''Forever and a Day'' is a 2018 James Bond novel written by

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz, (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include ''The Diamond Brothers'' series, the '' Alex Rider'' series, and '' ...

and featuring original material by

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

creator

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...

Plot

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the events of '' Casino Royale'', the book recounts Bond's first mission as a double-0 agent, his status recently earned by killing a wartime traitor in Stockholm. Set in the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

in 1950, Bond investigates the killing of the previous man designated 007 and resumes his final mission: determine what is behind the sudden lack of drug activity in the

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

n underworld. He develops his affinity for high-stakes casinos and fine hotels, where he meets Joanne "Sixtine / Madame 16" Brochet, a former British operative who leads him to Corsica mob boss Jean-Paul Scipio. Everything appears to point to the morbidly obese Scipio, head of a chemical company that serves as a front for his heroin business, but Bond discovers a larger network of organised crime and an American multi-millionaire named Irwin Wolfe.

Background

Following the success of Horowitz's first Bond novel, ''

Trigger Mortis ''Trigger Mortis'' is a 2015 James Bond novel written by Anthony Horowitz, and commissioned by the estate of Bond's creator Ian Fleming, which was published on 8 September 2015. Plot The book is set in 1957 against the backdrop of the Space R ...

'', the author and the Fleming estate were both eager to begin work on another. The book was officially announced in October 2016 with a planned Spring 2018 release. It was also announced that the novel would be published by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

, the publisher of Fleming's originals. Like ''Trigger Mortis'', which features a story by Fleming based on previously unpublished material for the unmade James Bond television series, Horowitz would incorporate unused Fleming material in the new story. In February 2018 the title was revealed as ''Forever and a Day'', and it was announced the story would be a prequel to ''Casino Royale'', Fleming's first Bond novel. Fleming's material serves as a story Bond tells Sixtine about a previous escapade he had at the casino where they met. Horowitz auctioned off a chance to appear in the novel at an auction to support

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

. Reade Griffith was the winning bidder and appears as an American

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agent in the story. But Joann McPike also made a large donation and was an inspiration for Joanne "Sixtine / Madame 16" Brochet; "brochet" being the French word for "pike".

Critical reception

Steven Poole of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' noted that, contrary to Fleming's choice not to focus on backstory and to deal with Bond as a "fully formed force of nature", Horowitz is "taking a risk in writing" the novel set before ''Casino Royale''. He labelled the book "Bond Begins", a reference to the previously untold origins of

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...

in the 2005

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...

film ''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, ...

'', something to which the 2006 film adaptation of '' Casino Royale'' was frequently compared. Though he criticised the way some of the classic Bond tropes are introduced in the story, Poole found the book to be "an enjoyably compact thriller, with an absolutely killer last line". ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called the book "entertaining" while noting that Horowitz "delivers a conclusion whose moral complexity will surprise anyone expecting an ending more in line with Fleming's own". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called the novel "crisp, unpretentious, and bound to please" fans of the character, but noted that while Horowitz hits all obligatory notes, there's "nothing here that would make the unwary suspect how fiendishly inventive Horowitz can be when he's not laboring in Bond's shadow".

References

{{Use British English, date=May 2018 2018 British novels James Bond books Novels by Anthony Horowitz Cold War spy novels Fiction set in 1950 Novels set in the 1950s Jonathan Cape books