Fleming Publications may have reinvigorated the Bond franchise back in May with the help of a blue-chip literary big-hitter, Sebastian Faulks, yet other thriller writers prefer to keep the franchise closer to home: both the bestselling British author, Dick Francis, and the self-styled "grand master of the American action adventure novel", Clive Cussler, will publish works this autumn written in collaboration with their offspring.
Silks, an account foul play on the wrong side of Sandown's race track, is Francis Sr's 41st equestrian thriller, the second penned in conjunction with his son, Felix.
Meanwhile, Arctic Drift, a nautical romp set around the fabled Northwest Passage, is Clive's 36th publication, the third composed alongside his son, Dirk.
Sure, authorial primogeniture isn't anything new. The Amises aside, everyone from John Betjeman's daughter, through to the latest soon-to be bestselling novelist, Rebecca Miller. Both of Paul Theroux's sons have authored books at one time or another.
Yet, in these more recent instances, doesn't the parental baton passing seem a little more transparent? Both Francis and Clive, aged 87 and 76 respectively, must appreciate that, while their career must be nearing its end, the popularity of their recurrent characters, or indeed their surname on a dust jacket remains undiminished.
In any case, trade must be swift; MBA graduate, Dirk Cussler quit his job in finance to begin work with his dad in 2003, while Felix Francis moved from his position as a private school teacher to join his father's byline in 2007.
By contrast, John Le Carré's son, Nick, chose to go it alone this month, adopting a fresh pen name, Harkaway, under which he published his sprawling debut, The Gone Away World. Harkaway's book has received a bit of a kicking by Amazon.co.uk's reviewers, not least because the whiff of nepotism. If his father's connections didn't rile them sufficiently, his mother's one-time position as a literary editor sealed the deal.
Certainly, The Gone Away World doesn't make for an easy read. Its expansive, sci-fi subplots are quite unlike the earthbound, contemporary intrigue of his father's books. Yet, surely that isn't a bad thing? Shouldn't we have a little more time for a writer who doesn't automatically capitalise on their parents' surname - or their prose style?
