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Literary Tag


Forever and a Day - Small Title (2) NovelLocationsEquipmentCharacters


Forever and a Day is the fortieth official James Bond novel and the second continuation novel to be written by English novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz. Commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications, it was released on 31 May 2018. The novel is set during 1950, against the backdrop of the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, and serves as a prequel to Ian Fleming's 1953 book Casino Royale.

Plot[]

In 1950, Agent 007, who was assigned the mission to investigate the sudden lack of narcotic activity of the Corsican underworld in the south of France, died; murdered in Marseilles, his body riddled with bullet holes. Having no other 00 agents available, M decides to replace 007 with a man that the SIS trained for section "00": James Bond. As it happens, Bond is currently in Stockholm, Sweden with the mission of eliminating Rolf Larsen, a former war hero from Britain and Norway, who was in fact a double agent working for the Nazis. James Bond then breaks into Larsen's room and kills him with a knife.

Some time later, Bond is officially promoted to "007". He then meets his new secretary Loelia Ponsonby and discovers his new office. While browsing files left to his attention on the murder of 007, the situation in Marseilles and Joanne Brochet, aka Sixtine (that the deceased 007 had said in his last report to be involved in the lack of activity of the Corsican underworld ), he finally receives a phone call: he is summoned to M's office for the first time. M then entrusts Bond with the mission to continue the investigation of 007 and to investigate his assassination. When he asks him what number he would like to have, Bond answers the one of the deceased "007".

Bond begins to go to Nice where he returns to the apartment of the old 007. By dint of search, he found in a hidden envelope and, while he is about to leave, he falls on a man who threatens him with a weapon. Bond manages to control him and digs in his pockets: he then discovers that the man's name is Reade Griffith and that he is a member of the CIA.

After introducing themselves, Bond and Griffith chat on the terrace of a bar. It turns out that he too is investigating the cessation of exports of heroin from the Corsican underworld. They then examine in detail the contents of the envelope: photos showing Sixtine in the company of Jean-Paul Scipio (one of the most powerful chiefs of the Corsican heroin market), an invoice of a company named Ferrix Chimiques and the telephone number of 'some Monique'.

Bond learns from Griffith that Sixtine has a habit of frequenting the Monte Carlo casino. He goes there alone and notices that he counts the blackjack cards: he then settles at his table to break his system. Bond joins Sixtine at the bar after she lost because of him. He orders them a vodka martini and adds that she would like his "shaken, not stirred" to the bartender.

Sixtine tells him that she knows he is an "00" agent. They ask each other questions, she wants to know why the director general of the casino seems to be so grateful. Bond explains that some time ago, a Soviet cruiser named Aleksandr Kolchak was moored in Monte Carlo. Bond was then ordered to find a way to intercept the ship's communications. It turns out that his captain, Nikolai Stolypin, was going to the casino night after night to play roulette. Ruined, Stolypin once threatened to destroy the casino with the arming of the ship, if it was not repaid, to avenge his loss of money at the game. Bond then reasoned and let go of the casino with money in exchange for the transmission frequencies of the ship. Bond asks her what she was doing with Jean-Paul Scipio and she tells him that he just wanted to know what she was doing in the area. Before leaving, Sixtine invites Bond to meet again the next day at a party organised by a friend of hers, the businessman Irwin Wolfe, in the villa of the latter: Shame Lady.

The next day Bond and Reade Griffith go to La Joliette in Marseille, where 007 was killed. It turns out that Ferrix Chemicals has an office building nearby. They meet the general manager of the company, Andria Mariani, with whom they already had an appointment. As they get out of the building, Bond makes a leap to the department that handles the bills. He discovers that the one he found in the 007 envelope was for 114 litres of acetic anhydride for a certain "WE" (Wolfe Europe). Bond is however spotted and soon to be knocked out.

When Bond regains consciousness, he is tied to a chair. Jean-Paul Scipio makes him understand (through his interpreter) that he knows who he is and that he was at the origin of the death of 007. He tells Bond that he intends to send him back to London, disfigured by the hydrochloric acid, in order to send a message to his bosses: they remain out of the way. Before leaving, Scipio orders one of his men to throw a container in Bond's face and it turns out that the liquid inside it is not hydrochloric acid. It seems that Scipio just wanted to send a warning to Bond.

In the evening, Bond goes to the villa Shame Lady which is towards Cap Ferrat. Sixtine introduces Irwin Wolfe to Bond; this one speaks to him in particular of his new cruise ship which will make his maiden voyage to the United States in four days: the Mirabelle . He invites Bond to visit him the next day. When a little later Bond offers a cigarette to Sixtine, she recommends instead smoking Morlands (Bond currently smoking Du Maurier).

The next day, Bond will visit an employee of Ferrix Chemicals whom he briefly met during his visit to their offices: Monique de Troyes. He asks her for information on the deceased 007 and she told him that the latter seemed interested in knowing what Wolfe Europe was buying from Ferrix Chimiques. She stole bills for him. As she leaves Bond, he sees a car crushing Monique deliberately.

Later in the day, Bond goes to Mirabelle, which is anchored in Nice. Wolfe makes him visit before leaving him alone with Sixtine. She decides to take Bond home to Antibes , where they sleep together. Sixtine then tells Bond the story of her life and was drafted to steal the formula of the new photographic film that Wolfe's company invented and which would be better than those of Technicolor. She also tells him that it was Irwin Wolfe that he informed her that he was an agent 00. She also offers Bond a cigarette case with "FOREVER AND A DAY" written on it. She explains that she planned to offer it to her deceased "husband" Danny in reference to an exchange at their "wedding": Danny telling him he wanted to be with her "forever and she told him that it was not enough and that she wanted it "forever and a day".

Bond decides to pay a visit with Sixtine to the Wolfe Film Factory near Menton. On site he finds that the place is very well kept, which seems suspicious. Guards surprise them, but Sixtine companions kill them. Bond decides he has seen enough and they leave. A little later, Bond and Sixtine return to the factory and manage to infiltrate it using the van of the usual baker (that Sixitine was able to bribe). They discover that a section of the factory is actually used to produce heroin with "industrial" processes. Bond and Sixtine are spotted and flee aboard a Jeep but are stopped and captured.

Bond and Sixtine are taken to the Mirabelle who begins his maiden voyage. There, Wolfe, accompanied by Jean-Paul Scipio, explains his plan. His two sons were killed during the Normandy landings during a war he deemed unnecessary (Wolfe was strongly opposed to the United States getting involved in the Second World War, he thought it was an European problem and not their business). The Mirabelle carries more than 5,000 pounds of heroin and he hopes that the distribution of heroin on the streets of the United States will make the US government more concerned with solving its drug problems than waging war in foreign lands, as it is currently the case in Korea. Thus, he thinks, lifes will be saved because young Americans will not perish on the battlefield (and in a sense he will also get revenge against the American government for the loss of his sons).

Wolfe leaves Bond at the hands of Scipio; The latter tells Bond that he will make him addicted to heroin. Bond is escorted back to his cabin with Sixtine and injected with drugs. Sixtine hastens to make a sort of tourniquet and blows Bond to extract as much heroin as possible from her blood before the drug takes effect. After he has recovered enough, they attract the guards behind the door and neutralize them. While searching the boat, Bond finds fireworks planned for the arrival of the Mirabelle in New York , and creates a bomb with. When it explodes, the ship begins to sink and Scipio drowns. Pursued, Bond and Sixtine jump overboard. Sixtine, injured, dies shortly afterwards and Bond swims to the coast.

Back in London, M asks his agent to pay a visit to Irwin Wolfe who managed to get off the sinking ship on a lifeboat. Bond goes to Wolfe's property in Los Angeles , where he finds Wolfe dead and Reade Griffith there. Griffith tells Bond that he killed Wolfe and disguised it as a suicide on behalf of the CIA. Bond begins to confront Griffith because he thinks he's the one who has informed Scipio (and so Wolfe) of his identity and presence in the south of France. Bond also knows that the CIA supports organised crime in Corsica in exchange for his help to fight the communists in the port of Marseilles. Griffith does not deny and acknowledge the facts. He says that the deceased 007 thought that Wolfe was in cahoots with Sixtine and that he wanted to get information on this from Scipio. Griffith arranged an appointment but Scipio pulled out a weapon and killed 007 without Griffith having time to intervene. Bond decides to take out his weapon and kills Griffith by surprise, without having received the order. Before leaving, he makes up the whole thing to make it look like Wolfe and Griffith have killed each other. He has no regrets.

Characters[]

Vehicles[]

Main article: Forever and a Day equipment

Gallery[]

References[]

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