Siren Song

July 1, 2003
Clumsy prose and a thin plot make Fawcett's second "Ian Fleming" novel (after 2002's Death to Spies) an unsatisfying read, either as a complement to the James Bond canon or as a thriller in its own right. At a holiday party in London in 1950, Fleming bumps into a fellow journalist he admires, Nora Blair DeYoung, who writes under an assumed name. Unlike Agent 007, Fleming doesn't seduce the beautiful and successful DeYoung; he's catching a plane the next morning for Jamaica, where he has a vacation house. But before Fleming can make his flight, he's accosted by two British intelligence agents with an unusual assignment: to smear Oscar Winterberg, an enigmatic San Francisco labor leader who may be a Communist spy. The scrupulous Fleming, who served in British naval intelligence during WWII, refuses to do their "dirty work." As the creaky plot unfolds, DeYoung and Fleming (inevitably) become lovers and partners in an effort to unravel Winterberg's mystery. Amid a surfeit of exposition, Fawcett's Fleming is nowhere near as compelling as the fictional Bond. The real Ian Fleming is probably turning in his grave, but given Bond's iconic appeal, enough fans should get aboard to ensure a third installment in the series. (July 14)FYI: Fawcett is also the author of The Scottish Ploy (Forecasts, Nov. 27, 2000) and other titles in his Mycroft Holmes series.

July 1, 2003
Journalist Ian Fleming falls for the beautiful Nora, also a journalist, at a party. He declines a story offered to him by British intelligence about an American spy but becomes involved anyway when Nora does. Action, adventure, and romance from the author of Death to Spies.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2003
Ian Fleming bides his time at a posh London party, counting the hours until his flight leaves for his winter home in Jamaica. But when Fleming, working as a journalist after a distinguished career as an intelligence operative during World War II, meets Nora Blair DeYoung, also a journalist, he wishes his flight could be delayed by a few days. When she arrives in Jamaica a couple days later, it seems the attraction was mutual. But when Fleming learns she is there on an assignment he turned down--writing an expose on German businessman Oscar Winterberg--he wonders if there's more than coincidence at work. After an attempt is made on Nora's life, it's clear the Winterberg story has implications far beyond discrediting a possible spy. The second Ian Fleming novel, following "Death to Spies "(2002), combines the genteel sophistication of Fleming's James Bond adventures with a gritty, atmospheric evocation of cold war espionage. Fawcett eschews the larger-than-life villainy of the Bond novels for the subtly realistic dangers of betrayal and emotional exploitation. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)