Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider teenage spy novels, has been invited to write a new James Bond adventure by the Ian Fleming estate.
Currently dubbed Project One, the book will be set in the 1950s and contain previously unseen Fleming material.
Horowitz said Fleming’s hero had had “a profound influence” on his life adding: “This is a book I had to write.”
The material, an episode treatment for an unmade James Bond TV series, takes 007 into the world of motor racing.
Entitled Murder on Wheels, the treatment will serve as a starting point for Horowitz’s novel, to be published on 8 September 2015.
“When the estate approached me to write a new James Bond novel how could I possibly refuse?” said the 59-year-old, who was made an OBE in the New Year Honours.
“It’s a huge challenge… but having original, unpublished material by Fleming has been an inspiration.”
