New James Bond book is peppered with bullet-holes

The cover for new James Bond book Solo features a dust-jacket riddled with die-cut bullet-holes.

Solo's dust-jacket is peppered with die-cut bullet-holes
Solo’s dust-jacket is peppered with die-cut bullet-holes

While the binding underneath features burn marks from the bullets
While the binding underneath features burn marks from the bullets

The cover for Solo, which is written by William Boyd, has been designed by Random House creative director Suzanne Dean. The new book will be published on 26 September.

The dust-jacket is punctured with die-cut bullet-holes, and when the jacket is removed, the binding underneath features burn-holes from the bullets, as well as a gecko – a reference to Bond’s African mission in the book.

Solo is set in 1969, and Dean says she took inspiration from the 1960s work of Saul Bass, Paul Rand and Alvin Lustig. She says, ‘I didn’t want just to depict a cinematic image, but rather to try to reflect the essence of Ian Fleming’s original novels as well as Boyd’s own take on James Bond.’

In the book, James Bond goes on an unauthorised solo mission, motivated by revenge. Dean says, ‘I had always been keen, since finding out the title, that there might be a way of using the two “O”s within Solo and link it to the 0s in 007.’

Dean says she selected sans-serif typeface Folio for the cover, in part due to its ‘strong, circular’ O.

She says, ‘The shadows thrown by the overlaying letters suggest hidden danger and tension, while the final “O” in Solo suggests a door, or an escape route.’

Hide Comments (2)Show Comments (2)
Comments

Latest articles