"A fresh take on the Bond universe" - review of QUANTUM OF MENACE

QUANTUM OF MENACE by Vaseem Khan (Zaffre, 2025)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Q is out of MI6 ... and in over his head. After Q (aka Major Boothroyd) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6's 00 agents, he finds himself back in his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. 

His childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a cryptic note. The police seem uninterested, but Q feels compelled to investigate and soon discovers that Napier's ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces . . . Can Q decode the truth behind Napier's death, even as danger closes in?

Award-winning author Vaseem Khan is trying something new. The creator of two terrific mystery series set in India – one historic, one contemporary - and the first-ever non-white Chair of the esteemed Crime Writers Association, in his latest quaffable novel Khan veers into Ian Fleming territory.

Quantum of Menace is an authorised novel in the James Bond universe. Not starring 007; instead, the former head of the British Secret Service’s R&D department, aka Q Branch.

Recently evicted by a new M from his longtime role arming Bond and other agents with all sorts of gadgets, Major Boothroyd, aka Q, travels back to his hometown of Wickstone-on-Water following the mysterious drowning of a childhood friend. Did brilliant quantum computer scientist Peter Napier kill himself? While the local police don’t seem interested, Q is compelled to investigate.

But is he just distracting himself from being put on the career shelf in middle age? Or from his own painful history he left behind in Wickstone-on-Water, decades ago?

Quantum of Menace is a highly engaging, cosier take on the Bond universe, packed with dry humour alongside plenty of intrigue. Khan deftly crafts a fascinating, reimagined Q who is neither the legendary Desmond Llewelyn’s onscreen version from the 1960s-1990s, nor the more recent Ben Whishaw portrayal from Daniel Craig’s 007 films. Instead, a richly drawn character with his own backstory. A desk and lab warrior for Queen (now King) and country, who suddenly finds himself ‘in the field’. What would 007 do? Does that even matter, given Q’s differing set of special skills?

Khan crafts an absorbing, page-whirring tale where the shadow of the famed spy is often present, and there are plenty of nods to Fleming’s oeuvre and the films. While Bond may have favoured Aston Martins, Q has his own eye-catching vehicle, a lime green Caterham. Plus an inherited dog named Bastard, a robot companion called Honeypenny, and tricky relationships with old friends and family in Wickstone-on-Water. The Prodigal Son returns, causing plenty of trouble.

A fascinating read and fresh take on the Bond universe. Very good.

[This review was first published in the Fall 2025 issue of Deadly Pleasures magazine in the USA]

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.