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'The Moneypenny Diaries' Book 1 UK Paperback Coming in 2006
'Guardian Angel' available to pre-order for 8 May release

'The Moneypenny Diaries' UK Paperback Now Shipping

[sub]Book 1 of 'Moneypenny Diaries' series shipping early[/sub]

Cover art for the paperback now on Amazon...

Looking forward to reading this.

Funny to think that there are no fewer than two Bond literary franchises going on at the moment courtesy of IFP (three if you count the 2008 novel that's apparently in the works), but neither dealing with the adult 007, and one with someone other than Bond as the actual hero(ine) of the piece!

How come we never had official CBn reviews of this the way we did with "BloodFever", etc.? (I appreciate that the author was interviewed, and even joined CBn for a while to discuss her work.) But unless I'm overlooking some posts or threads (which is quite possible), I'm not sure that we've had much reaction from CBners re: the merits of the book. Qwert, zen, have you guys read it? Anyone else?

I've read it. Loved it. I thought I had posted a short review somewhere on the forums. If I find it, I'll throw in a link to it.

Not sure why we didn't do an official review - but I'd say the option is still open.

Cool. A few questions, then:

- Is Bond in it? (Not a deal-breaker for me if he isn't, but it's preferable. Obviously.)

- Any other characters from the novels? M I suppose I can take as read, but who else is there? Felix? Blofeld?

- What in particular is so great about this book?

C'mon, whet the appetite of fans like me who've waited for the paperback. (Or maybe a discussion about TMD should be split off into a separate thread, if you just want this one to promote the UK paperback.)

You should read our interview, Loomis. Many questions answered and appetites whetted...and then click into the thread where Samantha joins CBn and talks back.

http://www.commanderbond.net/cw.cgi?action=Story&SID=2983

Yeah, definitely check out that CBn Interview, Loomis, if you haven't yet. Thoroughly interesting.

But to answer your specific questions - I'm putting them all in a spoiler box for those that don't wish to know:

1 - Yes, Bond is definitely in it. One of the main characters. Moneypenny goes on a mission of sorts with him at one point in the novel.

2 - It's been a while since I read it (as I did when it first came out), but M, James Bond, and Tanner all make appearances. There are new characters naturally.

3 - There's just a whole new breath of fresh air in the character. I really enjoyed how the office scenes, grapevine info, and 007/M/Tanner/Moneypenny interactions went.

In my opinion, this is definitely one of the most unputdownable books of the literary 007 series.

It'll keep you occupied when it's raining.

I sort of reviewed it in the thread she joined in with for a while.

But not being a reviewer, I could never lay claim to it (the review) being definitive, creative or even that interesting.

So is there any release date in the US for the book? Just the talk I've seen here has peaked my interest, and if the US release is forever going to be listed as 'TBA', I'll just import my copy.

Unfortunately not yet.

Then I'll be importing mine.

Is it best to do it through Amazon.uk? Or can I get a better deal elsewhere?

This post has been edited by Aussie21: 5 April 2006 - 04:25

Why not try searching eBay a bit? Someone might have a good Buy-It-Now deal up. If you go the amazon route, I believe the shipping cost from the UK to a US state is about $7 for one book.