Brian James Smith reviews The Hook and The Eye – a Felix Leiter adventure by Raymond Benson

By: Brian Smith

Published:
2025-06-10

The Hook and the Eye, Raymond Benson, review

In the mid-nineties Raymond Benson was chosen as John Gardner’s successor as the official James Bond continuation author. Like his predecessors, his novels were contemporary. The success of Zero Minus Ten (1997), Benson’s first published novel, led to five further original adventures and three film novelizations. Deft plotting and suspense were the hallmark of Benson’s Bond.

Aside from a brief mention of Felix Leiter in Zero Minus Ten, the former CIA agent appeared in Raymond Benson’s second and fourth books, The Facts Of Death (1998) and Doubleshot (2000). This Felix is older, greyer and wheelchair bound. In keeping with advances in medical technology, the hook on his right arm has been replaced with a prosthesis that resembles a real hand.

This new book returns to the era in which the original Ian Fleming novels were published. The Hook and The Eye, says Benson, is, ‘appropriately set in Ian Fleming’s timeline of the 1950s between the character’s appearances in Live and Let Die (1954) and Diamonds are Forever (1956).’

The first time I interviewed Benson was in April 1999 when The Facts Of Death was his most recently published novel. We spoke about Felix Leiter and Benson agreed that Ian Fleming was very good at writing American characters and Leiter in particular was ‘a great character.’ More recently he said: ‘As a native Texan myself, I’ve always had an affinity for 007’s close American friend.’

The Hook and The Eye, Raymond Benson, ebook, serialisation

The Hook and The Eye, Raymond Benson, ebook, serialisation

Beginning Tuesday, 27 May, The Hook and The Eye is being released as an eBook serialisation. A new episode will be released every two weeks with the tenth and final instalment appearing on 30 September. In October the full-length novel will be published in paperback featuring a beautiful cover artwork by Thomas Gilbert who did such a splendid job on last year’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang paperback.

Synopsis for The Hook and The Eye written by Raymond Benson

Felix Leiter – James Bond’s trusted friend and ally – takes centre stage in a brand new adventure by legendary Bond novelist, Raymond Benson.

It is 1952. Felix has lost his job at the CIA and finds himself working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. What starts as a simple surveillance job turns into a matter of life and death when Felix stumbles upon a murder and a cabal of spies embedded in Manhattan. Hired to transport the impossibly beautiful and impossibly secretive Dora from New York to Texas, Felix is thrust into a non-stop adventure, where danger and deceit lie in wait around every bend in the road.

The Hook and the Eye is a mystery, a romance, a spy story, a road trip tale and a postcard of a lost Americana. It is also Raymond Benson at his very best.

The Hook and The Eye - Episode One review

From the off I was hooked! No pun intended. The opening line is a doozy.

I’m holding in my hand the fate of the world and I don’t know what the hell I should do with it.

The first-person narrative made me grin a grin as wide as Felix Leiter’s. Raymond Benson’s Texan cadence and Ian Fleming’s original vision for Felix Leiter is the perfect combination. New characters and real people pepper this episode, as Benson skilfully weaves fact and fiction while subtly imbuing elements of his own back story for his protagonist.

The first chapter teases events from later in the tale, a device often used by Fleming. Chapter Two begins a couple of days after the Live And Let Die shark attack, which allows from some gallows humour. We know that by Diamonds Are Forever Felix is working for Pinkertons, in charge of their Race Gang squad. This opening episode efficiently joints the dots and describes Leiter’s change of career from CIA officer to private detective via his convalescence and fitting of a 50’s-era artificial leg and mechanical hook. The plot begins to emerge when Leiter is assigned night guard duty at the Ansonia Hotel in New York which leads to an exciting sequence of events. I guarantee you won’t want to stop reading.

Benson writes with a confidence and smartness that is at times Chandleresque in its execution combined with a Fleming-eye view of the world. It’s in the detail – the cars, the gunmanship, the geography and locations. The essence of 1950s New York oozes from the page. It is a thrilling city Benson knows well, and he brings it authentically to life.

The Hook And The Eye marks the return of the genuine Felix Leiter, and a master storyteller at the top of his game.

The Hook and The Eye – Episode Two review

Coming soon.

Review by Brian James Smith. Copyright © 2025 From Sweden with Love. All rights reserved.

Editor's Note:
Order The Hook and The Eye from Ian Fleming Publications.

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Brian James Smith reviews The Hook and The Eye – a Felix Leiter adventure by Raymond Benson

Synopsis for The Hook and The Eye written by Raymond Benson

The Hook and The Eye - Episode One review

The Hook and The Eye – Episode Two review

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