Devil May Care (The New James Bond Novel ) by Sebastian Faulks Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Devil May Care (The New James Bond Novel )
Book Review: Average Bond book
Summary: 3 Stars
My problem with this book is that they describe a tennis match very well and with great detail but why? Most of the more interesting parts of the book are lacking that attention given to the tennis match.Book Review: Back to the Future Maybe?
Summary: 4 Stars
I admit, (although I am not proud of it), that I have not read any of the original Ian Fleming Bond books. Ya, I've seen all the movies from Connery to Craig, and every one in between. My sense is that Faulks' 007 is probably a lot closer to the original Fleming than say, Moonraker-the- movie. While this was not the most exciting spy thriller I've ever read, I did try to take in time and place, and put it in the context of the originals, which Faulks did thankfully read and study. It's a good book; but if like me, you bring a lot of Bond (movie) baggage, be prepared to work through your issues. It's hard to duplicate all those cinamatic chase scenes in a book, and this 007 dosen't always get (or want) the girl. Go figure.Book Review: Bland, James Bland [no spoilers]
Summary: 3 Stars
James Bond returns in "Devil May Care", which follows "The Man With The Golden Gun". The poorly edited tale has few moments of cleverness and wit amid ordinary action. It has been many years since I have read a James Bond story but I recall enjoying Ian Fleming and the John Gardner variety. Yet Bond seems less charismatic, possibly because he recently lost his wife.
The plotline is not deep in betrayals and conspiracies. For the most part there aren't any major surprises. At times James has a great cynical sense of humor but passes through the mission quite numb. The unremarkable Bond Girl does not stand out like past ladies. The nemesis has the behavior of a spoiled child and his henchman is a slight copycat of the pain resistant terrorist Renard from the movie "The World Is Not Enough". I expect better material for a James Bond novel. Hopefully a further adventure will contain more Bond-like behavior after he has time to mourn along with better editing.
Typically the Bond titles have an association to the storyline, however I have no idea the meaning behind the title.
Thank you.
Book Review: Bond back in the era he belongs
Summary: 4 Stars
After John Gardner's and Raymond Benson's turns as Bond authors placed 007 in a current-day setting, Sebastian Faulks (as "Ian Fleming") wisely returned the British secret agent to the 1960s, where Fleming left off before his death. This die-hard fan of Fleming's Bond prefers him back in those days as opposed to 007 dealing with our modern-day world with its politics and technology.
Faulks does a good job of picking up the baton. It's not quite as seamless as it would have been had Fleming lived and continued the series, e.g., one doesn't get the feeling that this is the same Bond who tried to kill his boss, M, after being brainwashed by SMERSH (in the novel before this - the last one penned by Fleming, "The Man with the Golden Gun").
Speaking of that, in "Devil May Care", 007 notes that he's in Russia for the "first time", while taking a break on a cross-country train trip with "Bond girl" Scarlett Papava. Yet, in "Golden Gun", that's exactly where Bond is explained to have been - where he was brainwashed. It would have been nice for Faulks to remember that and include something about it.
Still, he does a nice job of emulating the "Fleming Sweep", the style by 007's creator that kept his stories moving along, both from a geographic and plot standpoint. And he manages to conjure up a formidable enemy in Julius Gorner, deformity and all.
It's a shame that Faulks has indicated that this will likely be his one and only Bond novel. "Devil May Care" might have been the (re)start of something grand for the secret agent introduced in 1953. Maybe if the book is a hit, Faulks will be inclined to follow with more. Once can only hope.
Book Review: Bond is Back
Summary: 5 Stars
Faulks does a very good job writing as Fleming. Perhaps in future installments he should make the character his own, but I sincerely hope that Mr. Faulks continues in the vein of this book.