Jeffery Deaver looks more like a brainy villain   in a James Bond movie than a "00" agent in Her Majesty's secret service.Best known for his thrillers starring criminalist   Lincoln Rhyme, Jeffery Deaver has a new mission: Bring Bond into the 21st century in a new 007 novel. The yet-to-be-named book is cryptically   referred to as "Project X" by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., which owns the rights to Fleming's work.Most of the details surrounding Project X, to be published in May, are being kept under wraps, but under gentle coaxing   Deaver begins to spill his guts."The novel," he says, "is set in the present day, in 2011.Bond is a young agent for the British secret service.He's 29 or 30 years old, and he's an Afghan war vet." That in itself is big news.After all, if Bond were aging in real time -- he first appeared on the screen in 1953 -- the now doddering   007 would be nearly 90. But first up: a new stand-alone Deaver novel, Edge (Simon & Schuster, $26.99), to be published Tuesday.It's about a federal agent who risks his life to protect a Washington police detective from a man hired to extract information from him using any means at his disposal  . Sipping coffee while seated on a leather chair in a sitting room decorated with portraits of his dogs and show ribbons, the mild-mannered author who writes about murderers and serial killers talks about his career and the solid fan base that has allowed him to pursue writing full time since 1990."I may not sell as many books as John Grisham(although he has sold a cool 20 million), but I have a very loyal fan base," says Deaver, 60, who wrote some of his novels while working as a Wall Street lawyer.Deaver's initiation into the Bond family -- more than 100 million 007 novels have sold worldwide -- could significantly raise his profile  . Other novelists have written Bond novels since Ian Fleming's death in 1964 -- including Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and, most recently, Sebastian Faulks -- but they all took place in the original era.Deaver is taking a new approach."There's no more Cold War to fight," says Deaver, so his new Bond, of the Fleming estate, will fight "post-9/11 evil." "I want to stay true to the original James Bond, who many people don't know much about," he says, referring to the secret agent Fleming portrayed in 14 novels, and not the movie Bond."People know Daniel Craig, they know Pierce Brosnan, they know Roger Moore and Sean Connery, all of whom brought a great deal to the stories of 007.But the original Bond was a very dark, edgy   character." What do you know about the new 007 novel from the passage?
The book to be published in May is named "Project X" by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.. The book is about a federal agent risking his life to protect a Washington police detective. The book features a young James Bond, an Afghan war vet working for the British secret service. The book features a young James Bond who fights Cold War.