It’s been five years since the last James Bond movie and fans are eager for an announcement of the next 007 star in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Amazon reboot.

In the meantime, there are a couple of other official adventures about different incarnations of Ian Fleming’s spy launching first.

Like the latter, King Zero follows an adult Bond of the 21st century.

According to Ian Fleming Publications: “Beginning with the murder of an agent in Saudi Arabia by a weapon never before seen by the Secret Service and spanning the globe in an epic race against time to avert global catastrophe, the novel brings the literary Bond squarely into the twenty-first century, where the old world that made him is crumbling and a terrifying new order emerges while a dangerous villain – the most distinctive since Goldfinger – moves in the shadows. Higson explores themes of power, technology, and international tensions over resources in an extraordinarily timely story.”

The author shared: “Having warmed up with my Young Bond series, and the short story, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, I’m beyond excited to be writing my first full-blown adult Bond adventure. 20 years after first writing ‘The name’s Bond, James Bond,’ it still sends shivers down my spine every time I type it. I’m having a blast with this new novel, which is absolutely set in the modern world, and I hope will sit comfortably on the airport bookshelves alongside other contemporary thrillers. It embraces the worlds of both the literary Bond and the cinematic Bond, and my bad guy has all the elements we expect from a classic Bond villain, with a twist that’s not been done before.”

King Zero by Charlie Higson is published on September 24, 2026 and can be pre-ordered here.