Operation Herod: "Mr Bond, I would like you to meet Dr Strangelove..."

I've always wanted to write something in the tradition of the great sixties spy thrillers.

Think the 007 movies or Peter O'Donnel's wonderful Modesty Blaise stories.

Adam Hall's Quiller adventures, or Len Deighton's Ipcress File and its sequels...

Indeed, I wanted Operation Herod's cover to evoke Raymond Hawkey's stylish milestones for Deighton.

(Kudos also to our lovely designer Vikki.)

What story lurks beneath this cover?

Well, let me ask you this:

What makes for a memorable Bond movie?

A wise man once said, the two most important elements are the villain — who was it going to be this time? A Goldfinger? Or maybe a Blofeld? —

And the big action set-piece at the end:

Perhaps we feel like a helicopter assault on a mountain fortress today?

So I set about dreaming up a villain (or, in this case a villainess). And a big blast of high octane action to pay off the story.

And, since I'd admired the Modesty Blaise thrillers as much as Bond, I also set about planning some O'Donnell-style narrative surprises.

Plus, me being me, I needed a spark of satire.

Think Dr Strangelove or the original, brilliant Richard Condon version of The Manchurian Candidate. It's a thriller, but it's funny as well as scary. And a little bit mind-blowing.

Now, thanks to Endeavour Press, here it is.

(Available soon from all good global marketing corporations named after South American rivers.)

Update: now available from Amazon here.