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'A Hard Man to Kill'


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#1 zencat

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 04:40 PM

Young Bond is back in ‘A Hard Man to Kill’
The Young Bond Dossier - May 28, 2009

The just released UK paperback edition of By Royal Command contains an exclusive extract of an all-new Young Bond short story by Charlie Higson. For those fans outside the UK who cannot lay their hands on the book, here’s what the extract reveals.

The story is called A Hard Man to Kill and is set between the books Hurricane Gold and By Royal Command. The story finds James and his aunt Charmian traveling the Caribbean aboard the pleasure yacht Amaryllis (fans may recall this was Charlie’s original name for Precious Stone). In Pointe-à-Pitre Guadeloupe, James and Charmian meet up with the French Ocean Liner Colombie for their journey back to Europe. James looks forward to a relaxing, lazy voyage. But a villain named Emil Lefebvre and a mysterious hooded convict named Caiboche suggest this journey may be far from uneventful...

A Hard Man To Kill -- the longest James Bond short story yet written -- will be published in the new companion book, Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier, due for release on October 29, 2009.

Read the first page HERE


#2 Matt_13

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 04:48 PM

Cool! Can't wait to check out the whole thing. B)

#3 Jim

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 04:52 PM

Ian Fleming's 101st birthday.

A new Young Bond story.

Sorta brings a tear to my eye*.

Onward the legacy.

*sorta.

#4 sharpshooter

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 05:01 PM

This is going to be good.

#5 zencat

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 05:01 PM

I think the extract is really excellent. Of course I would say that, but it really is excellent. Even just that first page -- a perfect opener. Very Bondian tone.

BTW, the ship Bond is on, SS Colombie, was a real ship. I was able to score a vintage postcard of it on eBay.

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#6 Agent 76

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 08:27 PM

I think the extract is really excellent. Of course I would say that, but it really is excellent. Even just that first page -- a perfect opener. Very Bondian tone.

BTW, the ship Bond is on, SS Colombie, was a real ship. I was able to score a vintage postcard of it on eBay.

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It's cool that Charlie Higson introduced a part of the real world in the story. the ship is amazing! I think I'm going to start reading these series. B)

#7 zencat

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 08:44 PM

The extract also includes Bond and aunt Charmian traveling the Caribbean aboard the pleasure yacht Amaryllis. That's not a real boat, but it's an interesting choice when you recall what Charlie said in our CBn interview about the name Precious in HG.

"Actually in the first draft of the book she wasn’t called Precious, she was called Amaryllis Stone. I like the name Amaryllis and, obviously, there was a Fleming connection. A cousin, I think she was a cello player, who is alluded to in From A View To A Kill rather cheekily by Fleming. So yeah, there is a member of the Fleming family called Amaryllis and I just thought it was a great name to use. ...

But IFP were a little worried. They thought, “Well, you know, she does start a slightly unpleasant character. Might it upset the family?” So, I wasn’t totally wedded to the name, so I thought, “Well, I’ll try and think of another name.”


Looks like Charlie found a way to use the name after all. B)

#8 Qwerty

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 09:30 PM

I really like the sound of this story. Getting a sort of Death on the Nile vibe from it. B)

#9 danielcraigisjamesbond007

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Posted 28 May 2009 - 11:53 PM

I hate to ask, but will this be included in the US version??? Does anyone know?

#10 zencat

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Posted 29 May 2009 - 12:49 AM

I hate to ask, but will this be included in the US version??? Does anyone know?

US version of By Royal Command? Good question. Don't know. I doubt Disney even knows yet. The book is still a year away.

I actually think it would be nice to include it in the US paperback Hurricane Gold, as the story is set right after that book. But I guess it all depends on when/if Danger Society is published in the US as the extract is promotion for that book.

#11 K1Bond007

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Posted 29 May 2009 - 02:49 AM

I hate to ask, but will this be included in the US version??? Does anyone know?

US version of By Royal Command? Good question. Don't know. I doubt Disney even knows yet. The book is still a year away.

I actually think it would be nice to include it in the US paperback Hurricane Gold, as the story is set right after that book. But I guess it all depends on when/if Danger Society is published in the US as the extract is promotion for that book.


Well not in the hardcover, but they might in their paperback edition. I think it's more likely they might just advertise the whole book. If things stay the same then 2010 will be BRC hardcover, 2011 will be BRC paperback followed by or released concurrently with Danger Society.

#12 marktmurphy

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Posted 04 June 2009 - 11:24 AM

Had a very quick flick through the BRC paperback in Smiths yesterday- that's quite a long extract they've put in there: got to be ten pages or so.

#13 sharpshooter

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Posted 04 June 2009 - 11:35 AM

Had a very quick flick through the BRC paperback in Smiths yesterday- that's quite a long extract they've put in there: got to be ten pages or so.

What were your impressions?

#14 marktmurphy

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Posted 04 June 2009 - 03:27 PM

I didn't have time to read it, I'm afraid- it's quite a long extract!