Published 1st September 2022 by Harper Collins.
From the cover of the book:
James Bond is missing. 007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company. His whereabouts are unknown.Meet the new generation of spies…
Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. Together, they represent the very best and brightest of MI6. Skilled, determined and with a licence to kill, they will do anything to protect their country.
The fate of the world rests in their hands…
Tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really? The new spies must uncover the truth, because the future of humanity hangs in the balance.
Time is running out.
The start of a brand new trilogy following MI6’s agents with a licence to kill, that blows the world of James Bond wide open!
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James Bond is missing, after a mission to find those responsible for the dwindling number of double 0 agents goes horribly wrong. No one knows whether he is alive or dead. At MI6, it is time for the new generation of spies, Johanna Harwood 003, Joseph Dryden 004, and Sid Bashir 009, to step up to the plate.
Billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims to have developed the technology to turn back the clock on the climate change crisis, but there is something suspicious about the people he surrounds himself with, and it is up to our new spies to get to the truth about Paradise's motives before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, there is a new enemy in the form of a ruthless, secret military organisation that is determined to wipe out the last of MI6's double 0 agents in the field, and they seem to know all their moves almost before they make them. Is there a mole within MI6 itself, and what will it take to catch them?
Harwood, Dryden and Bashir hold the fate of the World in their hands in 007's absence. They may be the best and the brightest that MI6 has to offer, but are they good enough without the support of their mentor? Time will tell, and it is running out fast...
Double or Nothing is the first book in a new trilogy set in the universe of James Bond, following the exploits of a fresh set of agents with a licence to kill, and it has absolutely everything you could possibly want in a novel designed to both preserve the legend of Ian Fleming's notorious spy, and offer you something new and exciting to get your teeth into.
Rather cleverly, Sherwood keeps Bond ever present in spirit in this novel, even though he is physically absent, by including familiar faces from the past, and threading references to his former missions throughout the story, often in the most delicious little name drops and carefully worded phrases that are a delight to spot. The significance of Bond to many of the characters is also used as a brilliant story device to keep him very much part of the story, particular in his role as mentor, and sometimes more, to our new generation of spies. I really enjoyed how this means that Bond's lessons, advice and ethos on life is kept central to what plays out - his voice remains, even if his body is absent.
The new characters of Harwood, Dryden and Bashir are centre stage as they pit their wits against some cracking new villains in the form of a potentially dodgy billionaire with unknown motives, and a sinister organisation with a charismatic madman at the helm whose intent is definitely not good for their health. It is all so beautifully contrived by Sherwood to weave a story that is flooded to the gills with every exhilarating element from the world of Bond that makes his adventures so gripping. There is some lovely depth in our new breed of agents, that builds them into vivid and engaging characters who, in many ways, atone for some of Bond's less admirable traits, and I got so caught up in their individual stories as the threads twisted, turned and crossed over that I found myself completely absorbed from the 'jump right into the action' beginning to the 'make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck' ending.
If you are after intrigue, pace, thrills and spills then these are all here in spades, and at the hands of an author who knows exactly how to use them. I am impressed by the way Sherwood incorporates so many powerful echoes from Bond's past too, while still making this a story that sits well as a contemporary thriller with thoroughly modern protagonists, up-to-date themes, and smart use of state-of-the-art technology. Everything is so cinematic, especially in the way Sherwood uses her glorious locations that I have no doubt it would be fabulous on the big screen - perhaps a direction for the film makers to go while they ponder the future of Bond? My fingers are crossed!
I suspect that this book might not be for everyone among the die-hard original Bond-stories brigade, but for me this does exactly what a new novel in the Bond universe should do, while respecting the immense legacy of Fleming's Bond. I loved every second. I have not read anything this exciting for a long while and I cannot wait to see what Sherwood has up her sleeve for the next instalment.
Double or Nothing is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Kim Sherwood is a novelist and a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. Her award-winning debut novel Testament was released in 2018, and in 2019, Kim was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. A Wild & True Relation, following a crew of smugglers in eighteenth-century Devon, will be published by Virago in 2023. Double or Nothing is the first in a trilogy of Double O novels expanding the James Bond universe.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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