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Solo by William Boyd

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Solo is the latest of the James Bond continuation novels, which far outnumber the original books but have never matched Ian Fleming for unflinching brutality, thrilling action sequences and an obsessive accretion of period detail relating to fine dining, men’s tailoring and posh booze. William…
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CIS: William Boyd on James Bond

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Sixty-one years after his creation, James Bond lives on through the films starring Daniel Craig, and the enduringly popular books by Ian Fleming. However, a select band of authors have also been working to carry on the spy’s story, including Kingsley Amis (Colonel Sun, 1968),…
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CIS: The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

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First published in 1915, it’s hard to believe that The Thirty-Nine Steps is nearly 100 years old. It has formed the basis for a number of film adaptations – usually with the title shortened to The 39 Steps – including the British thriller directed by…
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Dead Lions by Mick Herron

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Every big organisation needs a place to put their screw-ups, and Slough House is where MI5 puts its ‘Slow Horses’. These are the disgraced or incompetent spies the service wants rid of, wearing them down with an endless series of demeaning jobs such as data…
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A classic revisited: Death of a Citizen

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Published in 1960, Death of a Citizen marked the beginning of the story Donald Hamilton’s counter agent/assassin Matt Helm. It would eventually spread over 27 novels, concluding with The Damagers, which came out in 1993. Books in the series have sold more than 20 million…
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