My Washington Times Review Of The James Bond Continuation Novel, 'Forever And A Day'

The Washington Times ran my review of Anthony Horowtiz’s James Bond continuation novel, Forever and a Day.

I’m not fond of continuation novels, as some writers, like Raymond Chandler, Ian Fleming and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, have a unique style that truly can’t be imitated. But I understand that the authors' iconic characters, Philip Marlowe, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, are so popular that their many loyal readers want to read more about them, just as they enjoy watching the characters portrayed on TV and on film.

Anthony Horowitz, the author of 40 novels, including two Sherlock Holmes continuation novels, and the creator of the TV series “Foyle’s War,” which I liked very much, is the latest writer to offer a James Bond continuation novel, following Kingsley Amis, John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, William Boyd and Sebastian Faulks.

The late Kingsley Amis, author of “Lucky Jim,” wrote the James Bond continuation novel “Colonel Sun” in 1968. Mr. Amis was an admirer of Ian Fleming and he wrote of the “Fleming Effect,” which he called the fusion of a vivid imagination with an air of authority that swiftly carries the reader along on fantastic stories that Ian Fleming himself called “improbable but not impossible.”

I don’t believe Mr. Horowitz captured the Fleming Effect, but he comes close.

I was weaned on Ian Fleming as a preteen and teenager. I devoured his novels about the British secret agent with the license to kill. I loved Mr. Fleming’s description of exotic places, people and products. I also loved his unforgettable characters, such as villains like Goldfinger and Blofeld, women like Domino and Honeychile, and James Bond’s friends, like Felix Leiter and Darko Kerim. James Bond fought the good fight against Soviet killers, international criminals and malicious madmen. Ian Fleming’s novels are far darker and much more complicated than the films and I’ve reread the thrillers a good number of times over the years.

… Mr. Horowitz penned an earlier James Bond continuation novel called “Trigger Mortis.” Like that novel, “Forever and a Day” was commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate and contains original material from the late Mr. Fleming. Utilizing his ideas and unpublished story notes is a good idea and a good hook.

A portion of “Forever and a Day” is based on an outline Ian Fleming wrote for an American TV series that never came to be. I wish that he had expanded more on the outline, but most of the novel is an original story crafted by Mr. Horowitz.

In this novel, which takes place in the 1950s in a prequel to Ian Fleming’s “Casino Royale,” 007 is killed right off. No, not James Bond. The man killed is the holder of the 007 code name that James Bond takes on as he is ordered to investigate the murder of the previous 007 in Marseille, France. 

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/13/book-review-forever-and-a-day-by-anthony-horowitz/  

Anthony Horowitz: James Bond and Me – Reading and Writing in 007’s Shoes

I’m not big on continuation novels, as some writers, like Raymond Chandler and Ian Fleming, have a unique style that truly can’t be imitated. But I understand that their iconic characters, Philip Marlowe and James Bond, are so popular that their loyal readers want to read more about them, just as they enjoy watching the characters on TV and at the movies   

Anthony Horowitz, creator of the TV series Foyle’s War, which I liked very much, perhaps comes closest to Ian Fleming. 

He’s a huge Fleming aficionado, like me, and he knows a good bit about Ian Fleming and James Bond. So, having read his previous Bond continuation novel, Trigger Mortis, I plan to read the new one, Forever and a Day, and review the book for the Washington Times.

Anthony Horowitz explains his fondness for Ian Fleming and his attempt to honor the late, great thriller writer in a piece at criminalelement.com.

Some books really do change your life. For me, it was Dr. No, not the first James Bond novel but the first to be turned into a movie in 1962. I read it when I was ten years old, stuck in an all-boys boarding school in North London, the sort of grim institution that the British do so well (Ian Fleming himself had a pretty rough time at Eton College).

The book opened up a whole world to me: tropical islands, exotic food, adventure, excitement…and, of course, beautiful women. That famous scene, when Ursula Andress emerges from the ocean in a white bikini, seemed like a fabulous dream and her character, Honeychile Ryder, would stay in my mind for the next thirty years. 

… I'm in awe of Fleming's writing style. Look at the opening chapter - Reflections in a Double Bourbon (nobody has ever done better chapter headings). Bond is at Miami Airport, in a contemplative mood, remembering a recent mission.   

“Below the indigo sky the flare paths twinkled green and yellow and threw tiny reflections off the oily skin of the tarmac.” 

Even when he’s not writing action, Fleming captures mood and atmosphere in a way that is much more sophisticated than it seems.

I know because, twice now, I’ve tried to imitate him.

I was thrilled when the Ian Fleming estate contacted me back in 2014 and asked me to be the fourth modern author – after Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver and William Boyd – to write a James Bond novel. It really was like being handed the keys to the candy store, and although I was thrilled to grab hold of them, I was also nervous. People go a little bit mad when it’s Bond. The scrutiny you get as a writer, the press interest, the sense of expectation…it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.criminalelement.com/james-bond-and-me-reading-and-writing-in-007s-shoes/?image&utm_source=criminalelementnewsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_

term=criminalelementaudience&utm_content=-na_read_blogpost&utm_campaign=110618 

Becoming Bond, James Bond: Author Anthony Horowitz Begins Work On Official Casino Royale Prequel Showing How The Superspy Became 007

Although I’m not fond of continuation novels featuring the characters of authors who passed on,  I’ll probably read Anthony Horowitz’s upcoming James Bond continuation novel.

The British writer knows a good bit about Ian Fleming and his iconic character James Bond (portrayed to perfection by actor Sean Connery in Dr No and later films). 

I also like Horowitz’s TV series Foyle’s War.

Stewart Paterson at the Daily Mail offers a piece on Anthony Horowitz and the upcoming Bond novel.

A prequel for the first ever James Bond novel based on material left behind by Bond creator Ian Fleming is in the works.

Novelist Anthony Horowitz is working on a Forever and a Day, which has been authorised by the Fleming Estate.  

The story will find Horowitz, 62, 'exploring what might have been Bond's first missions and imagining some of the forces that might have turned him into the iconic figure that the whole world knows'.

The novel will begin with the discovery of the previous 007's body, which is found floating in the sea off Marseille and 'killed by an unknown hand', according to publisher Jonathan Cape.

Anthony Horowitz said he 'couldn't have been happier' to have been invited to write Forever and a Day

The new novel, which will be published in May, centres on how James Bond becomes 007 following the death of his predecessor, who is killed by an 'unknown hand'.

Horowitz writes: 'M laid down his pipe and stared at it tetchily. "We have no choice. We're just going to bring forward this other chap you've been preparing. But you didn't tell me his name". "It's Bond, sir," the Chief of Staff replied. "James Bond."'

Horowitz previous wrote the Bond novel Trigger Mortis in 2015, using Fleming's treatment for an unmade TV series in which the Secret Service agent becomes involved with a Formula One race.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5371265/Anthony-Horowitz-working-new-James-Bond-novel.html 

Note: The top photo is of Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No. The middle photo is of Anthony Horowitz and the bottom photo is of Sean Connery and Ian Fleming on the set of Dr No.