Book Review : Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis

This was the first James Bond ‘continuation’ novel, written by Kingsley Amis four years after the death of Ian Fleming.

A leisurely game of golf for Bond precludes a social visit to see his boss ‘M’. This turns deadly when agents of a foreign power try to kidnap Bond. He escapes of course, but ‘M’ is taken and his domestic staff are killed.

This leads to Bond going to Greece where he meets a Russian lady spy. They work together, along with a Greek former freedom fighter, to try and disrupt a conspiracy, organised by Colonel Sun, a member of the Special Activities Committee of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army as well as a sadist and skilled torturer. Sun is working with a former Nazi, von Richter, to destroy a Middle East détente conference which the Soviet Union is hosting on the mythical Greek island of Vrakonisi. Von Richter and Colonel Sun intend to bombard the conference with a British mortar and cause an international incident.

Will Bond, Litsas the Greek freedom fighter, and Ariadne the Communist agent prevail over Von Richter and Colonel Sun?

You can probably guess the answer. This is an enjoyable read and very different to Ian Fleming in style.