Double or Nothing by Kim Sherwood

Kim Sherwood joins the esteemed company of writers such as Anthony Horowitz and William Boyd in penning a novel based around MI6’s hard-drinking, womanising assassin.

Double or Nothing is a bit different though — James Bond isn’t actually in it.

Double or Nothing cover
Double or Nothing

OO7 is missing in action, presumed dead, which leaves the rest of the OO section to pick up the slack when a billionaire megalomaniac, in possession of a quantum supercomputer, threatens the world’s ecological stability (such as it is).

So who are the new crew?

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Livesuit by James S.A. Corey

This is a novella written by the same two blokes who wrote The Expanse. I’ve never read it, but I’d heard the TV series was pretty good, so without anything in the reading plan, I thought I’d give Livesuit a punt.

Livesuit
Livesuit

In the far future, mankind finds itself at war with an alien race that’s pretty much unbeatable.

The story follows Kirin, a recent recruit to the Livesuit Infantry, on his first deployment.

His life as a civilian and soldier is told through a series of flashbacks skilfully weaved into his career as a soldier.

The book is short, but the storytelling is top-notch. The prose is well-structured, and I don’t think I’ve seen such deeply crafted characters in a book this short since I read Silk. There’s a lot of tech in the story, but nothing that anyone will find overwhelming.

Throughout the battle sequences and downtimes when the soldiers are recovering from the injuries, we learn more about the “miraculous” technology behind the Livesuits, eventually leading to a shocking conclusion.

Brilliant. Thoroughly recommended.