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| Devil May Care | 
 enlarge | Author: Sebastian Faulks
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
Buy Used: £1,644.12
Avg. Customer Rating:  81 reviews
Media: Leather Bound
Edition: Limited
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 7.7
Dimensions (in): 17.5 x 12 x 6.3
ISBN: 0385528671
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780385528672
ASIN: 0385528671
Publication Date: May 28, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, DISPATCHED FROM ENGLAND, USUALLY JUST 4-5 DAYS FOR DELIVERY.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Enjoyed it very much but..... June 2, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am a big fan of Sebastian Faulks and of course James Bond. I think the Bond in this book is very much a hybrid of Fleming's Bond and the movie Bond! That's not necessarily a bad thing, but may upset the purists.
As a life long fan of Fleming I was hoping not to be disappointed and I wasn't. Good story, good action, usual characters and if SF decided to write another I would certainly buy it.
 Bond is back; Faulks is Fleming! June 1, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I waited for so long for this book. I was counting down the days for the release, and when my post man came on Wednesday morning with a Amazon package, i knew the waiting was over.
I, like many who have written reviews here, found Faulks put a lot of detail into things like food & drink, or historical background into certain political situations (there is a whole page dedicated to colonial involvement in Iran (Persia)). BUT - this is the beauty. The Devils in the Detail.
Faulks sets the scene beautifully, and his description of a tennis match keeps your pulse racing and the hairs sticking up.
His description of James Bond makes me feel like he writes of Sean Connery's 007, the way his mannerisms come out and some of the quick quirky comments.
Overall - i think its far to say that Faulks had a hard job, and hes made the job even harder for whoever is given the torch to write another Bond book in the future. I hope this gets made into a film, because i can just imagine kevin Spacey playing Dr Julius Gorner!
007 is back? June 1, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is my first James Bond book, probably like most people I have only seen the films which are excellent, my review there for can not compare Ian Flemings writing style, which at the time I`m sure was cutting edge stuff for boys and men.
My expectations were high as I am familiar with Sebastian Faulks writing and his Birdsong novel is a personnel favourite.
I started the novel and was first disappointed to find the novel was early Bond and not up to date Bond, It would have been good to see a modern edge to the book.
It took me a good few pages to remove the image of Sean Connery from my head, once I had got rid of his Bond character I started to enjoy the box, as the book progressed I couldn`t put it down and finished it in only two sittings.
Sebastian Faulks is an excellent writer, I don't think Ian Flemings style did his writing justice I believe he is a better writer than the book, in saying that the book is excellent, and can wait to see it produced as a film as I'm sure it will.
The Return of Fleming's Bond June 1, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Published on the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth, Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks returns the literary Bond to 1967, exactly where Fleming's original series left off. I won't rehash the plot here, rather I'll just give some opinions now that I have finished the novel.
Sebastian Faulks has tried very hard to emulate the style of Ian Fleming, including Fleming's habits when it comes to the writing process itself. The result is an entertaining read with all the requisite elements, but it lacks a certain something. Ultimately it is just an entertaining pastiche, which doesn't really live up to the reputation of the author or the hype surrounding the book itself. Something which I dislike in all Bond books, whether official or fan fiction is excessive referencing of other Bond adventures. Unfortunately Devil May Care is packed full of references which I feel only cheapen the book. I guess it is to emphasise that the book exists within the continuity of the original series, but the level of referencing is unnecessary.
On the positive side, the book does fit quite comfortably within the Fleming canon, and it authentic in that sense. Faulks brings out a loaded supporting cast of Fleming characters such as Leiter, Mathis and May. The story it itself is quite good, with interesting use of locations unexplored in the original novels. The plot itself is not particularly inspired, and also quite implausible in some parts - but serviceable nonetheless. There are some good scenes, such as the tennis match. This particular scene is clearly a homage to the classic scenes in Moonraker and Goldfinger
, in which the villain attempts to cheat but is ultimately beaten by Bond. I enjoyed the chapter, but story wise it was a little unnecessary. The villain, Julius Gorner is pretty good, with a typical physical deformity. His henchman is also an imperfect human specimen, but with great physical prowess. The 'Bond Girl', Scarlett, is an interesting character although she and Bond have a somewhat distant relationship until the very end of the novel.
It may sound as if I have more criticism than compliments for the novel, but I must say that I found the novel an entertaining and engaging read despite its faults. I would even say that I enjoyed it more than some of the lesser Fleming novels, and it ranks as one of the best of the continuation novels in my opinion. Sebastian Faulks has stated that the novel was just a one-off and that he wouldn't be writing another. However, I hope that somebody does take up the challenge of continuing the Bond literary series!
 Disappointing fan fiction May 31, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Having recently read `Birdsong' I had high hopes for the new Bond book, particularly as it was said to be written in the style of Ian Fleming.
The initial chapter seemed good but then the narrative seemed to spiral down into a grotesque copy of Fleming's work. Fleming himself used a technique of additional details on small things like food and drink to add a touch of reality to his writing. Faulks uses this too much with unnecessarily explicit detail about every brand which is used. This is a continual problem throughout the book, at one Stolichnaya is mentioned three times, by name, on a single page.
Also there were superfluous references back of previous Bond novels dropped into the text, pretty much every book was mentioned. Fleming did occasionally nod to the past - but not like this.
I am also left wondering what has happened to MI6 by the mid 60s? A new `R' as a psychologist, even `Q' is usually referred to as the armourer or Major Boothroyd. `M' has taken up Yoga and seems to see fit to encourage pointless departmental subterfuges at the potential expense of the overall objective to prevent world-destruction.
Although the action sequences were fast paced and, I would agree, page-turning I feel that the author has been influenced by the films in his writing and by the work of the other post-Fleming authors. It seems as if Faulks may have his own agenda for particularly changing some elements that were previously woven into the Bond world.
In conclusion, overall a good book for a general action read - and better than the majority of the work by Raymond Benson and John Gardner. However, if you want a better non-Fleming Bond book I suggest Robert Markum (Kingley Amis)'s `Colonel Sun'.
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