A Spy Like Me

In the bang-up second volume of Sherwood’s Double O trilogy (after Double or Nothing), James Bond is still missing in action—and that’s the least of MI6’s worries. After a bombing in London nearly kills Dodger Macintyre, Agent 008, the quantum AI program known as Q determines that exorbitant auctions at Sotheby’s often presage such terrorist attacks by six days, with the winning bids funneled to Rattafänger, the ruthless military contractor suspected of kidnapping 007, in a potential money laundering scheme. Double O head Moneypenny recruits cat burglar Rachel Wolff to infiltrate the facility where the last suspicious haul originated and relay any notable discoveries. Meanwhile, Johanna Harwood—Agent 003—embarks on a determined mission to rescue Bond, despite being deemed psychologically unfit for duty after her fiancé’s death. As she searches, she comes to fear a mole within MI6 may be hindering her progress. Sherwood delivers all the hallmarks of a Bond novel, including a complex plot replete with double-crossing and exotic settings, plenty of Easter eggs for Ian Fleming fans, crackling prose (“He begins to edge up the mountainside, keeping to the bushes, his steps light as wishes”), and a jaw-dropping conclusion. Readers will be on tenterhooks until the final installment. Agent: Viola Hayden, Curtis Brown U.K. (Apr.)