Raymond Benson back with a Felix Leiter Novel
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"Ian Fleming Publications is pleased to announce a new novel coming soon from 007 continuation author Raymond Benson. The Hook and the Eye focuses on Felix Leiter, James Bond’s trusted American friend and ally. This full-length novel will be released digitally in ten instalments, beginning on May 27th, recalling the serialisation of classic pulp fiction in the early twentieth century. This will be followed by the paperback publication of the full story on October 2nd.
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.
IFPL’s Publishing Director Simon Ward commented “Raymond may be a Bond author, but he was born to write Felix Leiter. He came to us with a story – one filled with intrigue, mystery and danger – and it was exactly what we were looking for. We are thrilled to be working with Raymond again and we think the fans are going to love the journey he takes our favourite CIA agent on. I think it’s the best ‘Bond universe’ book Raymond has ever written.”
Author Raymond Benson added “Having worked on this project in secrecy since May 2024, I am now pleased and proud to finally present the first ever Felix Leiter novel, appropriately set in Ian Fleming’s timeline of the 1950s between the character’s appearances in Live and Let Die and Diamonds are Forever. As a native Texan myself, I’ve always had an affinity for 007’s close American friend.”
Read more here:
https://www.ianfleming.com/announcing-the-hook-and-the-eye/?v=0b3b97fa6688
Comments
I'm in. Looking forward to this very much.
Benson? I won’t be buying (or reading for free), that’s for sure. Furthermore, what a dreadful title!
I’ll be looking for your take on this…certainly before I entertain buying it…🙂
Seriously? AFTER Live and Let Die - when he has the hook hand a false eye ? When he isn't even in the CIA ? I did not like Benson's Bond novels very much. He ran rough shod over Draco, was always rather kind to a wheelchair bound Felix, but this does nothing for me. It feels like a slippery slope. IFP seems to be going more and more for spin-offs - so - Amazon next....
A guy on Twitter/X called Wizard of Office has claimed that the Fleming Foundation is wetting its knickers over the prospect of Amazon adapting one of its spin-offs, and posted a picture of the scene in which parody chat show host Alan Partridge is pitching desperate ideas to the unimpressed BBC commissioner. He may have a point.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to Wizard of ice, but I do think it’s interesting that Charlie Higson, who is often a talking head the press use in Bond matters, hasn’t commented at all on the Amazon thing that I’m aware of. It might be that he doesn’t want to, but also I can well believe that Young Bond is being considered for adaptation. It’s very good.
But IFP aren’t making these things for Amazon’s benefit, they only took over a month ago. A bit of me still wonders if Danjaq were putting a hold on the Bond character in all forms.
There has though now been talk from IFP's literary agent company Curtis Brown that a new Bond author is about to be commissioned:
While it's clearly great to see Raymond Benson return to the literary Bond fold 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 adult Bond novel from him though? Here's hoping. Spin-offs are not really my sort of thing and I feel they only serve to lead us away from the character of James Bond himself. It's sad that IFP 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 so much. Still, spin-offs are certainly in vogue with all of the Amazon takeover rumours about Dalton or Brosnan coming back to the Bond role.
I'm not part of the target audience for this book--I read Benson's first Bond novel and decided life was too short to bother with the rest--but I detect a problem with its concept. Felix Leiter's main purpose is to complement Bond and humanize him, by showing that Bond has friends he can let down his hair with. So Felix is more ordinary and approachable than Bond; he's the guy you can have a beer with. But that doesn't make him a particularly interesting character on his own. If Benson's book is going to work at all, it will need to surround Felix with characters that are either more interesting or can make him more interesting through their relations to him. Otherwise we're left with just another tough-guy private eye from the 1950s.
Looks like I'll be the one to take one for the team and actually buy and read this in October. I'll report back on that.
I'll be buying the paperback edition in October to support it as it's Raymond Benson. I'll give it a read too to see how it's carried off.
https://www.ianfleming.com/flemings-felix/?v=0b3b97fa6688
Full e-book now available. Physical copy is still planned for October 7th, 2025. I hope some other Bond fans don't forget about this adventure. Also, a great interview with Raymond Benson.
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/interview-raymond-benson-felix-leiter-june-2025?id=05370
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Yes, that was an enjoyable interview. Thanks for sharing it here.
It was a good interview, but the reverential tone bites. Still, I suppose one shouldn't antagonise a guest on a fan site.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGPkN4s-scs
Morning news in Chicago (Benson's hometown). I really like Raymond Benson's enthusiasm when it comes to James Bond. He might have not been everyone's favorite author, but sometimes our criticism of him goes too far. I feel like it's almost kicking a puppy for going potty in the wrong area. He's always generally been nice to us Bond fans. I can't wait for October. I also hope to see him in person, as I am within reasonable driving distance to Chicago.
https://www.ianfleming.com/an-interview-with-raymond-benson-2/?v=0b3b97fa6688
Some interesting viewpoints from Benson.
Yes. More insightful into the writing process than I expected. Makes me wonder why Benson's novels were so [ahem] indifferent in quality.
Yes I'm sure he's improved over the years but I've had my fingers burned by reading his stuff too many times so won't be reading this one.