SILVERFIN 20th Anniversary Edition released

A 20th Anniversary Edition of Charlie Higson's first Young Bond novel, SilverFin, has slithered into bookstores. I remain a huge fan of the Young Bond series and consider Higson's books among the best continuation novels ever written. This new edition sports a refreshed cover and a new foreword by Charlie Higson.

Purchase the SilverFin 20th Anniversary Edition at Amazon.co.uk.

Thanks to Bazeer Flumore of pizgloria.com for the alert.

HURRICANE ROOM cover reveal

The U.S. cover art for Kim Sherwood's final Double O novel, Hurricane Room, has been revealed on Kim's Instagram. I love it. I certainly love the tagline: "James Bond is Alive." Thank you!

James Bond returns in the final installment of Kim Sherwood’s thrilling Double O Trilogy, and he must team up with the rest of the Double O Section to stop a threat from inside the agency itself.

If this cover seems strangely familiar, know that it is a take-off on unused poster art for On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

You can pre-order Hurricane Room at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Release date is May 21, 2026.

THE HOOK AND THE EYE paperback available NOW

Raymond Benson's Felix Leiter spin-off adventure, The Hook and the Eye, is now available in paperback from Ian Fleming Publications. The novel was first released as an eBook, which is also still available.

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 a matter of life and death 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, a road trip tale and a postcard of a lost Americana. It is also Raymond Benson at his very best.

This is one spin-off I can get behind. I'm a huge fan of Benson's Bond novels, and I know this is a book he wanted to write. I would love to see these become a series.

Horowitz on killing Bond: "I think that was a mistake."

Anthony Horowitz, author of three continuation novels (Trigger Mortis, Forever and a Day, and With A Mind To Kill), has given several interviews this year in which he's expressed his feelings about Eon's decision to kill off James Bond in 2021's No Time To Die:

“I do think it was a mistake, if I may say so, to kill Bond at the end of the last film, and I regretted seeing that, because Bond, you can’t kill him, he is an icon. He is a legend. He belongs to everybody, he is eternal – except in that film."

I couldn't agree more! Happily, the creatives behind No Time to Die are gone (buried under stacks of money, apparently) and we have a new team in charge. Horowitz gave his thoughts on them as well:

"David Heyman, who I have met in the past, is a fan. He’s the man behind the Harry Potter films, and he is probably our most successful producer if not (just) in the UK, in the entire world. And I do think with him and Amy Pascal is going to be in safe hands. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens."

Now, if we could just resurrect 007 in a proper book!

Folio Society releases OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

The Folio Society completes its run of the Ian Fleming classic James Bond novels with the release of Octopussy and The Living Daylights.

The fourteenth and final volume in the original Bond series, Octopussy and The Living Daylights brings together four gripping short stories that reveal a more reflective, world-weary 007. From Cold War sniper showdowns to secret missions in Manhattan, this is Bond at his most dangerous – and most human. Illustrated by series artist Faye Dalton, this closing chapter in the Folio Bond collection features glamorous artwork and a beautifully designed slipcase.

Octopussy and The Living Daylights Folio Edition can be purchased from the Folio Society website.

Also available: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man With The Golden Gun.

Calvin Dyson reviews NEVER DREAM OF DYING

Calvin Dyson is back with his review of Raymond Benson's Never Dream of Dying. Enjoy!

HURRICANE ROOM title confirmed

The title of Kim Sherwood's final Double O novel has been confirmed by Harper Fiction as a Hurricane Room. I like it! Release date is May 21, 2026.

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I'm excited to see "James Bond returns" in the description above. So might this be more OO7 and less Double Os. I'm here for that!

You can pre-order Hurricane Room at Amazon.co.uk.

Kim Sherwood's next Double O is HURRICANE ROOM

The title of Kim Sherwood's next (and last?) Double O novel has been revealed on Amazon as Hurricane Room. No plot summary yet, but the release date shows as May 21, 2026.

Not a typically Bondian title like her previous books, Double or Nothing and A Spy Like Me, but I kind of like it. It's intriguing. 

You can pre-order Hurricane Room at Amazon.co.uk.

UPDATE: Looks like the Amazon listing has been revised, and it now lists this as just "Double O Book 3." Possibly, Hurricane Room is only a working title that will be changed. We'll see.

Complete THE HOOK AND THE EYE eBook available now

Just a heads up that you can now read Raymond Benson's entire Felix Leiter spin-off adventure, The Hook and the Eye, from Ian Fleming Publications. The original plan was to release the book in chapters, but due to a technical issue, IFP decided to post the entire book now.

A paperback edition will be released on October 2, 2025. I'm holding out for that as I still like to hold a physical book in my hands, especially when it's Bond. You can pre-order the paperback at IFP.

I've been a little cool to IFPs spin-offs. But this is one I can get behind. I'm a huge fan of Benson's Bond novels, and I know this is a book he wanted to write. I would love to see these become a series.

Purchase The Hook and the Eye at IFP, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com.

The name's HOUDINI, Harry Houdini

Okay, this has nothing to do with the Book Bond, but it is about the only man who has made more death-defying escapes than 007. And he was real! It's also my own first book.

Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899, reproduces every page of Houdini's very first diary, kept when he was a struggling performer playing dime museums, medicine shows, circuses, and séance chambers. It's an incredible artifact that has never been made available to the public, and an inspiring story of perseverance. The diary is annotated by Houdini historian John Cox and illustrated with previously unseen material from the world's finest magic collections.

Will Houdini escape his obscurity? Read the story in his own words.

Purchase Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899 at Mike Caveney's Magic Words.