I truly enjoyed this modern continuation of the James Bond series. Author Kim Sherwood makes some modern-day updates in this continuation of Ian Fleming’s classic spy series. For instance, Moneypenny takes a senior role at MI6 and Q is no longer a person (you’ll have to read the book + my upcoming Q&A with Kim to learn more about this one!) A Spy Like Me revolves around finding out who is truly running the private military company Rattenfänger and if James Bond is still alive, where they are keeping him. This novel keeps you on the edge of your seat as Johanna Harwood (003) one of Bond’s former lovers goes off the grid to find him, and in the process discovers that not every 00 is exactly who they seem to be.
Get a sneak peek into the novel in this Q&A with author Kim Sherwood.
Now that you’ve written your second novel revolving around one of the best-known fictional spies, how does it feel to continue to explore the world of James Bond and those around him?
It’s my lifelong dream to write James Bond so to spend more time in this universe is pinch-me exciting. It’s been really rewarding to have the opportunity to deepen my original, central characters like Johanna Harwood (003) and Joseph Dryden (004) from Double or Nothing, and also expand on characters readers only met fleetingly the first time out, like Conrad Harthrop-Vane (000). Writing A Spy Like Me has also given me the chance to expand my take on the canon, bringing in more characters and story threads from Ian Fleming’s original novels while modernizing them for this contemporary expansion of the 007 world. If you’re a Bond super fan, there will be a chance to spend more time with characters from the Fleming short stories, for example, who we’ve never learned much about.
Moneypenny takes a more prominent role in your novels. When you were coming up with the concept for your first Bond novel, Double or Nothing, at what point did you decide to have her have more of a say in MI6?
Very early on. I was going over all my books on the Bond franchise, fiction and film, to gather inspiration and it struck me that Lois Maxwell’s Moneypenny is the longest-serving female character on screen, from the first film Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985, spanning three James Bond actors. So she’s very much overdue for a promotion! I also love the tender friendship we see between Moneypenny and Bond, both on page and screen, and the authority she possesses. Fleming describes her as possessing a ‘direct and quizzical gaze’ – I’ve always loved that! So I thought she ought to have some real authority and promoted her to Chief of the Double O Section.
Tell me about your research process.
Research is my happy place! The research for Double or Nothing was restricted by the pandemic but for A Spy Like Me, I was able to travel to locations in the book like Crete, Paris, and Venice for the Art Biennale. I find visiting a place gives you an atmosphere that’s hard to pick up from secondary sources, and I always want to honor Fleming’s amazing journalistic eye for details! You see your character in those places and the setting stops being backgrounds and becomes an active player in the scene. I’m also always keen to speak with experts and learn as much as I can. For Double or Nothing, I spoke to military doctors about 004’s injury as a Special Forces soldier. For A Spy Like Me, I spoke to a professor of art and antiquities crime to help refine my smuggling plot.
Was it difficult going between the different characters’ storylines in the book?
When I was given the opportunity to expand the world of 007, I thought about how I could distinguish these books from a straight James Bond novel. It struck me that bringing in more main characters is akin to creating an ensemble TV show. A Spy Like Me follows new Double O agents who are looking for Bond while infiltrating a smuggling network to prevent terrorist strikes. The different smuggling pipelines – like diamonds and art – allowed me to move between and connect different Double O stories. At times it was a logistical challenge that involved a lot of maps and diagrams! But it was huge fun.
While Q is a person in Fleming’s novels, in your novels Q is a quantum computer. When did the idea to make that switch come to you?
Again that was very early on. I was learning about new technologies used by intelligence agencies and was struck by the use of quantum computing and artificial intelligence to do things like crack terrorist financial transactions. I want the Double O novels to feel very contemporary, as did Fleming’s novels when they first appeared, so decided to bring in this cutting-edge element. And I couldn’t resist the pun!
What was one of your favorite scenes (or) characters to write?
There’s a heist sequence in A Spy Like Me in a labyrinth-like Free Port that was so much fun to devise!
From the very beginning did you know who the traitor would be?
Yes, and the trick was how to thread that through the books without either tipping off the reader or lying to them! M
If you could have met Ian Fleming in real life, what would you ask him?
Great question! So many things, but the first that comes to mind is this: can James Bond be happy? He’s a surprisingly introspective and dark character in the novels, an iteration we saw Daniel Craig bring to life too. I wonder if he can have a happy ending.
As a reader, with that cliffhanger ending of A Spy Like Me, can we expect the third novel to come out next year, and if so, can we get a sneak peek?
Yes! And if I told you that, I’d have to kill you…
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