Apr 7, 2009

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.

2 comments:

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

does anyone actually read these shameless cash ins?

Tanner said...

I highly recommend that you do! I certainly thought the same thing when they announced the concept; it DOES sound like a shameless cash-in, but as I tried to make clear, when you actually read them they're suprisingly anything but. Higson is a great writer who really sells the concept. Furthermore, he actually manages to capture the spirit of Fleming's novels much, much better than Sebastian Faulks did in his "proper" continuation novel. (THAT, despite sounding to the contrary, was a truly shameless cash-in.) Really, Higson's Young Bonds are surprisingly good reads and I do highly recommend them to any fans of James Bond books.