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Ian Fleming Publications
Ltd has chosen international bestselling thriller writer, Jeffery Deaver,
to write a new James Bond book.
The novel, currently known as Project X, will be published one year
from today for Ian Fleming’s birthday – 28 May 2011. It will be published
by Jeffery Deaver’s publishers Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Simon &
Schuster in the US.
Jeffery Deaver has written 26 novels and sold more than 20 million books
worldwide. His books have topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic
and he has been described as ‘the most creative, skilled and intriguing
thriller writer in the world’ (Daily Telegraph) and ‘the master of
ticking-bomb suspense’ (People magazine).
007 came to life fully-formed in 1952 when Ian Fleming wrote CASINO ROYALE.
Since then over 100 million James Bond books have sold worldwide.
In 2004, Deaver won the Crime Writers’ Association’s Ian Fleming Steel
Dagger Award for his book Garden of Beasts. In his acceptance
speech he talked about his life-long admiration of Fleming’s writing.
Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, was in
the audience. She explains, ‘I’d always enjoyed Jeffery Deaver’s
thrillers, but I particularly liked Garden of Beasts: it
demonstrated that he was not only a master of the contemporary American
thriller but could also write compelling novels of period suspense within
a European setting. I didn’t know anything about the author himself and
expected a fairly low key response from him when he received our award.
‘I was surprised and delighted when he spoke very fondly of Ian and about
the influence that the Bond books had had on his own writing career. It
was at that point that I first thought that James Bond could have an
interesting adventure in Jeffery Deaver’s hands.’
Deaver comments, ‘I can’t describe the thrill I felt when first approached
by Ian Fleming's estate to ask if I'd be interested in writing the next
book in the James Bond series. I began reading them when I was about nine
or ten, ignorant of the Cold War politics they explored but enthralled by
their sense of adventure and derring-do. I continued to read and reread
them, which was fortunate because as a teen and adult I found, of course,
nuances, that were invisible to a child.’
He continues, ‘The Bond books were important parts of my life – both
literarily and personally. They appealed to me as wonderful stories but
they also stood as singular examples of a thriller writer’s craft. I
learned, through osmosis as well as design, much technique from Mr.
Fleming’s work; compactness, attention to detail, heroic though flawed
characters, fast-pacing, concrete imagery and straight-forward prose.’
Unlike Sebastian Faulks’ centenary novel, DEVIL MAY CARE, Project X
will be set in the present day. Jeffery Deaver has started work on the
book and his title is yet to be revealed.
Jamie Hodder-Williams, CEO of Hodder & Stoughton, comments, “Hodder &
Stoughton is delighted that Jeff has been chosen to write the next James
Bond novel, which we will be proud to publish. He’s a total professional,
who has been with us for over 17 years and he’s immensely popular with
booksellers and readers across all our markets. He’s such a great choice
because his blend of fast-paced action with meticulous research will
produce a thriller that will both honour Ian Fleming and at the same time
be utterly contemporary. I can’t wait to read it.”
Jeffery Deaver is the author of a number of internationally bestselling
crime series. He is best known for his Kathryn Dance and Lincoln Rhyme
books, most notably The Bone Collector, which was adapted for film
in 1999, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Deaver has also
written two award-winning short story collections, as well as stand-alone
novels including Garden of Beasts and The Bodies Left Behind,
which was named Novel of the Year at the International Thriller Writers’
Awards in 2009.
Jeffery Deaver was born near Chicago in 1950. Before becoming a full-time
author in 1990, he was a journalist, like Fleming, and attorney. He
started writing suspense novels on the long commute to and from his office
on Wall Street. His books are now translated into 25 languages. Deaver
lives in North Carolina.
Jeffery Deaver’s latest Lincoln Rhyme thriller, The Burning Wire,
will be published in the US on 1 June and in the UK on 22 July. A
standalone thriller titled Edge will follow in November 2010 in
both the US and the UK.
The original Fleming novels are published worldwide by Penguin Books.
www.ianfleming.com
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Statement from Jeffery
Deaver
When first approached by Ian Fleming's estate and the publishing company
that oversees his work to ask if I'd be interested in writing the next
book in the James Bond series, I can't describe the thrill I felt.
My history with Bond goes back fifty years. I was about eight or nine when
I picked up my first Bond novel. I was a bit precocious when it came to
reading, but I have my parents to thank for that. They had a rule that I
was not allowed to watch certain movies, but I could read anything that I
could get my hands on. This was ironic since, in the 1950s and early '60s,
you'd never see sex or violence on the screen. So, I was allowed to read
every Bond book my father brought home or that I could afford with my
allowance.
I felt Fleming's influence early. My first narrative fiction, written when
I was eleven, was based on Bond. It was about a spy who stole a top-secret
airplane from the Russians. The agent was American but had a British
connection, having been stationed, like my father, in East Anglia during
WWII.
I can still recall the
moment when I heard on the news that Fleming had died – I was in my
mid-teens. It was as if I had lost a good friend or uncle. Nearly as
troubling was the TV anchorman who reported that Bond, too, would die in
the final pages of the last book, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. I was in
agony until I could buy it the moment it was released. I read it in one
sitting and learned the truth - at least I'd only have to mourn the loss
of one of my heroes, not two.
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I have won or been
nominated for a number of awards for my thriller writing but the one that
I'm the most proud of is the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, presented in
conjunction with the UK's Crime Writers' Association, for my thriller
Garden of Beasts. The award is in the shape of a commando knife that
Fleming is said to have carried in his days working for the Naval
Intelligence Division during the Second World War. The imposing award sits
in the middle of my mantelpiece at home. I don't want to give much
away about the new book yet, except to say that it takes place in the
present day and that the story occurs over a short period of time and
finds Bond in three or four exotic locations around the globe.
The novel will maintain the persona of James Bond as Fleming created him
and the unique tone the author brought to his books, while incorporating
my own literary trademarks: detailed research, fast pacing and surprise
twists.
As far as any parallels between Bond's life and mine, there are a few,
I'll admit. I enjoy fast cars – I've owned a Maserati and a Jaguar, and I
now take my BMW M3 or Infiniti G37 to the track occasionally. I'm a
downhill skier and scuba diver. I enjoy single-malt scotch and American
bourbons—not vodka, though if I recall from my reading of the Bond books,
the spy himself drank whisky considerably more often than his "shaken,
not-stirred" martinis. |
