Double or Nothing is a 2022 novel by Kim Sherwood set in the James Bond universe. It is the first installment in the planned Double O trilogy, focused on a new generation of 00 agents.
The novel is set in the Present Day, over a year after James Bond has gone missing, presumed dead. Three relatively new 00 agents - Johanna Hardwood (003), Joseph Dryden (004) and Sid Bashir (009) - must embark on a mission to investigate tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise and the nefarious private military contractor Rattenfanger, and foil a plot that threatens the very future of humanity.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Job Change: Miss Moneypenny, who has traditionally been depicted as M's secretary, is retconned to be a former 'agent runner' for the Double O Section in this continuity, and has now become the Section's chief.
- Adaptational Villainy: Bill Tanner, whose never been depicted as anything but completely loyal to the Service in previous novels (and the films), is The Mole here. Justified somewhat by the fact that he was blackmailed by Rattenfanger, who threatened his illegitimate son.
- Badass in Distress: All the three protagonists find themselves in this situation at various points during the course of the story. It's also strongly implied that this is the situation James Bond has been in since his disappearance 17 months ago - confirmed by the end of the novel when 003 finds the Rattenfanger cell in which Bond was being held.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Sir Bertram Paradise and Rattenfanger chief Colonel Mora both serve as the Big Bad of the novel. Though Sir Bertram has already split from Rattenfanger before the narrative begins, and much of the novel's plot stems from the conflict between him and his former allies.
- Bookends: The novel begins and ends with a mission in Rattenfanger's secret base in Syria, and 003 and 009 confronting Rattenfanger leader Colonel Mora.
- Broad Strokes: The novel is set in a continuity where the events of the original novels and short stories written by Ian Fleming broadly did occur, albeit decades later and with a few tweaks (such as Miss Moneypenny being an 'agent runner' for the Double O Section rather than M's secretary).
- The Bus Came Back: A number of secondary characters from the Fleming novels and short stories return. These include Mary Ann Russell, the Girl of the Week from the short story From a View to a Kill, the Russian assassin 'Trigger' from the short story The Living Daylights, and Tiger Tanaka from You Only Live Twice.
- Comic-Book Time: The events of the novels and short stories by Ian Fleming occurred in this continuity, albeit decades later than their original publication date. For instance, the mission from the short story From a View to a Kill, published in 1960, is said to have occurred in the late 90's.
- Continuity Nod: A number of references are made to events and characters from the original novels and short stories:
- Mary Ann Russell, the Girl of the Week from From a View to a Kill returns.
- An allusion is made to the two women Bond loved and lost - Vesper Lynd and his late wife Tracy.
- Felix Leiter reminisces about Bond's first meeting with Vesper, her subsequent betrayal of him, as well as how he named his signature vodka martini recipe ("three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka...") after her.
- Felix Leiter returns, along with a lot of references to his being maimed by a shark in Live and Let Die. Harwood also references the time he surveilled Bond while the latter was undercover as a diamond smuggler.
- Bond's first two kills that earned him his 00 number - a Japanese cipher clerk and Norwegian double-agent, are alluded to.
- 45 being the statutory age for 00 agents to retire from the field is mentioned.
- At one point, Leiter briefly recaps the events of The Living Daylights, when it turns out that one of Rattenfanger's snipers might be 'Trigger', the Russian agent whose life Bond had spared in that story.
- Death by Adaptation: Bill Tanner, a character who survived the Fleming novels and his various appearances in the film series, dies here - committing suicide after being exposed as The Mole.
- Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: Johanna Hardwood is explicitly referred to as a 'triple agent' by Moneypenny and M. She goes undercover on Moneypenny's orders, posing as a double agent for Rattenfanger, pretending to infiltrate MI-6 on their behalf while secretly infiltrating them on MI-6's behalf. She's so convincing at this that many of the good guys, including Felix Leiter, M and even her own lover and partner Sid Bashir, are skeptical of her true allegiance.
- Elaborate Underground Base: Rattenfanger has one built deep into the mountains of Syria. It houses their quantum computer, Celestial.
- Expanded Universe: This novel, and its planned sequels, is an attempt to create one for the James Bond literary franchise - introducing a new generation of 00 agents.
- Global Warming: Sir Bertram Paradise claims to have developed technology to reverse the impact of climate change. His real goal is to weaponize climate change for profit.
- The Hero Dies: Sid Bashir, agent 009, one of the three protagonists, is killed at the end of the novel.
- Legacy Character: Sid Bashir is just the latest agent to be designated 009. The previous 009 was killed five years prior to the events of the novel.
- There is a new M, Sir Emery Ware, a former 00 agent who took over from Sir Miles Messervy at some point prior to the novel's events.
- Love Triangle: One briefly existed in the past between James Bond, Johanna Harwood and Sid Bashir, before Johanna chose Sid over Bond.
- The Mole: There is a double agent within MI-6 working for Rattenfanger. Johanna Hardwood, agent 003 is suspected to be the mole but it's ultimately revealed that it's Bill Tanner.
- My Greatest Failure: Sid Bashir holds himself responsible for James Bond's disappearance, having been his partner on a mission and letting him follow a lead on his own without backup.
- Mythology Gag: 006 is mentioned as being a close friend of Bond's who went rogue.
- Shout-Out: Bob Simmons, the security man at the Regent's Park HQ, is named after the stuntman who performed the first Bond Gun Barrel.
- Johanna Harwood is named as a tribute to one of the screenwriters on Dr. No - the first woman to write for Bond.
- Title Drop: The phrase "Double or nothing" is frequently mentioned in the context of gambling.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The novel roughly splits into two distinct but related plotlines - 004's mission to investigate Sir Bertram Paradise by reconnecting with his former lover 'Lucky' Luke, and 003 and 009's joint mission to track down Paradise's missing scientist Dr. Zofia Nowak. There is also a third plotline that follows Miss Moneypenny as she monitors these two missions and tries to discover The Mole within MI-6.
