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| Devil May Care (James Bond) | 
 enlarge | Author: Sebastian Faulks
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy Used: £4.50
You Save: £14.49 (76%)
New (36) Collectible (22) from £5.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 262
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0718153766
EAN: 9780718153762
ASIN: 0718153766
Publication Date: May 28, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: new book minor imperfections dispatched from the uk
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Amazon.co.uk Review
A variety of authors have written 007 novels since the death of Bond's creator, Ian Fleming -- and the results have been mixed, to say the least. As 'Robert Markham', Kingsley Amis penned the very first post-Fleming Bond, and this attempt by a novelist better known for his 'literary' work was judged a success. Now, after a decade of less successful entries by such writers as John Gardener, we have another serious writer, Sebastian Faulks (author of such acclaimed novels as Birdsong), taking up the challenge. Devil May Care has already collected a jaw-dropping amount of publicity, with even the Royal Navy helping to put the book firmly at the top of the best-seller charts (Bond is, of course, a naval commander), and few books have had such wind under their sails (the relaunch of the movie franchise with the re-make of Casino Royale and Daniel Craig's second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, is all part of the ever-accelerating momentum). Of course, this also gives the book farther to fall if it misses the mark. Faulks' author credit on the book ('Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming') is both revealing and encouraging - the author has reportedly said that he undertook the task with total seriousness, and he has tried to work within the parameters of the Ian Fleming formula (Faulks re-read all the extant Bond novels and stories) rather than the more glossy film incarnation. Among several very canny moves by the author is his decision to keep his 007 in the 1960s rather than catapulting him into the 21st century (as other ersatz Fleming novels - and, of course, the films -- have done. So how successful are the results? Fleming aficionados can relax - this is a sterling job of recreation, and a novel that functions with total authority in its own right. The evocation of time and place (or places, notably Paris and the Middle East) is impeccable, as are the plotting and detail (as colourful and violent as anything in Fleming); there is a satisfyingly unpleasant larger-than-life villain, Julius Gorner, with a grotesque deformity of the kind Fleming often gave such characters (the chapter 'The monkey's hand' gives this away) and grandiose, evil ambitions. Best of all, this is Ian Fleming's James Bond - not a superman -- worried about his health and his physical powers (which he fears may be on the wane). Delicious stuff in fact. Now... can Faulks be persuaded to write another such novel? --Barry Forshaw.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 Too much Flemming and not enough Faulks October 9, 2008
It's my own fault that I really didn't enjoy this book. Faulks makes it clear that he is writing as Ian Flemming. Whether he achieves this I will leave to those more qualified than I. However from reading other reviews opinions seem to be mixed. I suppose I had hoped that he would inject a bit of the Faulks magic into Bond.
Devil May Care is almost completely devoid of insight or interesting observation, the plot is thin and unconvincing and place description so cursory you felt you could be virtually anywhere. The characters are superficial and the twist frankly risible.
One might feel that Faulks attempts to rehabilitate Bonds reputation as a sexual predator was worthy except for the way in which he then associates this with a loss of secret agent prowess.
If you are already an Ian Flemming fan then this book might be worth a look otherwise I'd steer clear. Let's hope the fall from the superb Engelby does not do Faulks any permanent damage.
 A GOOD READ October 7, 2008
Try not to think too deeply who has written this book; let's face it, Sebastian Faulks is a very good author! This book is pretty close to the Ian Fleming originals and is a good read. It will be interesting how the film franchise adapts this story? A resurgent Iran, drugs from Afghanistan...very current affairs!
 A quantum of (enjoyable) nonsense September 24, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Shall we call this a missed opportunity?
"Devil May Care" is a well paced thriller, that's about it.
I've never read Ian Fleming and I'm not a James Bond fan (anymore) but when I was younger I read James Bond and Moonraker (Film-Script Adaptation) and was fascinated (as a kid) by the character's stoic levels of endurance and impressed by the fact that whilst externally cool, internally 007 was in turmoil most of the time. Who better to expand on this theme than Sebastian Faulks post-Birdsong?
Unfortunately the author never really seizes the opportunity although there's the odd moment that comes close (e.g. "the cigar tube"). Maybe he's trying too hard to write like Ian Fleming? If that's the case I wouldn't know (or really care for that matter).
Even more disappointingly the book has just about the same plot as all of the James Bond films: bad guy captures Bond/bad guy tells Bond his plans before killing him (...fatal mistake that - as JB is the most dangerous man on the planet as far as any international criminals are concerned, you'd think they'd take him out without further ado - rather than subject him to the usual contrived attempted execution)/Bond kills bad guy. Plus there's a plot twist at the end that's so obvious it's just not worth bothering with.
Although still flawed, the film "Casino Royale" was a more successful attempt at reinvigorating the James Bond character. This book is much less effective in doing so. It still passes the time though - one for your next aeroplane journey but wait until it's going cheap.
 Very fashionable - mostly boring September 16, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is by far the most tedious book I have read in ages. Where is the action? The dramatic twists and turns? It seems like an ode to food, cocktails, fashion and exotic locations. Bond sat in his room, ordered this drink, had that to eat, wore this and looked out over some or other supposedly amazing view.
It's boring.
And can someone in the literary world please stop this trend of throwing foreign phrases into English books? I do not have a French dictionary on hand to translate 'en fete'. It doesn't make it clever. It makes it incomprehensible.
As for the bad guy - a monkey's paw Mr Faulkner? Really.
I suppose it was the hype that did it in. If you really want the spirit of James Bond, may I suggest you try the Young Bond series by Charlie Higson. It's all action.
More parody than pastiche, Mr Bond September 15, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
As someone who has recently read all of the Fleming Bond novels I feel I have a fairly good grasp of their style and tone. It seems Faulks does too but unfortunately although he may technically be a better writer than Fleming (something which is apparent in the early sections of the book particularly) that doesn't mean he's entirely comfortable with this genre or the type of stories Fleming wrote for Bond. This is all too obvious throughout much of 'Devil May Care'. Fleming's Bond stories were often preposterous and towards the end the author started to copy his older material even to the point of parody. Here Faulks does much the same thing, often painfully aping older Fleming characters or story elements, or intentionally imitating Fleming's decidedly un-PC stance to women and homosexuals. But often what Faulks seems to regard as playful homage feels more like clumsy parody.
The plot is patchy but again that's nothing new for a Bond novel, but this does feel like one of Fleming's later (or less successful) plots. All the classic characters are there and feel about right but it's almost like Faulks is ticking them off a checklist rather than doing them justice.
At least one of the plot twists (about two thirds of the way through) is completely pointless and feels like padding (it covers a couple of chapters). It's inconsistent, makes little sense and serves little purpose to the story. Surely someone as smart as Faulks realised this so is he being purposefully ironic or has he been reduced to writing the equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster - adding pointless set pieces to the plot just because that's what is required.
And the final key twist that is 'revealed' right near the end of the book is extremely predictable. Faulks hammers it home nearly every time a particular character appears so I'm fairly sure it would be obvious to anyone over the age of twelve. This particular twist is also odd given M's knowledge of Bond's character and private life. Overall, a pointless attempt to do something different in a novel that is otherwise rather too safe.
I'll admit that at times I was very impressed and overall I did enjoy reading 'Devil May Care'. It was easy to read, it has some fine moments, and genuinely makes for a welcome addition to the list of Bond novels, but it's inferior to many of the Fleming originals (which it tries and often clumsily fails to be so loyal to) and hardly feels like the landmark event in publishing that it's been heralded as.
I'm currently reading the late John Gardner's 'Licence Renewed' from 1981, the first major attempt to relaunch the Bond book franchise and although it's not standard Fleming fare I have to admit that I'm enjoying it more than 'Devil May Care' which sadly runs close at times to being more parody than pastiche.
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