Felix Leiter, Young Bond and Ian Fleming himself return in new 2026 releases.
Ian Fleming Publications has announced three new Bond-related projects for 2026, though the striking thing is how firmly they all look backwards.
At a moment when Bond fans are waiting to see what Amazon MGM Studios does with Bond 26 under Denis Villeneuve, the literary side of the franchise appears more interested in revisiting familiar territory: Felix Leiter, Young Bond and Ian Fleming himself.
The biggest release commercially may be the audiobook edition of Raymond Benson’s The Hook and the Eye. Benson’s Felix Leiter novel was first published last year in paperback and eBook form, but Ian Fleming Publications has now confirmed a full audiobook release narrated by Stuart W Howard. The novel finds Felix Leiter after the events of Live and Let Die, no longer with the CIA and working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency when a surveillance assignment draws him into murder and espionage in Manhattan.
That in itself feels rather Fleming-esque. Leiter was always one of the more intriguing figures in the novels because Fleming never overused him. Bond trusted very few people completely, but Leiter was one of them. Even after the shark attack in Live and Let Die, Fleming continued writing him with a dry resilience that made him feel more real than many recurring thriller sidekicks of the period.
Ian Fleming Publications describes Benson’s novel as “a mystery, a romance, a spy story, a road trip tale and a postcard of a lost Americana”. The audiobook will be released on 5th August 2026 priced at £12.99.
Young Bond also returns with a paperback reissue of Charlie Higson’s Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier. The timing is tied to Big Finish Productions’ forthcoming audio drama adaptation of SilverFin, due later in the year. Originally published alongside Higson’s Young Bond novels, Danger Society functions partly as a companion guide and partly as franchise world-building before that sort of thing became unavoidable in modern entertainment. It includes a short story by Higson alongside profiles, maps, weapons, vehicles and background material from the series.
The most historically interesting release, however, may be Ian Fleming – The Notes by John Pearson.
Pearson’s book has previously only existed as a highly limited edition but will now receive its first trade hardback release on 18th November 2026. Pearson occupies an unusual position in Bond history. He wrote The Life of Ian Fleming, the first published biography of Fleming, and later produced James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007. The new volume reproduces Pearson’s research notes from 1965, including letters, interviews and observations gathered shortly after Fleming’s death.
