By Raymond Benson

IFP, out now

Recovering from the incident that took his arm and his leg, Felix Leiter finds a new employer – but somehow still ends up involved with the Cold War…

The idea of a James Bond spin-off that doesn’t feature 007 is nothing new. We nearly got a screen adventure for Jinx, from Die Another Day; not long after Ian Fleming’s death we got a children’s adventure in print form; Dynamite Comics have focused on various members of the ensemble, including Felix Leiter. But this is, as far as I can tell, the first novel set alongside the Fleming canon chronologically that doesn’t feature an appearance by Bond.

Raymond Benson of course has a strong track record with 007, as the first American writer to pen Bond stories. His tale fills in some of the period between Leiter’s appearances in Live and Let Die and Diamonds are Forever (there’s more than enough room in the timeline for a sequel if this does well) putting us inside his head as he struggles with the changes to his life – and then the multiple mysteries piling upon mysteries that form the core of the plot. Who should he trust – if anyone?

Benson sets the scene well, with Leiter noticing how things have changed in the post-war period – and thereby subconsciously noting the differences for the 21st century reader. I was reminded of the clever song in the Back to the Future musical that explains the very differing attitudes of 1955 to 1985 in the way that Benson mentions certain things that were absolutely taken for granted then, but which many would be appalled by now. The centrepiece of the book is a road trip that lets the reader see Americana in many aspects, punctuated by moments of investigation and action.

The story is built around a couple of very specific real-world incidents but at no point does Benson allow Leiter to become more than who he is – someone caught in the cogs of history, trying to do the right thing. The character is more than a cypher in the Fleming novels, but here he’s fleshed out in a way that we can hear his voice and understand the man and his strengths and weaknesses.

Verdict: A strong start to what I hope will become a series – and let’s keep Bond out of this altogether? 8/10

Paul Simpson