William Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1952. He is the author of one work of non-fiction, three collections of short stories and fourteen novels. He has won many awards including the Whitbread First Novel, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Sunday Express Book of the Year Award and the Costa Book Award. He is married and lives in London.
This is well-plotted, exciting stuff and Boyd has a great sense of time and place. His boozy, maturer, more fallible Bond is totally believable. Mission accomplished, Mr Boyd. -- Natasha Harding Sun Boyd was a smart choice for a Bond thriller. The action clips along. There are welcome literary flourishes and a dense plot. -- Richard Fitzpatrick Irish Examiner Written with aplomb, Boyd's Bond novel is a terrific twisting thriller. Sunday Times Anyone wishing this autumn to enjoy the Cold War with the assurance of a happy ending should seek out William Boyd's new James Bond novel, Solo, in which 007 is dispatched to West Africa and the fictitious country of Zanzarim, where he finds himself in the midst of a civil war. -- Stephen McGinty Scotsman A fantastic read, which I ripped through in the time it would take to watch Skyfall, as it happens, and I found it significantly more enjoyable. The Times