war,” that Great Game of pre-war European espionage.

It was a wise move to hold off on any real involvement with MI6 until Book 5. In SilverFin, James Bond was a boy like any other. He wasn’t surreptitiously trained, like Alex Rider, in the arts of spying; it would have been downright silly to involve him in any sort of official missions. But over the course of Higson’s first four novels, James Bond has earned his future; he’s at last ready to handle some of the demands of international espionage.

Higson delivers the basics of spying in a conversational, easy-to-follow manner. He’s explaining it to kids, but as usual with his writing, even adults won’t feel like they’re being talked down to. Chances are that any adult Bond fan has a pretty good idea of what he’s talking about already (how cells operate, etc.), but it’s very easy to bear with Higson, as his writing style is so brisk and easygoing. He’s never didactic, and he assumes a basic intelligence and a certain level of education of his youthful readers, which is very refreshing. So often Young Adult books, even adult books, and most especially movies (of the Hollywood blockbuster variety) talk down to their audiences. Not so with Charlie Higson, and that’s the secret to these books’ overwhelming success (in England, anyway; hopefully the U.S. will follow): he writes for kids as if they’re adults. Since Ian Fleming wrote for adults as if they were kids (not that he condescended to them or blunted his sometimes very adult themes, but he awakened the same sense of adventure in his readers typically embodied by children’s literature), it’s not surprising that reading the Young Bond books now, as an adult, gives me the exact same rush I got as a kid curled up under my covers at summer camp with a flashlight and a Signet paperback of an Ian Fleming novel.

By Royal Command starts off with a moody spy beginning good enough to satisfy any seasoned fan of the genre. A Russian spymaster enters an overstuffed bookshop in Lisbon, and confronts an agent, resulting in a fatal shooting. It’s a good set-up and a good setting; we’re off to a good start. From there we join our hero on a train bound for the Alps; he’s on his way to join up with an Eton-sponsored school ski trip attended by some other familiar characters from the series. On the train, Young Bond encounters some young Nazis (some Hitler Youth) and bests them at both cards and combat. One of them turns out to be surprisingly sympathetic, though, establishing that not all Germans are bad. I know that sounds simplistic, but actually it’s anything but. Many novels aimed at a young audience settle for an easy black and white view of the world; Higson’s is more textured and more honest. James’ train is bound for the Alpine resort village of Kitzbühel, where he will encounter plenty more good Germans–and good Austrians, including one who helps shape his life.

By Royal Command fills in some blanks that I’ve been anticipating since the Young Bond series began. One of the few glimpses Fleming ever offered of James Bond’s childhood (in the short story “Octopussy”) was his experience learning to ski from Hannes Oberhauser, so I’ve been waiting to meet Herr Oberhauser ever since SilverFin was announced. And here he is. It’s not quite what I’d imagined, but it is still rewarding to witness James’ interactions with one of his earliest mentors. However, since Higson’s Young Bond has always been such an independent character, it’s not surprising that he leaves this adult figure behind and gets into most of his scrapes on his own while in Kitzbühel.

Higson seems really big on telling stories of James Bond against the elements. In Hurricane Gold, it was jungle; this time it’s snow, as petty schoolboy squabbles leave James and his rival trapped atop the mountain after it's closed as a stormfront closes in. The problem with the lengthy ensuing survival course down the mountain is that there is no human antagonist. For me, James Bond works much better in stories of man (or boy) vs. man than stories of man vs. nature. But that’s personal preference. There’s no denying that Higson manages to make the latter quite exciting.

By Royal Command is divided into three parts, and follows a very Harry Potter-like formula: the boy hero has a lengthy adventure before getting to the familiar school setting, and then, once he gets there, time passes. This story unfolds across a whole school term, unlike some of the others which have been relegated to one vacation or even a three day period, as was the case in Double or Die. Part I takes place entirely in the Alps. After his survivalist adventure, James must remain behind to sufficiently recover in the care of Oberhauser and his family. Some of that recovery takes place at a hospital, where he stumbles upon the Thunderball movie plotline of two bandaged plastic surgery patients, presumably about to switch places. This is all intriguing, but James doesn’t really know what to make of it and neither do we, so while we’ve had some thrilling action sequences, there isn’t really enough plot happening yet by the time we finally get to Eton about 100 pages in. James has spent the majority of Part I being acted upon (by nature and by mysterious forces he doesn’t yet understand) rather than acting.

Part II, then, quickly makes up for that; this is the meat of the story. The plot that unfolds in this section involves not only more fascinating depictions of not-always-pleasant everyday life at Eton in that era (James takes an If-like beating from the bullying Head Boy that foreshadows his torment in Casino Royale... only on the other side of his anatomy, if you know what I mean), but also spies, Communists (including a returning antagonist from earlier in the series), historical figures (James’ first encounter with the future Majesty on whose Secret Service he later serves) and the whiff of Royal scandal. On top of all that, there’s that other major youthful event alluded to by Fleming, the trouble with the boys’ maid that we all know ultimately results in James’ expulsion from Eton. The maid in question is the beautiful Roan Power, an alluring slightly older woman who captivates Young Bond in ways that Fleming almost certainly never imagined or intended. In fact, she just might be a Communist agent. Roan exposes a side of James we haven’t seen in any of Higson’s previous novels, and it’s fascinating (though a little bit weird ) to witness James Bond at an awkward age, actually growing up!

Each of the three sections seems sort of self-contained. Part III, therefore, doesn’t feel quite wholly connected to the rest, but it sure is exciting! Part III thrusts James Bond into a John Buchan-type spy chase, and readers get to see the boy who will one day become the consummate professional in his field in an altogether different sub-genre of spy fiction: the innocent abroad, an amateur caught up in a conspiracy he doesn’t fully comprehend. Added onto this scenario, we get descriptions far more gruesome than anything Ian Fleming ever dreamed up when James has to retrieve a revolver from a rotting corpse, a fight with a hulking henchman that could have come right out of a Bond movie (specifically, Sean Connery’s fight with Pat Roach in Never Say Never Again comes to mind), a large scale gun battle involving hordes of British and Russian secret agents and the return of another villain from James’ past... with an Alpine castle lair. Of all of Higson’s books, By Royal Command is probably the most rollicking Boy’s Own adventure, and a worthy finale for the series–or at least the first cycle of the series, if Higson can be lured back for another round.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, though, I did have some problems with the book–most having to do with its final chapters. Therefore, I recommend not reading any further if you haven’t yet read By Royal Command, but intend to. I generally try to avoid venturing into this sort of SPOILER territory in my reviews, but here it’s necessary in order to contextualize the novel in the larger scope of James Bond stories. So you’ve been warned; proceed from here at your own risk

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Unsurprisingly, James’ budding romance with the unwitting Communist agent Roan ends in tragedy. But what kind of tragedy? Higson seems to be setting things up in a way that would force James Bond to sell her out when his government asks him to entrap her. I liked where this was heading, and thought it was a stroke of genius to make Bond the betrayer for once, instead of the betrayed. It would be the opposite of the scenario in Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale, in which Bond is betrayed by Vesper, a woman he loves. However, that setup turns out to be a red herring, and instead James does end up in the position of the betrayed once more... or for the very first time, I supposed. Not only that, but she ends up dying as well, and Young Bond loses the first of many doomed loves in his life. It’s a situation which older Bond fans (but perhaps not the young ones) have seen many times before: twice in Fleming (Casino Royale and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), twice again in Gardner (Death Is Forever and SeaFire) and revisited again in The Moneypenny Diaries, which take place in the aftermath of OHMSS. Therefore, Roan’s death is problematic. Having James Bond love and lose at so early an age in some ways diminishes the impact on him of Vesper’s death years later. After having his heart broken by Roan and Vesper, it’s a wonder poor Tracy ever had a chance! Then again, Higson does manage to engineer things so as to put Bond in the position (vis a vis women) that he’s in when he meets Vesper, to show us why he’s put up those walls she manages to break down–or the “armor,” as they say in the movie version. So it does work. I’m just a nitpicker. But I had to mention this potential problem. Continuity issues aside, however, By Royal Command is an excellent entry in and a fitting conclusion to the adventures of Young Bond, clearly laying a path to a future we’re all very familiar with...

Investigate past coverage of Young Bond on the Double O Section:

An Introduction to Young Bond, and a Comparison to Alex Rider
By Royal Command: Judging A Book By Its Cover

A Review of Hurricane Gold, the Fourth Young Bond Book

Hurricane Gold: Judging A Book By Its Cover
A Review of Double Or Die, the Third Young Bond Book
A Review of The Young Bond Rough Guide To London
Various Young Bond News Items

Cover image courtesy of Young Bond Dossier.

Charlie Higson's US Book Tour Dates Announced

The Young Bond Dossier has the first confirmed dates for Young Bond author Charlie Higson's first American book tour since 2006 when Blood Fever came out.  He'll be in the US this May, promoting the imminent American releases of By Royal Command, SilverFin: The Graphic Novel and his non-Bond young adult novel, The Enemy (not to be confused with the Lee Child novel or the Roger Moore movie!).  So far the tour includes stops in New York, Washington D.C. (at the International Spy Museum), Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri.  Personally, I'm bummed because there are no West Coast dates announced yet, and apparently Higson won't be making an appearance in California this time.  But if he comes through your state, definitely make a point of heading out to meet him!  There aren't many opportunities to get James Bond novels of any sort signed these days, what with Sebastian Faulks being purposefully stingy with his autograph and Samantha Weinberg's The Moneypenny Diaries being woefully underpromoted.  And if you're one of the few Bond fans who still digs in his or her feet and declares, "that's kid's stuff," I'll attempt one last entreaty to get you to pick up one of Higson's excellent books.  (Try Blood Fever for starters.)  Like The Moneypenny Diaries, they're infinitely superior to Faulks' straightforward Bond novel!

Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier Available Today

Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier, the official companion volume to Charlie Higson's series of James Bond novels about Bond's adventures as a schoolboy in the 1930s, is out today in the United Kingdom. It's available from Amazon.co.uk, and a signed edition is available in independent bookstores and directly from Ian Fleming Publications online. The shiny, silver volume (complete with silver gilt-edged pages) makes a nice companion piece to the golden UK hardcover of Hurricane Gold. And it's a great book! Besides a brand new, seventy page James Bond story by Higson, there's scads of great information about young Bond's world done in the style of the Dangerous Book For Boys. This is great stuff!

More On New Young Bond Short Story

Charlie Higson's conclusion to his first cycle of Young James Bond novels, By Royal Command, came out in paperback in England this week, complete with an exclusive excerpt of Higson's brand new Young Bond short story, apparently titled "A Hard Man To Kill." (For those with short memories, that will be included in November's Young Bond companion book.) As usual, the Young Bond Dossier has the scoop on all the details!

Young Bond Companion Book Release Moved Up

The Young Bond Dossier (the website, that is, not the book) has some more information on the previously reported upcoming companion volume to Charlie Higson's Young Bond novels. The site reports that the release date for Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier has been moved up from late November to October 29. (This is a UK release date, of course; as with all the Young Bond books, a US release is probably still years away, after the entire series of books has been published.) Furthermore, YBD touts the companion's brand new Bond short story by Higson as "the longest James Bond short story yet written, surpassing the previous record holder, 'For Your Eyes Only' by Ian Fleming." The title of the story is still being kept under wraps, but a preview of it will appear in next month's UK paperback release of Higson's fifth and (for now) final Bond book, By Royal Command. The high-res cover artwork comes courtesy of YBD.

New James Bond Book Out Today In America: Hurricane Gold

While the five-novel series has wrapped up now (for the time being, anyway) in Britain, Charlie Higson's fourth "Young Bond" James Bond novel, Hurricane Gold, is just hitting shelves today in the United States. Under an exciting painted dust jacket by artist Kev Walker, the Hyperion hardcover is a bargain at just $16.99. (Or, of course, much cheaper at various online outlets.) It should be easily findable at chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble, or at your local bookshop. Higson's take on the character may be aimed at young adult readers, but grown Bond fans will find them very rewarding reads. I was certainly dubious of this series at first, but Higson is a terrific writer and has created some wonderful James Bond novels–much better, in fact, than Sebastian Faulks' ill-advised but well-publicized stab at the franchise last year.

Read my full review of Hurricane Gold here.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For March 18, 2009

M:I:IV Still in the Cards?

Ain't It Cool has a story that doesn't really contain any specific news, but does confirm that Tom Cruise is still interested in perpetuating his Mission: Impossible franchise. The gist is that Cruise says he's working on a story for the fourth installment. (Surely what he means is that he's working with a writer on the story?)

Clemens Remade

Avengers mastermind Brian Clemens will see one of his early Seventies theatrical thrillers remade. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Karl Urban has joined the cast of a remake of Clemens' creepy classic And Soon the Darkness (co-written with frequent ITC contributor Terry Nation and directed by Avengers director Robert Fuest). Amber Heard and Odette Yustman star, and the action has been moved from France to Argentina but the plot (involving a girl who disappears while on a bike trip abroad) remains the same. The trade doesn't mention Clemens or Nation or Fuest in their story.

New Young Bond Paperback Out in America

The Young Bond Dossier reports that Charlie Higson's third James Bond novel, Double Or Die(full review here), has been released in paperback in the United States. This comes hot on the heels of re-covered reissues of the first two books a week ago. You should be able to find them all at your local bookstore! The hardcover edition of the fourth volume, Hurricane Gold, is set to hit American stores in a few weeks.

In another article of interest at YBD, Zencat mentions that the success of the Young Bond novels for Puffin in England has prompted rival publisher Macmillan to emulate the formula with a series of officially-sanctioned Young Sherlock Holmes novels. This has no relation to the Steven Spielberg-produced movie of that name; it's an original series of books by Andrew Lane. Three have been commissioned. I hope Lane's good, because the reason for the success of Young Bond isn't the concept (which could have easily turned out as terrible as it sounds on paper), but Charlie Higson, who pulled it off brilliantly!

Young Bond Graphic Novel Out Today

Today marks the long, long-awaited return of James Bond to the medium of comics. While he made an unofficial (and altogether unflattering) appearance last year in Alan Moore's spectacular League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier (drawn by Kevin O'Neill), Bond makes his first official comic book appearance since Topps' ill-fated GoldenEye adaptation way back in 1995. Although Topps had announced an ongoing 007 series following GoldenEye, they didn't even make it to issue 2 of their movie adaptation before cancelling it, thanks to their delayed schedule. Bond's last complete comic book appearance was a two issue miniseries at Dark Horse called Shattered Helix. Dark Horse also had their share of unfinished Bond stories, including the promising A Silent Armageddon and the serialized short story "Minute of Midnight." (But they had their share of successes, too, the best being Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy's Serpent's Tooth.) I'm not sure why James Bond has had so much trouble in the comics medium in America; he seems like a natural fit. Alan J. Porter will provide a few answers in his definitive book on the subject of Bond in comics due out any day, James Bond: The Illustrated History of 007.

But back to the news at hand: today sees the UK release of the first new licensed Bond comic in over a decade, a 160-page graphic novel adaptation of Charlie Higson's first Young Bond novel, SilverFin, illustrated by Kev Walker. As usual, the Young Bond Dossier has all the details--including a signing opportunity for lucky UK fans! I can't wait to dive into my own copy--whenever it finally arrives from Amazon.co.uk.

Young Bond, of course, is not the first teenage spy to make the leap from Young Adult novels into comics. There have been two graphic novel adaptations of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider novels so far, with a third due out this winter.

By Royal Command: Judging A Book By Its Cover

Less than a week after it came out, I received my copy of Charlie Higson’s latest James Bond novel yesterday from Amazon.co.uk. (Not bad!) Never mind the story; I haven’t had a chance to get very far into it yet. As always, I’m going to start out by examining the book itself. By doing exactly what the adage warns against: judging it by its cover. Physically, By Royal Command is one satisfying book! I like this cover design even better than the shiny gold one for the last Young Bond, Hurricane Gold.

There is no dust jacket. Looking at pictures of it, I had imagined the book’s boards themselves to be faux leather, I guess because of how the shiny silver photographs. That would have been really cool (and would be a great idea for the eventual limited edition, assuming there is one), but what we do get is also cool. Like Hurricane Gold, the cover is glossy and shiny. Best of all, the striking silver, red and black Union Jack–as well as the Young Bond target design and some of the text–is embossed. It’s a pleasure to run your fingers across the cover and feel the subtle depressions.

The boards are also quite thick, and very sturdy, lending a truly satisfying heft to the book as a whole despite being printed on the same rough, lighter weight paper as all the Young Bonds. This time, though, that paper is the ideal choice, perfectly accented by blood-red page edges, like a Hymnal. For some reason, colored page edges have gone out of fashion, but By Royal Command is a welcome throwback. It reminds me of books I had to read for school–read by countless other students before me. Of the stacks I used to arrange so carefully when I worked summers in the best used bookstore in New England. It is the highest compliment when I say that By Royal Command will make a fantastic used book one day. I know there must be other bibliophiles out there who understand that it’s a good thing when I say I can smell the must already. This is the kind of volume that just touching it, thumbing through its scarlet-edged pages brings all the scents of all the wonderful used bookstores I’ve ever frequented flooding over me. All thanks to those wonderful red edges!

There are also red end papers adorned with a repeating Young Bond logo motif (not as striking as the glossy red poppy end papers of the UK Devil May Care, but still neat), and sparkly red faux stitching at the top and bottom of the inside spine–another nice touch. This volume clocks in at 354 pages, followed by acknowledgements (including one to The Young Bond Dossier’s John Cox–congratulations, John!) and advertisements for the SilverFin graphic novel and the Young Bond online game.

Like I say, I haven’t read it yet. The story may be rubbish, though judging from what Higson has delivered before, I highly doubt it. But from a purely tactile standpoint, this may be my favorite Bond book ever! It’s much, much more satisfying than the lightweight, cheap-feeling Devil May Care first edition, and also more satisfying than the pricey but discouragingly featherweight Higson limited editions. I just love picking it up! I keep doing that, weighing it in my hands. I know most of you probably think me certifiable after reading this post, but I also know that there are some readers and collectors who know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you’re one of them, with even the slightest interest in James Bond, this is a first edition worth tracking down! (Although it will be even more rewarding to track down amidst the musty stacks of an overstuffed used bookstore on some winding country road in twenty years...)

Final Young Bond Novel, By Royal Command, Out Today In UK!

Today sees the UK release of the newest James Bond novel, the eagerly-awaited By Royal Command by Charlie Higson, the grand finale in his series of "Young Bond" adventures. Sadly, it won't be available in America for sometime to come (even the most recent book, Hurricane Gold, doesn't come out here until next year), but its UK release is a good occasion for me to essentially repost what I posted last year when Hurricane Gold came out over there, and once again shamelessly plug this series for any new readers I've picked up since then.

I’ve said it before, but I know that it needs to be said again and again (because I still hear Bond fans who haven’t read them complain that these aren’t "real" Bond books): these are among the very best of the post-Fleming continuation novels, and they're certainly better than the recent adult Bond pastiche, Devil May Care. (And truer to Fleming's character.) In my opinion, they are as "real" as Amis or Gardner or Benson. And unlike those latter two, who updated 007 to the eras in which they were writing, the Young Bond stories actually take place in Fleming’s continuity; they’re set in the 1930s, the boyhood era of the famous Cold Warrior who was in his prime in the Fifties and Sixties.

I can understand the argument that the basic premise (young James stumbling upon various fantastic adventures around the world) is a little hard to swallow, but is there any reader who actually swallows all of Fleming’s premises? Of course not! You accept them at face value (easy enough to do in the context of Bond’s world) and enjoy the ride. And that’s what you have to do with Higson’s books as well. Furthermore, he goes to great lengths to make the scenarios as believable as possible. The young James is not a junior secret agent like Alex Rider; he’s an Eton student (strictly adhering to what little Fleming established about his creation’s boyhood in You Only Live Twice; yes, he's due to be kicked out for "trouble with one of the other boys' maids" in By Royal Command!) who becomes embroiled in scenarios of large and small-scale intrigue rooted in the historical era.

And the novels are well-written. Very well-written. Higson is a gifted novelist who can both tell a story and turn a phrase. Just as Samantha Weinberg’s Moneypenny Diaries series turned out to be so much more than "007 for the Bridget Jones set," Higson’s books succeed far beyond their "James Bond by way of Harry Potter" premise. Ian Fleming Publications may have raised eyebrows with their rather transparent publishing schemes, but they deserve a lot of credit for picking the right authors to pull off such potentially disastrous set-ups. If you’re a Bond fan and you haven’t yet read his adventures as a young man, now is the time to start.

It’s also a good time to re-examine past coverage of Young Bond on the Double O Section:

An Introduction to Young Bond, and a Comparison to Alex Rider

A Review of Hurricane Gold, Higson's Last Book

An In-Depth Examination of the First Edition of Hurricane Gold
A Review of Double Or Die, the Third Young Bond Book
A Review of The Young Bond Rough Guide To London
Various Young Bond News Items

And for up-to-the-minute coverage of all things Young Bond, look no further than the excellent Young Bond Dossier. YBD offers the most extensive reportage on the web about By Royal Command, including lots of photos of the super-snazzy, previously embargoed cover and coverage of the Young Bond web game, The Shadow War.

Limited Edition Of Roger Moore's Autobiography Available For Pre-Order

Also Higson's Hurricane Gold

Hatchard's, the UK online bookstore that specializes in signed and limited editions, now has a limited edition of Roger Moore's upcoming memoir My Word Is My Bond available to pre-order. The book, limited to a numbered print run of 1,000, comes in a slipcase signed by the actor. The website doesn't offer any artwork for the limited edition.

Hatchard's also has the signed, numbered and slipcased limited edition of Charlie Higson's latest Young Bond novel, Hurricane Gold, available for pre-order. Both books will ship in October.

Regular editions of My Word Is My Bond come out in the UK in October and the US in November.

New James Bond Comic Book Image!

The stellar Young Bond Dossier has once again scored an exclusive first look at some fantastic new James Bond cover art. This time, it's Kev Walker's stunning cover image for his and Charlie Higson's upcoming graphic novel adaptation of Higson's first Young Bond book, Silverfin. Clocking in at 160 pages, this one will be just a bit longer than the first Alex Rider comic adaptation, Stormbreaker. This oft-delayed project (finally slated for October) is one I've been following closely. I'm a huge fan of James Bond in comics, and I've been very disappointed that the character hasn't appeared in that medium since Topps' unfinished Goldeneye adaptation in '95. Why not? That's a long time! And James Bond just makes sense as a comic book character! So I'm very happy that Silverfin marks his return to that medium, albeit in a slightly younger incarnation. If it's successful, I hope that encourages Ian Fleming Publications to license out the adult version of 007 to some lucky publisher... hopefully Dark Horse, who, in my opinion, did the best job with Her Majesty's top agent in the graphic medium.

Anyway, Walker (responsible for the cool cover illustrations on the American editions of the last two Young Bond novels) has crafted a striking image to adorn his comic adaptation. I love the Mignola-esque eel behind Bond! Head on over to the Young Bond Dossier and check it out.

Double Or Die Now Available In The US

Charlie Higson's third James Bond novel, Double or Die, is now--finally!--available to purchase in the United States. It was published in January of 2007 in the United Kingdom, and succeeded there by a fourth novel, Hurricane Gold, before ever appearing on US shores. To make up for that inexcusable delay, American readers are treated to a much nicer, very atmospheric cover (courtesy of artist Kev Walker) and a hardcover first edition. Like the first two Young Bond volumes, Double or Die debuted in Great Britain as a paperback original--albeit a limited edition one, enclosed in a foil wrapper. There followed another, hardcover, slipcased limited edition in the fall--in signed and rare unsigned variants. The US publication is still the first trade edition offered in hardcover. It is the same size as the two previous American hardcovers, and adheres to the same design scheme as Blood Fever, even though that was published by Miramax/Hyperion and this is published by Hyperion/DBG.

I really hope that American Bond fans are all reading this series. As I've said many times, though the premise of James Bond's adventures as a boy may sound ludicrous at first, Higson is a first-class novelist who has crafted some really great Bond stories. His "James" (as he is called, instead of "Bond") may be a boy, but he is clearly the adolescent version of Ian Fleming's Bond. You can clearly picture this character growing into the man generations of readers know and love, particularly in Double or Die. Charlie Higson optimistically described Double or Die as a rebirth for Young Bond in the States, but I've seen no sign of that so far--no big marketing campaign, no book tour, no big push in bookstores or libraries, no newspaper giveaway of the companion Young Bond Rough Guide to London. Therefore, I feel that I have to do my part and urge whatever readers haven't yet checked out this great series to do so now!

Amazon lists an April 22 release date for Double or Die, but it has turned up in bookstores early, including numerous locations in the Borders chain. Pick one up today!

Read my full review of Double or Die here.

For in-depth coverage on all things Young Bond, check out the Young Bond Dossier.

BLOGIVERSARY: The List Revisited
Revisiting a list made one year ago as the inaugural post on this blog.

5. Charlie Higson & Anthony Horowitz

There’s been no lack of coverage on the Double O Section of Charlie Higson and his Young Bond novels. In fact, two such volumes have been published since my original posting on the subject a year ago, Double Or Die and Hurricane Gold (as well as a Young Bond Rough Guide To London). Higson’s fifth and, as of now, final book in the series is due out in 2008. But that’s not all that’s happening on the Young Bond front. The first Young Bond graphic novel, illustrated by Kev Walker, is also due next year. It’s an adaptation of SilverFin, Higson’s first Bond novel. I’m very, very excited for this, as I dearly want to see more James Bond comic books in general. (This will be the first new material since Topps published two issues of an aborted four-part adaptation of GoldenEye in 1995.) However, I would honestly rather see original Young Bond adventures in comics than adaptations of the existing novels. (The last original Bond comics came from Dark Horse in the early ‘90s, and also included a half-finished mini-series.) I really hope that if the novel series truly concludes with Book 5, as it is supposed to, Higson turns his attention to penning some original comics about the teenage James Bond. I also hope that if the SilverFin adaptation is successful, Ian Fleming Publications doesn’t stop with Young Bond comics, but goes on to license original stories about the adult 007 as well.

On top of the new novel and the comic book, there are also rumors (courtesy of the Young Bond Dossier, naturally!) of a Young Bond short story in the offing. Higson told a group of fans that he was toying with the idea of writing one as a bridge between Hurricane Gold and the as yet untitled fifth book, wherein James is reunited with the SilverFin Bond girl Wilder Lawless aboard on ocean liner bound from Mexico back to England. He didn’t indicate where the story would see print, but maybe it could form the basis for a whole, For Your Eyes Only-like collection of Young Bond stories down the road!

Of course, Anthony Horowitz has already beaten Higson and IFP to the punch with teen spy short stories, just as he did with teen spy novels. (Though to be fair, Young Bond is not strictly a teen spy, like Horowitz’s Alex Rider, but a teenager who will one day grow up to be a spy.) Horowitz has produced two Alex Rider short stories so far, both of which are available online (which seems the most likely ultimate destination for a Young Bond story as well), one via The Daily Mail and the other on Horowitz’s official website (though you have to register to access it). The former is a Christmas story that serves as a prequel to the entire Alex Rider series; the latter takes place between Alex’s third and fourth adventures. These serve as good primers for potential readers to get a taste of Alex Rider without digging into an entire book (although the books are lightning fast reads).

I had thought that Horowitz’s teen agent series was originally slated to last for seven volumes, but the seventh Alex Rider novel, Snakehead, is due out tomorrow in the US and I’ve seen no fanfare about it being the final one, so plans must have changed. The movie version of the first book, Stormbreaker, trickled into US theaters for about one week last fall (after making a decent performance at the UK box office), then got dumped on an initially Wal-Mart-exclusive DVD courtesy of The Weinstein Company. Sadly, I think we can take its lack of American success as a sign that no one’s in a hurry to produce a sequel, which is too bad since the second book, Point Blanc, is a better story. Fans who want to see Point Blanc adapted into another medium can at least look forward to a graphic novel adaptation this Christmas. The first Alex Rider comic was adapted from the film; the second is a translation of the novel. As with Young Bond, I’d rather see original adventures in this format, but I am looking forward to Point Blanc.

I’ve only read the first several Rider books, but so far I stand by what I said about them last year. They’re not quite as well written nor as educational as the Young Bond books, but they are a lot of fun and quick, addictive reads. Alex Rider is definitely one of the better examples of the surprisingly fertile teen spy genre, even if the first few books are rather blatant repackagings of Ian Fleming plots.

Book Review: HURRICANE GOLD by Charlie Higson (2007)

Book Review: Hurricane Gold

Under a shiny gold cover, Charlie Higson’s third Young Bond novel finds the 14-year-old James Bond far from the safety of Eton, where his adventures usually begin. James is accompanying his aunt Charmian (a Fleming creation mentioned in You Only Live Twice, but fleshed out by Higson to be an anthropologist) on an expedition to Mexico in 1934. A powerful storm forces Charmian to deposit James in the company of two bratty siblings, JJ and Precious Stone (I’m surprised Fleming himself didn’t think of that one!), while she flies off into the jungle with the children’s father, WWI air ace Jack Stone. While James is holed up with the spoiled siblings, a vicious gang of thieves break into their house in the middle of the storm and take Precious and JJ hostage in a Key Largo scenario. And all that happens in just the first few chapters!

Hurricane Gold could be seen as Higson’s homage to Doctor No, with most of the action taking place on the run through the jungle, culminating in a diabolical obstacle course very similar to that of the good doctor. However, it ultimately owes more to Indiana Jones (specifically Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) than to any James Bond book or film. One breathless escape leads directly into another, filling the book with pretty much wall-to-wall action. The plot of Higson’s last Bond novel, Double or Die, was driven by a complex puzzle, a coded message that James and his friends needed to decipher. Clearly, the author wanted to go in the exact opposite direction with his next book, requiring no puzzle-solving–and very little thought whatsoever!–of his young hero, who is whisked along on a breathless thrill ride, primarily driven by external forces. Throughout Hurricane Gold, and in stark contrast to Double or Die, James is required to react far more often than he is to act. That formula makes for a pulse-pounding page turner, as they say, but ultimately a less rewarding read than the previous book.

In one breathtaking sequence, James helps Precious and her little brother escape the storm–and the gang. They try to move inland, away from the ravaged coast, only to be literally thrown backwards by a rising river in another spectacular action scene. In the aftermath of the ensuing flood, they once more run into the gang, which is led by an enigmatic American named Mrs. Glass.

James and Precious are again taken prisoner, again escape (getting separated from third-wheel JJ in the process), and again run into a member of the gang. Eventually they escape from him, only to once more be recaptured. One of Ian Fleming’s more memorable villains once analyzed his recurring run-ins with the adult James Bond thusly: “Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but a third time it's enemy action.” Auric Goldfinger understood that only so much could be chalked up to coincidence, as did Fleming, who divided the villain’s eponymous book into three sections, appropriately entitled “Happenstance,” “Coincidence” and “Enemy Action.” There’s only so much coincidence a villain–or a reader–will accept. Higson seriously strains credibility this time out by allowing a third and fourth instance of coincidence before James and Precious finally take some not particularly well thought-out action against their enemy. Their action leads them directly into the clutches of another villainous type, known as El Huracán.

We meet El Huracán in the book’s first chapter, wherein we also get our first glimpse of his deadly, critter-filled obstacle course, La Avenida de la Muerte. El Huracán runs a haven for criminals on the run–provided they have lots of loot and are willing to live out the rest of their days on his island paradise. Throughout the book we occasionally cut back to El Huracán and his island, setting up the inevitable confrontation between El Huracán and James Bond, and young James’ equally inevitable ordeal in La Avenida de la Muerte. Unfortunately, since James and Precious are not on a course that will naturally lead them to El Huracán, we also resign ourselves that this meeting will have to be manufactured, and these “teaser” chapters have the unfortunate effect of making all that leads up to that meeting seem a bit like treading water. (Exciting water, nonetheless!)

All of Higson’s other Young Bond novels have had a clear mission for James, even though it’s not one officially assigned to him by a government agency, as in Anthony Horowitz’s rival teen spy series. In SilverFin, James had to discover what happened to his friend Red Kelly’s missing cousin. In Blood Fever, he had to save the captured sister of a fellow Eton student. And in Double or Die, he had to locate and rescue his kidnapped professor. His only goal in Hurricane Gold is survival, for himself and for Precious. Survival is a perfectly good goal for adventure stories, but it somehow doesn’t feel as Bondian.

Among the many threats to that survival, James encounters every imaginable sort of reptile and disgusting insect. These include scorpions, wasps, mosquitoes (with which James has already tangled in Blood Fever) and army ants. The latter provide that particularly gruesome death scene for a baddie that’s become a staple of the series when a column of the unstoppable fiends cut and bite their way through a paralyzed thug. All of the above-mentioned insects provide plot points, but for good measure Higson also throws in botflies, who provide nothing but some extra grossness that the author seems to believe (correctly, I suppose) that his young male readers crave. I suppose if you’re crafting a boys’ adventure story set in the jungle, you need to include the real-life version of the popular urban legend about insects laying eggs in people’s skin for the maggots to later feed on and burrow out of. Don’t make the mistake of reading the botfly chapter while eating lunch, as I did!

Overall, Higson has really embraced that “boys’ own adventure” mantra this time around. Judging from the popularity of the series in England, he seems to know what boys want, but in Hurricane Gold that mentality unfortunately leads the series away from roots that feel Bondian and steadfastly toward the more gross-out elements of serial-inspired adventures like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Despite my criticisms, there is still plenty to like in Hurricane Gold. Once again, Higson manages to slyly sneak plenty of nearly undetectable education into his action, and it’s all fascinating stuff. (Fleming himself, a professional journalist, was a master of this, but he didn’t have to be quite as sly about it as his intended audience–at the time, anyway–wasn’t young boys.) Kids will learn about pre-war geopolitics, Mexican history and jungle zoology. Even though they’re not specifically designed to educate, like The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, the Young Bond adventures offer far more information than a lot of Young Adult literature.

Readers are also treated to another cavalcade of memorable characters. Even though James’ stable of Eton friends (who we just got to know a lot better in the last book) sit this one out, he encounters a number of memorable allies and enemies. American gangsters Strabo, Whatzat and Manny the Girl are all well-drawn antagonists, and worthy predecessors (or successors, depending on how you look at it) to Fleming’s many gangster types, like Shady Tree, Whisper, Slugsy and Horror. (Fleming always seemed fascinated with eccentric American gangsters.) There’s a Japanese semi-villain named Sakata (in a nice tribute to the Oddjob actor) who teaches James some of his first lessons in hand-to-hand combat, and a proto-Marc-Ange Draco/Kerim Bey figure who straddles the line between good and evil, and makes young James a tempting offer at a very different life than the one he goes on to lead. Finally, Precious Stone is a wonderful creation. Whereas all the other Young Bond Girls have been very (almost anachronistically) capable, self-sufficient, even tomboyish lasses, Precious is a very girly girl. She starts out a lot like Temple of Doom’s Willie Scott, but actually undergoes a more believable transformation over the course of the book, not only growing as a person, but becoming a more likable character.

Hurricane Gold may be Charlie Higson’s weakest entry so far (Blood Fever is his best), but it’s still a fast-paced, action-packed adventure, and certainly not an embarrassment to the James Bond brand. Even at its weakest, the Young Bond series is still first rate YA fiction, and first-rate James Bond. All of Higson’s books so far have managed to rank among the very best of the 007 continuation novels, and even if its target audience is children, I can’t recommend the series highly enough for adult Bond fans.

More pictures of the golden hardcover first edition.

Read my review of Double or Die.

Read my review of the Young Bond Rough Guide To London.

Order Hurricane Gold for half price from Amazon.co.uk.