New Bond novel launched

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Flanked by vintage sports cars and glamorous flight attendants, author William Boyd on Wednesday unveiled the new James Bond novel Solo in which he opts for a 1960s settings for 007’s exploits.
Setting off from The Dorchester hotel in London, copies of the book were driven in a convoy of Jensen cars to London’s Heathrow Airport from where they were flown to Amsterdam, Cape Town, Delhi, Edinburgh, Los Angeles and Sydney.
Boyd said the novel, adorned with a dust cover pierced through with six “bullet holes,” was the culmination of a lifelong passion for the original books about the dashing British secret agent, penned by Ian Fleming. “I was always interested in Fleming, the man, to such an extend that I had to put him in one of my novels, in 2002, Any Human Heart,” he said.
To prepare for writing the latest Bond novel, Boyd re-read all the Fleming books, “in chronological order, pen in hand, taking notes”.
“I came to admire what he’s done as a writer,” said Boyd, who decided against donning a Bond-like dinner suit for the occasion and came in a blue suit and white shirt instead.
Solo steps away from the cinema incarnation of Bond — currently played by the muscular Daniel Craig — and portrays 007 as a veteran agent sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in the fictional West African nation of Zanzarim in 1969. The plot also takes Bond to Washington, where he discovers a complicated web of geopolitical intrigue, and to a host of cities around the world. Before packing his bags, Bond has — naturally — enjoyed a night at The Dorchester and the start of a potential love affair with a beautiful woman.