Silver Fin

James Bond will one day become the worlds most famous spy, but at the moment his challenge is to fit in at his new school making friends, learning the rules and facing up to bullies. Unknown to James though, there is an even tougher challenge awaiting him something mysterious and deadly lurking in the water. Something called SilverFin. From School Library Journal Grade 6-9The first of a projected series sanctioned by the Ian Fleming estate finds young James at Eton. It's the 1930's and memories of World War I intrude often as James finds a place among friends but attracts the unwanted attention of an older American boy and his very rich father, a Scots lord. Lord Hellebore and his son are bullies with over-the-top ambition for success at all costs. When the term ends, James heads north to his Uncle Max's cottage in Scotland where his Aunt, who has raised him since his parents' death in a climbing accident, has gone to care for her dying brother. The discovery that the frightening Lord Hellbore is the local laird comes just as James meets a cockney boy named Red Kelly who has stowed away on the train, off to help locate his young cousin, Alfie, who has gone missing near the laird's estate at Loch Silver Fin. James and Red team up to solve the mystery of Alfie's disappearance. James's leadership skills are apparent as he recruits a local girl and even young George Hellebore in his quest to undo the vile experiments occurring at the laird's castle. Charlie Higson's novel (Miramax Books, 2005) is skillfully and dramatically read by Nathaniel Parker, who gives every character a distinct voice. Fans of James Bond movies as well as Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books will be eager to listen to this fine spy thriller. Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Gr. 5-8. The name's the same--Bond, James Bond. But the face is different. And no wonder: the late Ian Fleming's fabled superspy is only 14 years old in this newly launched, lavishly promoted, high-concept series. Higson struggles heroically to incorporate all Fleming's trademark ingredients. There's a ravishing heroine (who rides a horse named Martini); a larger-than-life villain (a wealthy American with large, flashing white teeth who is "mad, I tell you, mad"); and lots of melodramatic nonsense about eels and eugenics. The problem is that young Bond is a bit of a cipher, and the story takes forever to get going. Then once things heat up, they go on too long and, worse, too predictably. Part of the problem is endemic to all new series: the need to establish characters, background, etc. But one hopes that Higson will give more attention, in future volumes, to fresher plotting and fleshing out the character of his hero. Michael Cart Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved ϡ쯦랠

Before the name became a legend. Before the boy became a man. Meet Bond. James Bond.

James Bond will one day become the world’s most famous spy, but right now his challenge is to fit in at his new school: making friends, learning the rules and standing up to bullies. However, unknown to James there is an even tougher challenge awaiting him on the remote shores of Loch Silverfin - a terrifying discovery that threatens to unleash a new breed of warfare. For something mysterious and deadly is lurking in the water . . .

SilverFin is the first Young Bond adventure from bestselling writer Charlie Higson.