Double or Nothing

Kim Sherwood

JAMES Bond might be missing in action (and maybe even dead) but his shadow still looms large over the remaining Double 0 agents at MI6. And now a young and dynamic generation of spies are following in his famous wake and treading dangerous territory on a dark and high-stakes mission that will put the fate of the world in their hands.

Kim Sherwood (pictured below) – a novelist and lecturer in creative writing at Edinburgh University whose moving Holocaust novel Testament was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award – bursts on to the scene again with the first of an explosive spy thriller trilogy that aims to ‘blow the world of James Bond wide open.’

And this first, all-action adventure – starring a diverse and charismatic trio of spies – is certainly guaranteed to take readers’ breath away as the intrepid team hits the ground running to track down the sinister private military company believed to be responsible for Bond’s disappearance. MI6’s most famous and revered spy James Bond is missing. Agent 007 was captured, and perhaps even killed, by Rattenfanger, a sinister organisation which calls itself ‘a private military company’… a description which 009 Sid Bashir, one of the new breed of agents, says is ‘like calling the mafia a social club.’

Handsome, super-spy Bashir, who was with Bond when he disappeared, is still haunted by the loss of his mentor and is determined to help orchestrate the demise of these ‘terrorists for profit’ who have their fingerprints all over bombings, kidnappings, civil wars and data breaches.

Working alongside him – in more ways than one – is the beautiful 003 Johanna Harwood whose stunning looks, including bronze-coloured eyes that could ‘wither a man at forty paces,’ are thanks to her Northern Irish father and French Algerian mother. Also on the team is 004 Joseph Dryden… six feet four and carrying fourteen stone of muscle. Joseph is gay and arrived in MI6 through Special Forces. He is essentially a tough soldier and knows he can command any situation and doesn’t need to prove it. Together, they are brave and determined and, with a licence to kill, they have been tasked with digging out the truth behind tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise who is claiming that his plan, Cloud Nine, can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really ‘heal the Earth’ and why have two of his lynchpin workers suddenly gone missing? The new spies must uncover the truth because, as Ms Moneypenny, the new power behind MI6 points out, ‘humankind has a short window to act, and it’s closing.’

James Bond might be physically absent from this super-charged, breakneck spy romp but his giant presence is still written all over it as fearless Johanna Harwood, cool sleuth Sid Bashir and the mighty Joseph Dryden battle terrifying enemies and a sinister hidden mole to dig out the truth. Packed with the exciting plot twists that we have come to expect from Ian Fleming’s original novels, but with a free hand to create her own spies and make her own mark on the world of Bond, Sherwood lets this thriller run wild with over 400 pages of exhilarating non-stop action and drama.

Expect a journey through locations as diverse as Syria, Siberia, Macau and London’s Barbican as we enjoy Bond-style chase scenes in spectacular top-of-the-range cars, intriguing adversaries moulded in the best traditions of Fleming, and familiar names like Moneypenny, M and Q sporting new personas for a thrilling new age. Played out at breakneck speed, and with a plot that ratchets up the suspense at every turn of the page, and a seductive layer of romance to make hearts flutter, this stirring redefining of the much-loved Bond brand looks set to be a winner. 
(HarperCollins, hardback, £20)