Devil May Care

I have been a fan of James Bond since I first read the first one written by Ian Fleming. The books are exciting, wild, and fun.

If you like James Bond, you'll like this book.

Very well done it keeps your interest with twists and turns He makes Bond feel real with his skermishes I can’t wait to read the next one

There is good and bad in the new Bond novel. It is great to see 007 back in print and back in his own era. The 1967 setting harkens back to the best of Bond, both in print and on screen. Fleming's novels of the 50's and 60's have never been surpassed by any of the continuation authors and the film series varies in quality after Thunderball, the fourth and final movie to adapt Fleming's work faithfully.So what's good about Sebastian Faulk's novel? The story picks up after the events of "The Man with the Golden Gun", which gives a sense of continuity which is present in the best of Fleming's books. We see that Bond is still recovering from the beatings he received in the last two novels, where he was humiliated by being brainwashed by the Soviets and was almost responsible for the assassination of M.The books final confrontation aboard an airliner is also handled extremely well by Faulks. He created the same sense of dread in the face of overwhelming odds that I felt reading Dr. No, Moonraker and Live and Let Die. Bond's foray through the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the show down with the bad guys is a fun read too; with Bond trying to remain undercover in hostile enemy territory.As for the bad of the book?Setting much of the story in Pre-revolutionary Iran may not have been such a great idea. The activities of the US and UK in that country during the reign of the Shah were villainous, no two ways about it. The UK was looting Iran's oil and the Shah, as their puppet, brutally kept the locals in check while they did so. Compared to this, it is hard to take fictional villain Dr. Gorner seriously. This also means that Bond is aiding his government in doing some very dirty and underhanded work, a common theme in some of the Fleming books, but never so overt.I also found this book to be a little too long. I think the page count could have been kept under 200, rather than 300 pages. The story just doesn't warrant the length and the book sags in the middle as a result. Julius Gorner isn't much of a villain; he is a little flat and uninteresting, although Faulks gives him a good reason for being who he is.Faulks also slips a few times; I found some of the references to Goldfinger and other Bond adventures unnecessary and distracting, since they were only dropped to tie in better with the Fleming books, and served no purpose story wise, but that's a small gripe.If Mr. Faulks or another author of quality choose to continue with this new series I would certainly be interested, but I hope that we can see something with a little more punch. Perhaps we can see Mr. Sebastian Faulks writing as Sebastian Faulks next time.

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks was a rather interesting James Bond novel. Sebastian Faulks successfully managed to emulate the voice of Ian Flemming throughout the course of the very intriguing story. This allowed the book to flow in a clear and fluid manner making it a clear and easy read.Due to the fact that Devil May Care was written by a different author for a James Bond novel one might think that it may influence certain vital factors of a James Bond novel that would be discarded however that is not the case here. The clear James Bonds styled plot which includes one baddie or evil man, henchmen/man, traveling to more than one country, violent or graphic deaths or methods of torture, a double agent or additional character of significance, traps or tricks the evil man has up there sleeve.Spoiler Alert: Collectively all of these factors were included in the book making it an excellent bond story. Due to the facts that this book has many scenes that I am fond of such as the tennis match in which Gorner the enemy cheats in order to ensure his victory at the games which is a neat addition to the plot and a rather funny scenario or concept commonly used in James Bond books developing a character or scene for the enemy. I also thought the two violent and graphically described torture scenes, as well as the death of the enemy, were fantastic at portraying the tyrannical acts that happen in a James Bond Novel.Lastly, the language and attention to detail throughout the book connects the vital factors of a novel, violence, and action all together creating a vivid image in the reader's head and providing a superb James Bond experience.To conclude I will give the book Devil May Care a 5-star review of the plot, selective language and violent elements of the enemy. The story was delivered successfully, clearly and in an enjoyable manner. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action books or has read other books by James Bond.

I like the idea of a homage or two as a salute to the originals, but where to stop?Tennis match against the evil cheating villain (obs. compares to the golf match against Goldfinger)Villain has peculiar deformity of ape like hand (=Man with the Golden Gun and his third nipple)Evil Asian sidekick Chagrain (=Goldfinger again - Oddjob)Underwater swim to check out the villain's lair (=just about every Fleming plot)Inevitable capture by villain who for some reason does not immediately kill him (=every Fleming plot)Fight on train with death of opponent being ejected from train with help of beautiful female accomplice (=From Russian with love)Death of trusty middle eastern sidekick Darko in Persia ( = Kerim Bey in Istanbul - From Russia with Love, again)Some Avro Vulcan action bombing the Ektranoplan (=Vulcan was used in the screen version of Thunderball)Re appearance of villain with a final attempt to kill him on the paddle steamer on the Seine (=Goldfinger turning up on the last flight)I could go on but am I being a bit harsh?

I was looking forward to this novel since I have read Sebastion Faulks deviously and enjoyed them. The author captures the style of Fleming for a Bond novel seamlessly in the characterisations and style but the plot is simply crass. I won’t do a ‘spoiler alert’ because there are enough critical reviews here that do that adequately. I do not believe that most of the situations that Bond is put in, Fleming would not have him reacting the way that Faulks has. So the plot has been sacrificed for a style which in the end becomes a pastiche. A shame, it’s put me off reading any more of the post Fleming Bond novels. I have only got half way through this book and am unlikely to finish it because it has become irritating.

Bond is recovering from the trauma of The Man with the Golden Gun and is on sabbatical when the call from M drags him back to the service. Despite doubts about his fitness, Bond is dispatched to investigate Dr Julius Gorner, and polymath industrialist. Bond manages to bump into Gorner at a Paris tennis club (reminiscent of his first encounter with Goldfinger) to set the ball rolling, and after some further action in Paris, Bond is off to Persia to try to find out what Gorner’s plans are, and what they mean for Britain. The descriptions of the locations, food and people are very much in keeping with the Fleming style, and the story moves along briskly enough to keep the interest levels high.The ending seems a tad rushed, and the tennis match does seem a bit too close to the Goldfinger golf match. However, these are minor quibbles - very much enjoyed and a good addition to the series.

Looking for holiday reading I came across this. It is OK but did read like an Ian Fleming's greatest hits list. It started very well and did remind me that when Fleming was interested and passionate about something he could write well too (read the first chapter of Dr No to see what I mean) but by page 30 it seemed to have turned into a pastiche, which I suppose is inevitable considering the author is "writing as Ian Fleming". It was all just a little bit too predictable and clever or perhaps arch is more appropriate. It wasn't bad by any means but just a bit OK. I left the book in the hotel library when we left - which sort of says it all really.

I've been a fan of the old Bond films for years, and am just as enthusiastic about the Daniel Craig `reboot', which thematically is much more in keeping with Fleming's novels. This came out around the same time as `Casino Royale' and I've been waiting to read it ever since.Despite the tacky cover, everything about this is pure Fleming Bond. It's clear that Faulks has had a lot of fun writing this, and it reads like a love letter to everything that makes the franchise what it is: interesting villains, irresistible girls and plenty of action.Amazingly Faulks stops all this just short of cheesy or cheap. There are some brilliant scenes that feel right out of the early stories: a gentleman's challenge over a tennis game; a girl who Bond can't trust; a big plot to be uncovered and prevented.The dialogue is great - M is absolutely spot on and you can hear his voice hammering from the page. Bond himself doesn't seem to say and awful lot though, but the narrative is from his point of view and fills in the gaps. He drinks a lot, is never without a cigarette and eats a lot of scrambled eggs. I got a big chunk of Connery in this Bond, with the best bits of Moore without the smarminess, and a dollop of the Craig realism. You can imagine Faulks' Bond as whichever actor you prefer and I think this would work.There's plenty of attention to detail, with Fleming could really overdo at times, but the pacing is fine and the action isn't overblown. It feels very down to earth and gritty, rather than the slickness of the Moore films which lost some of that charm.It's a shame that the ending fizzles out a little, but the only real flaw with this is the complimentary interview with Faulks at the end (I don't think all copies have this). Unfortunately it reveals old Sebastian as a pompous elitist who apparently had his arm twisted into writing this kind of trite and unliterary stuff, and boasts at how busy he is whilst putting down Fleming unashamedly - you would think he would have a little more grace.I don't let this affect my rating however, and if I did the essay on writing thrillers written by Fleming himself would more than make up for the sour taste left in my mouth - a frank insight into the writer's mind.Great fun and fine fiction, well worth reading if you're even a casual fan of James Bond.8.5 / 10David BrookesAuthor of `Half Discovered Wings'