The Hook and The Eye: A Felix Leiter Adventure by Ramond Benson

mtmmtm United Kingdom
edited March 26 in Literary 007 Posts: 17,620
https://www.ianfleming.com/announcing-the-hook-and-the-eye/?v=7885444af42e

Just announced, a new serialised novel by Raymond Benson starring Felix Leiter.

"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."


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Comments

  • Posts: 4,942
    Can't say I'm a fan of Benson. I think he did some pretty poor writing when he was the official Bond author.

    This isn't really for me either (I like Felix as a character but I'm not sure if I'd be bothered to read an adventure with him and no Bond). Who knows though, I might get round to it eventually.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,412
    This will definitely sound like music to Amazon's ears. But I like the fact that it says "Ian Fleming's Felix Leiter.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    Posts: 1,774
    Felix out of the CIA by 1952, during the peak of the Cold War? Seems a little bonkers to me.
  • Posts: 876
    LucknFate wrote: »
    Felix out of the CIA by 1952, during the peak of the Cold War? Seems a little bonkers to me.

    I admit there is something about that date that is wrong, in LALD Felix is still in the CIA and the novel was published in 1954 (probably set in 53).
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    edited March 26 Posts: 1,774
    LucknFate wrote: »
    Felix out of the CIA by 1952, during the peak of the Cold War? Seems a little bonkers to me.

    I admit there is something about that date that is wrong, in LALD Felix is still in the CIA and the novel was published in 1954 (probably set in 53).

    You think they'll make him some sort of McCarthyism victim? I hope not. Later reinstated etc. That'd be too complicated for my liking. I'm ok with messing with timelines for narrative sake but it's got to make some sort of sense for the world it's in.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 17,620
    007HallY wrote: »
    Can't say I'm a fan of Benson. I think he did some pretty poor writing when he was the official Bond author.

    This isn't really for me either (I like Felix as a character but I'm not sure if I'd be bothered to read an adventure with him and no Bond). Who knows though, I might get round to it eventually.

    Yeah same here. Maybe he's improved in the twenty years or so since he last did a Bond, but I'm not sure I'd take a punt unless it gets great reviews. The whole Americana thing does sound quite Flemingy to be fair, but still doesn't really grab me.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    edited March 26 Posts: 4,911
    Wow things really come in threes! Connery 4K Blu-rays, Heyman and Pascal officially took over, and now a new novelization. A nice birthday week for me! Remember, Charlie Higson has a possible Bond announcement at the end of the month. After a rough drought, we are starting to eat again, Bond fans!
  • mybudgetbondmybudgetbond The World
    Posts: 190
    I’ll give it a go. But only this one because I like Felix and it’s set in the Fleming timeline . The Sherwood and Q books I have zero interest in.

    But I have to say I’m bored of Ian Fleming Publications insistence on releasing Bond book without James Bond. It’s getting annoying now.

    You can’t release spinoffs from a main character without releasing books with that main character too.
  • DaltonforyouDaltonforyou The Daltonator
    edited March 26 Posts: 769
    This sounds quite good. I'll definitely be checking this out. Glad they went with somebody who knows their stuff. Benson's a good friend of the Bond community.
  • LucknFate wrote: »
    Felix out of the CIA by 1952, during the peak of the Cold War? Seems a little bonkers to me.

    I admit there is something about that date that is wrong, in LALD Felix is still in the CIA and the novel was published in 1954 (probably set in 53).

    Casino Royale is set in 1951 according to Goldfinger (Du Pont says so), and then Live and Let Die refers to "last summer," in what is Jan/Feb of the next year. I do believe Griswold put LALD in 1952 as well. That would mean post-arm and leg as well, where Fleming had Felix leave the service.

    I also remember hearing from someone that his writing improved post-Bond so I'd be glad to give him a try for the Felix Leiter project. His Bond novels do suffer from a heavy attempt to tie in with the films and some of the writing may come off poorly because of that (and perhaps a lack of a descriptive ability).

    I did dislike Benson's Leiter in The Facts of Death as a bit silly, but maybe that was the Jack Wade influence: hopefully he pulls something good out completely uninfluenced by the films this time.
  • Posts: 876
    According to Benson himself :
    "Update: To answer some questions I've been getting about the 1952 setting... from my Author's Note in the book: Ignoring the actual dates of the original publications of Fleming's works, Bond historians have long conjectured when in the real world the events in these stories may have occurred. In the late John Griswold’s excellent study, "Ian Fleming’s James Bond—Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming’s Bond Stories," the author speculates that Fleming’s second novel, Live and Let Die, actually takes place in January and February of 1952. Moonraker happens in May 1953. The action of Diamonds are Forever is between July and August 1953. Many online fan sites have adopted this perceived timeline (or very similar ones) as gospel. Given this conceit, Felix Leiter’s mishap with the shark in Live and Let Die transpired at the end of January 1952. He doesn’t appear in a Bond novel again until July 1953 in Diamonds are Forever. Thus, the tale takes place in between those two works, during the last half of 1952 to be exact."

    And you have right about Dupont saying 1951.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited March 26 Posts: 18,580
    While it's clearly great to see Raymond Benson return to the literary Bond after 20+ years away, it's just a pity that it's a Bond spin-off and not actually Bond himself. Maybe we'll eventually get another Bond novel from him too?
    I’ll give it a go. But only this one because I like Felix and it’s set in the Fleming timeline . The Sherwood and Q books I have zero interest in.

    But I have to say I’m bored of Ian Fleming Publications insistence on releasing Bond book without James Bond. It’s getting annoying now.

    You can’t release spinoffs from a main character without releasing books with that main character too.

    I'm very much in agreement with this. I've not read any of the other spin-offs yet either. They're not really my sort of thing and they only serve to lead us away from the character of James Bond himself. It's sad they can't just focus on Bond and realise that's the goose that lays the golden eggs. We don't want to read about the chickens.
  • DaltonforyouDaltonforyou The Daltonator
    edited March 26 Posts: 769
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    While it's clearly great to see Raymond Benson return to the literary Bond after 20+ years away, it's just a pity that it's a Bond spin-off and not actually Bond himself. Maybe we'll eventually get another Bond novel from him too?
    I’ll give it a go. But only this one because I like Felix and it’s set in the Fleming timeline . The Sherwood and Q books I have zero interest in.

    But I have to say I’m bored of Ian Fleming Publications insistence on releasing Bond book without James Bond. It’s getting annoying now.

    You can’t release spinoffs from a main character without releasing books with that main character too.

    I'm very much in agreement with this. I've not read any of the other spin-offs yet either. They're not really my sort of thing and they only serve to lead us away from the character of James Bond himself. It's sad they can't just focus on Bond and realise that's the good that lays the golden eggs. We don't want to read about the chickens.

    Like you I have no interest in the spin-offs, but this has peaked my interest as I'm an American like Felix and want to see him go an adventure of his own. It's not a globe-trotting story but a travelogue detective story in the States.
  • Posts: 9,927
    So does IFP just wanna piss me off or? Like benson wrote my favorite bond novels and now instead of letting him write a modern Bond thriller its Leiter in the 50’s


    I …… i am gonna get drunk after reading this and since i am vacation in vegas no one will bat an eye bottoms up
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 14,263
    Risico007 wrote: »
    I …… i am gonna get drunk after reading this and since i am vacation in vegas no one will bat an eye bottoms up
    I recommend Wayne Newton's show at The Flamingo. Bugsy's Cabaret. Next shows Mon and Wed if you're still in town @Risico007 .

    https://www.vegas.com/shows/variety/wayne-newton-las-vegas/?_&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=2533394&utm_term=wayne newton las vegas show dates&adgroup=46548267068&target=kwd-805033162078&loc_i=&loc_p=9008150&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz4Wa0uKojAMV705HAR1NXTxLEAAYAiAAEgJPQPD_BwE
  • Posts: 9,927
    Risico007 wrote: »
    I …… i am gonna get drunk after reading this and since i am vacation in vegas no one will bat an eye bottoms up
    I recommend Wayne Newton's show at The Flamingo. Bugsy's Cabaret. Next shows Mon and Wed if you're still in town @Risico007 .

    https://www.vegas.com/shows/variety/wayne-newton-las-vegas/?_&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=2533394&utm_term=wayne newton las vegas show dates&adgroup=46548267068&target=kwd-805033162078&loc_i=&loc_p=9008150&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz4Wa0uKojAMV705HAR1NXTxLEAAYAiAAEgJPQPD_BwE

    Beyond the dead and company shows i go to for my … with my wife i prefer shows that raise more then my eye… shows that i wouldnt recommend uou google on a work computer and though 007 is about sex and violence i am nervous to say the names of these shows for fear i will get in trouble
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,911
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    While it's clearly great to see Raymond Benson return to the literary Bond after 20+ years away, it's just a pity that it's a Bond spin-off and not actually Bond himself. Maybe we'll eventually get another Bond novel from him too?
    I’ll give it a go. But only this one because I like Felix and it’s set in the Fleming timeline . The Sherwood and Q books I have zero interest in.

    But I have to say I’m bored of Ian Fleming Publications insistence on releasing Bond book without James Bond. It’s getting annoying now.

    You can’t release spinoffs from a main character without releasing books with that main character too.

    I'm very much in agreement with this. I've not read any of the other spin-offs yet either. They're not really my sort of thing and they only serve to lead us away from the character of James Bond himself. It's sad they can't just focus on Bond and realise that's the goose that lays the golden eggs. We don't want to read about the chickens.

    Let's be thankful it's Raymond Benson coming back, and not Sebastian Faulks. Also, this can also make up for Dynamite Comics leaving their Felix Leiter Comic on a cliffhanger. I'm getting a feeling that an adult Bond announcement is on the way, sooner than we think. Same with a Bond villain spinoff.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,911
    I find it something ironic about the comebacks of Charlie Higson and Raymond Benson. Higson wrote a series of Bond books set in the past (of it’s time of course). Then, his comeback book, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, set in the present day. Now Raymond Benson is doing the opposite. His Bond series of books were set in the present time that they were written. Now his comeback book is set in the past. A unique viewpoint that I noticed during the day. History in someways repeated itself today.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited March 27 Posts: 18,580
    Good observation there, @MaxCasino. It's interesting how Higson and Benson were both asked back after a long hiatus. That's never happened before with a Bond continuation author. It used to be the case that once they finished their series that was it. Interestingly, the same thing is currently being discussed with the film Bond with stories of Dalton or Brosnan returning floating around.
  • Not only the past/present thing: Higson wrote a spinoff series and then wrote a proper Bond novel, while Benson went from proper Bond novels to spinoffs
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,580
    Not only the past/present thing: Higson wrote a spinoff series and then wrote a proper Bond novel, while Benson went from proper Bond novels to spinoffs

    You could say that it was a retro role reversal for both authors.
  • Posts: 9,927
    Again i dont like the forced fleming timeline as it just feels more and more disingenuous as the years go by …. But not so secretly Benson is my favorite 007 author….and he got me into reading Bond in the first place i never would of read Fleming or Gardner without him…. Sigh i feel i have to buy this spin off
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,911
    As I’ve said before, this proves that IFP can have multiple writers working on Bond books at a single time. I wonder if IFP is going to build off the first chapter of the book, as it does release a day before Ian Fleming’s birthday. It also makes me wonder who else is working on Bond books now, as both Raymond Benson and Vaseem Kahn were already working on there books almost a year before their announcements.
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