Double or Die - Charlie Higson

Over the summer, I read the third book in the Young Bond series called “Double or Die”, by Charlie Higson. This book is about James Bond when he is a teenager. He is in England, at Eton (A really good boarding school). When a teacher gets kidnapped and almost killed, he goes and tries to save him. Bond has 48 hours to save the teacher before the teacher’s time to get software from the Russian government’s computer is up. Bond has to watch out for his own life, because mean surprises keep coming his way along his journey.

The literary devices used are setting, and point-of-view. The setting takes place in the 1930’s or 1940’s (It is unclear).The impact on the book is that there isn’t as much technology to use, so it makes it much more challenging to save his teacher, communicate back to his friends at school for help, and to get from place to place. The point of view is in the first person from James’s perspective. This way, the reader has to infer what other characters are thinking and planning.

The author’s writing style is packed in detail. Double or Die is in the 375-425 page range, and it takes place over just two days. The packed in detail lets there be suspense, but it would get answered quickly. The biggest highlight from the story would be the ending. I’m not going to give it away, but it is truly amazing. And, the author’s message would have to be: Anything is possible. If a 15 year old boy can go on a journey to save a teacher all around England by himself, anything is possible.

James’s main external conflict is that he isn’t in a setting that he knows. He is used to being at Eton, but now he is traveling all around England by himself. The kidnappers know where they are, and James has to figure it out himself. His main internal conflict is that he only gets 1 person to help him, and that is towards the end. The kidnappers are three people, and adults, against a 15 year old boy. He has to try harder then ever in order to do it by himself.

My opinion on this book is amazing. I love the packed in detail and all the action and adventure folded into this wonderful novel. I would recommend this to anyone, but read the other books first! This book was amazing, and I hope the rest of the series is too! There are five books in the whole series.