Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz

A spy is dead. A legend is born. This is how it all began. The explosive prequel to Casino Royale, from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz. Forever and a Day is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking readers into the very beginning of James Bond’s illustrious career and the formation of his identity. *** M laid down his pipe and stared at it tetchily. “We have no choice. We’re just going to bring forward this other chap you’ve been preparing. But you didn’t tell me his name.” “‘It’s Bond, sir,'” the Chief of Staff replied. “James Bond.” The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time. One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand. It’s time for a new agent to step up. Time for a new weapon in the war against organized crime. It’s time for James Bond to earn his license to kill.

An instant classic.

Horowitz delves into the making of 007 for the first time. The first few chapters of this book detail James Bond's call-up to the double-oh ranks, and how he was given his infamous License to Kill by MI-6.

Horowitz is a master storyteller and a gifted writer. His prose is dead perfect for Bond stories, and he delivers all the action, suspense, wry Bond dialogue, and classic Bond villains you could want.

The story surges like riptide until the explosive climax.

A worthy entry into the Bond franchise, and one I'd like to see adapted to the screen.

Bond Begins: a prequel to Casino Royale
In his second official Bond novel, Horowitz fills in some of 007s background. Something we never got from the original Fleming books. These presented Bond as a fully formed agent. Here he's still learning how to be a spy.

It's a fast paced, well plotted spin-off set before Casino Royale. The story is set in the French Riviera in 1950. After bumping off a wartime traitor, 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 Corsican 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 a massively fat Corsican drug-dealer named Scipio: “Meester Bond”. Everything appears to point to the 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.

Plus Horowitz writes great action scenes and he was given some original Fleming material too. This was an outline for a TV series that was never made.

All in all, an enjoyable thriller that ticks all the right boxes.