Solo (Boyd novel) paper I saw its potential. Not only did it fit the theme of the novel perfectly, it's also a great punchy word, instantly and internationally comprehensible, graphically alluring and, as an extra bonus, it's strangely Bondian in the sense that we might be subliminally aware of the '00' of '007' lurking just behind those juxtaposed O's of SOLO". For background Boyd read all the Bond stories in chronological order; and had researched Fleming and the literary Bond's background. Boyd was a child when his father introduced him to Fleming's works. As a result, Boyd found himself also becoming fascinated with
James Bond (literary character) in the Fleming stories. Following the retirement of John Gardner, Raymond Benson took over as Bond author in 1996; as the first American author of Bond it was a controversial choice. Benson had previously written the non-fiction "The James Bond Bedside Companion", first published in 1984. Benson's first work was a short story, "Blast From the Past", published in 1997. By the time he moved on to other projects in 2002, Benson had written six Bond novels, three novelizations and three short stories. His final Bond work was "The Man with the Red Tattoo", published in 2002. Benson followed Gardner's