Hurricane Gold
First edition UK hardcover
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| Author | Charlie Higson |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | James Bond / Young Bond |
| Genre | Spy novel |
| Publisher | Puffin Books |
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Publication date
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6 September 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 372 pp |
| ISBN | (first edition hardback) |
| OCLC | 137312909 |
| Preceded by | Double or Die |
| Followed by | By Royal Command |
Hurricane Gold is the fourth novel in the Young Bond series depicting Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s. The novel is set in Mexico and the Caribbean. It was first published in the UK in September 2007.
Two American children are abducted by criminals searching for military plans stolen by their father. James Bond attempts to protect them by masquerading as a young Mexican thief and joining the gang. They journey through a Mexico and eventually arrive at the Caribbean island Lagrimas Negras. They will be kept there for the rest of their lives unless they complete 'La Avenida de Muerte'.
Hurricane gold, according to the character El Huracán, is a legendary Mayan treasure which is cursed and will bring inevitable ruin on its possessor. The US Navy documents are the "hurricane gold" in this story, since everyone who possesses it is destroyed by the people who seek to possess it.
The book starts with a prologue on Lagrimas Negras (black tears), an island haven for criminals in the Caribbean. The boss, El Huracán, informs his lunch guests that one of them has broken the rule against contacting the outside world. Robert King is tricked into confessing, then made to run La Avenida de Muerte (The Avenue of Death), a deadly obstacle course. He is killed by a jaguar less than halfway through.
Following the events in Double or Die, James Bond travels to Mexico with his Aunt Charmian, who is visiting the ruined Mayan city of Palenque. In the fishing village of Tres Hermanas, Angel Corona, a young Mexican pickpocket who closely resembles James, steals Charmian's bag. James chases and corners him. Corona is subdued and soon arrested by the local police. While Jack Stone, an American flying ace and friend of Charmian's flies Charmian to Palenque (as a storm is on the way and she has to leave that night). James is left in Tres Hermanas with Stone's children, where he quickly finds problems: Stone's daughter, Precious, is a spoiled, self-centered girl about the same age as James, while her younger brother, Jack Junior or JJ, is immature and annoying.
During a devastating hurricane, some gangsters led by a Mrs Theda Glass enter the Stone house and steal the safe. James knocks one of the gunmen, Manny, out of the window. The youngsters hide from the gangsters and the storm in an underground ice house. After the storm, James takes the Stone children to town in Jack Stone's Duesenberg, which is wrecked by a sudden flood. JJ is nearly killed, but is rescued by Garcia, James's sailor friend. When JJ and Precious are captured by the remaining four robbers, James passes himself off as Angel Corona to join the gang and Garcia tags along. The names of the other criminals are Strabo, 'Whatzat' (real name Charlie Moore) and Sakata. The Japanese gangster Sakata befriends James and teaches him ju-jitsu.
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