A Spy Like Me

The story, without spoilers

After a bombing at the BBC, MI6 receives warning of another attack in six days. Three Double O agents pursue the network across international locations while the search also draws them towards the missing Bond. Stopping terrorism and finding 007 become connected tasks.

This is the second part of Sherwood's trilogy, not a fresh team introduction. The clock gives the immediate investigation urgency, while the unresolved Bond question carries forward the larger storyline begun in Double or Nothing.

Can I start here?

Read Double or Nothing first. The missing-Bond storyline and the agents' relationships continue here. Hurricane Room follows as the trilogy's concluding book.

What stands out

The six-day warning creates a tightly defined mission for an ensemble cast. Choose it as the middle Double O chapter, where an immediate terrorism case intersects with the continuing search for Bond.

Who wrote it

Sherwood, a novelist and creative-writing lecturer, was commissioned to expand the Double O world in the trilogy that includes A Spy Like Me. Her grandfather George Baker appeared in the Bond films.

Where it fits in Bond’s life

A Spy Like Me is part of a contemporary Double O trilogy about the wider service. Bond’s absence drives the ensemble story; these books are not inserted into Fleming’s original chronology.

Content notes

Adult readers. A bombing, threatened terrorist attacks, capture, pursuit and adult violence.

Setting

• Britain
• Venice
• Dubai
• International locations

Main characters

The Double O agents, James Bond, The terrorist network.