A Spy Like Me – Kim Sherwood

A Spy Like Me is the second in Kim Sherwood’s new Double O series, set in the world of Ian Fleming’s superspy James Bond, and follows hot on the heels of Double Or Nothing.

I love a good Bond story, so it’s been interesting to see what Kim Sherwood has done in this series. Can a Bond book work without James Bond? The answer is yes. Well, mostly.

Sherwood’s Double O series sees a bunch of Double O agents criss-crossing the world (secret missions, check) on the hunt for a global terrorist network (check again) with lots of dangerous action, gadgets and glamorous parties (check, check and you’ve guessed it, check). The only minor quibble I have, and I accept that this is entirely a me thing, is that there’s a *lot* going on and sometimes I lose track of my OO agents.

That sort of thing would never happen to M. Or Moneypenny, who is now in charge of the Double O section, and somewhat confusingly OOO, who I keep wanting to call Double O Zero rather than his official designation of Triple O. Conrad Harthrop-Vane, a triple name to go with his three Os?

Harwood has captured the feel of Fleming’s Bond world rather well. There are a lot of nods to the earlier stories, with some extended cameos from characters from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice and others. Q is now a quantum computer so there’s no ‘Now pay attention, 007’, but then again there’s no Bond. Yet.

I enjoyed A Spy Like Me a lot, as with Double or Nothing, and am very intrigued to see where Kim Sherwood takes our dashing Double O agents next.

A Spy Like Me by Kim Sherwood is published by HarperCollins and is out now. Many thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of the book to review.

James Bond is alive.

Or at least, he was when he left a clue at the black site where the insidious private military company Rattenfänger held him captive. MI6 cannot spare any more lives attempting to track down one missing agent—no exceptions, even for Bond. But Johanna Harwood, 003, has her own agenda. Sidelined by her superiors while she grieves the loss of a loved one, Harwood goes on an unsanctioned mission: to find 007. Meanwhile, MI6 has another problem…

A bomb has been detonated in London.

Double O agents on the trail of the terrorists responsible acted quickly to prevent mass destruction and save lives. But MI6 failed to neutralize the nation’s enemies before they could strike, and one of their own was seriously injured in the blast.

They won’t fail again.

Assigned to root out the source of the terrorists’ funding, Joseph Dryden, 004, and Conrad Harthrop-Vane, 000, enter the field. Tracing clues from Sotheby’s auction house to Crete to Venice, they uncover a money laundering scheme involving diamonds, black market antiquities, and human trafficking. Once a major sale is made, a six-day countdown to the next terror attack begins. As the Double O’s follow the twisting trail, they find themselves unexpectedly inching closer to Bond…