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    Devil May Care
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    Devil May Care
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    Devil May Care
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Devil May Care

    Written by Sebastian Faulks

    Narrated by Tristan Layton

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Bond is back. With a vengeance. Devil May Care is an electrifying new chapter in the life of the most iconic spy of literature and film, written to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth on May 28, 1908.
    An Algerian drug runner is savagely executed in the desolate outskirts of Paris. This seemingly isolated event leads to the recall of Agent 007 from his sabbatical in Rome and his return to the world of intrigue and danger where he is most at home. The head of MI6, M, assigns him to shadow the mysterious Dr. Julius Gorner, a power-crazed pharmaceutical magnate, whose wealth is exceeded only by his greed. Gorner has lately taken a disquieting interest in opiate derivatives, both legal and illegal, and this urgently bears looking into.
    Bond finds a willing accomplice in the shape of a glamorous Parisian named Scarlett Papava. He will need her help in a life-and-death struggle with his most dangerous adversary yet, as a chain of events threatens to lead to global catastrophe. A British airliner goes missing over Iraq. The thunder of a coming war echoes in the Middle East. And a tide of lethal narcotics threatens to engulf a Great Britain in the throes of the social upheavals of the late sixties.
    Picking up where Ian Fleming left off, Sebastian Faulks takes Bond back to the height of the Cold War-but also shows Bond facing dangers with a powerful relevance to our own times.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 28, 2008
    ISBN9780739366226
    Unavailable
    Devil May Care
    Author

    Sebastian Faulks

    Sebastian Faulks is the author of ten novels. They include the UK number one bestseller A Week in December; Charlotte Gray, which was made into a film starring Cate Blanchett; and the classic Birdsong, which was recently adapted for television. In 2008, he was invited to write a James Bond novel, Devil May Care, to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming. He lives in London with his wife and their three children.

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    Reviews for Devil May Care

    3/5

    266 ratings23 reviews

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    • 3/5
      "You look distracted, James.""I'm sorry. Do I? I blame the two Bs.""And what are they?""Brainwashing and bereavement.""Goodness. Tell me more."That is a concise summary of the last three Bond books by Ian Fleming! This one follows those, and could very well have been titled, "The Man With the Monkey Paw"! Pretty standard bad guy stuff in here, though his plan switches rather dramatically - from a heroin based one, to a "let's-get-some-nukes-and-blow-shit-up" one, without any real reason or explanation for the change. The writing is decent enough, but a tad slow at times. The tennis match was very dull reading. As was the trek across Russia.Still, it's 007, and a worthy entry into his world, even if it didn't blow me away. I would, however, like to read more, especially about 004!
    • 1/5
      poorly written
    • 3/5
      By the book,so so
    • 3/5
      If you've read Fleming's novels you will recognize James Bond here but although close, it's not up to Ian Fleming's standards. If you haven't read any of the Bond novels, don't start here. The original author had a winning style that Faulks just cannot reproduce even though he has used more updated language. This resembles the corny movie stories more than Fleming's novels.
    • 4/5
      James Bond is such a phenomenon that even after the death of his creator, Ian Fleming, he lives on. Sebastian Faulks, author of the wonderful Birdsong, has created another adventure for Bond and it seems as good as Fleming's creations. Wonder if it will be coming to a theatre soon?This adventure is set in 1967 and starts out with Bond recuperating from injuries sustained in The Man with the Golden Gun. Soon Bond is recalled from leave to interfere with the machinations of a Dr. Julius Gorner who is plotting something that will devastate Britain. Gorner is in Persia (now Iran) and Bond goes there to find out what he can. He is also on a private mission to save Poppy Papava who is being held by Gorner. Poppy's sister, Scarlett, had pleaded with Bond to save her. The usual high stakes adventures ensue but, it will come as no surprise, that Bond survives. The details of how he outwits Dr. Gorner and his evil sidekick Chagrin are what makes the book worth reading.
    • 3/5
      Sebastian Faulks is widely accepted as one of our leading literary novelists, and regular listeners of BBC Radio 4's "The Write Stuff" will be familiar with his great ability to mimic other writers' styles. In this "authorised" addition to the James Bond canon he clearly mimic's Ian Fleming's style, though I imagine it must have been difficult for an author as fine as Faulks to lower himself to that extent.I recently read William Boyd's contribution to the Bond oeuvre and although that also fell beyond Boyd's normal high standards, it was still more coherent as a book thgan Faulks' offering. I was decidedly disappointed by this novel - it just seemed too much like Fleming's originals which, to be fair, I enjoyed when I was fourteen Still, I enjoyed 10cc and Queen then too, though I am glad to be able to say that I have grown out of them now.
    • 3/5
      This is classic Bond (whereas Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver was a definitely "modern" interpretation) : the protagonist is charming but callous, the action, taking place in the heart of Cold-War years, feels old-fashioned, and the female characters are suitably (and literally) interchangeable. This is not a bad novel, by any means, but I preferred Casino Royale by Fleming himself, and Deaver's update.
    • 4/5
      This James Bond novel, commissioned to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth, has Bond in France, Italy, and Iran, pursuing a mysterious drug-smuggler with (of course) a grandiose plan for semi-global destruction. Set in the 1960s, the book has style and better-than-average characters, while paying homage to tropes from the original Fleming novels and the various films (for example, the reliable local MI6 operative who inevitably dies doing their duty to the empire; or the vicious henchman who Bond must defeat before the final confrontation with the boss). There is, however, one twist involving the love interest -- so far-fetched, so implausible even within the Bond-world of impossible feats and to-be-overlooked plot holes -- that I groaned when it arrived. To say it diminished enjoyment of the book as a whole would be silly; but it did promptly eject me from the suspension of disbelief that Faulks' writing otherwise mostly sustained.
    • 4/5
      This started well, and to be honest, it was less pastiche than actual replica of Fleming. Loved the setting, loved the build up, the gambling & match with the major villain all proceeded well, and reminded me very strongly of Umberto Eco's analysis of the Bond novels. All went as per formula but enjoyable none the less, then after the half way mark, it became more cinematic, less dramatic, and more like Movie Bond than Fleming. Some of the background colour returned in parts, eg Mathis research into the villain's henchman, but the last third in particular read like a film script, and this was not really Fleming at all. If I could have given this 3.5 stars then I would have done. Good, but not near the standard of the Best Fleming's & after such a promising start by Mr Faulks, I was expecting more. Worth a read, but not to put something else aside to read, if you take my meaning
    • 3/5
      Faulks does Fleming no favours.Faulks was commissioned to write a James Bond thriller in the style of Ian Fleming. I don't recall if I ever read very much Fleming but Faulks manages to cast off all his usual romanticism, leaving a pacy but shallow plot. I'm reminded more of Austin Powers than James Bond but without the humour.
    • 5/5
      Devil May Care’s cover tries to entice readers by declaring that author Sebastian Faulks is writing as original—and as yet unparalleled) Bond writer Ian Fleming. But this device isn’t simply a trick to boost sales. Faulks has indeed assumed Fleming’s voice, flinging details at the reader at lightning speed while weaving an intricate plot that never slows and never bores. Faulks isn’t merely writing in Fleming’s style, he has returned Bond to the Cold War era when the Soviet Union dominated Eastern Europe and the threat of global nuclear war loomed large over the United States and Britain. Bond’s mission this time is to follow a European industrialist, Julius Gorner, who is suspected of trafficking in drugs and weapons. Along the way, Bond stumbles into the path of an alluring woman who needs his help in rescuing her sister from Gorner’s Persian compound. What follows is a classic action/spy novel that more than holds its own with Fleming’s own work.Devil May Care is not a perfect book, however. Its primary fault is that Faulks picks up and drops characters with a bit too much carelessness. The sister, who is a primary plot device, is only present for about five pages while another, familiar character, who is followed in the first chapter, virtually disappears until the final one. It is a bit disorienting when Faulks returns to characters who haven’t been mentioned in the previous hundred pages.Ultimately, I hope Faulks continues to write in this style, as Devil May Care is a fun and thrilling read that is difficult to put down.
    • 3/5

      Six out of ten.

      A savage execution in the desolate outskirts of Paris sets in motion a chain of events designed to lead only to global catastrophe, as a tide of lethal narcotics threatens to engulf Sixties Britain, a British airliner goes missing over Iraq and the thunder of coming war echoes round the Middle East...

      Typical James Bond book. Action packed but easy to read.

    • 4/5
      This gained a slight advantage from being about a character whom I dearly love but it is an essentially unremarkable spy thriller with a few notable highpoints. I enjoyed the occasional gentle puns, the references to specific Fleming novels and many nods to Fleming's literary tics. The book peaked with the tennis duel, which was a bit early to start the downhill run but it was an entertaining ride.
    • 3/5
      Still on my spy kick, I thought I’d give the new James Bond book, written by Faulks as Ian Fleming, a go. Not having read any Bond stories before, I wasnt sure what to expect. As a story, it was readable without gripping me. It had what I expected from a 007 story, a villain bent on destruction, a beautiful woman, a high class lifestyle and the inevitable Bond to the rescue. As for Faulks writing as Fleming, well again, it’s impossible to assess without reading the originals. I can’t say I felt Faulks nailed the character, it didnt necessarily feel like the Bond I know. Although I’m basing this on the films and not the original books. I would have preferred Faulks’ take on Bond writing as himself, can’t see the point having him write as Fleming. I guess the best way to judge the book is whether it’s made me want to seek out any of the original series, but right now this is not high on my reading list! Overall, story was okay but I can’t see it being adapted into film anytime soon.
    • 4/5
      This was a good James Bond novel and it felt like it was written by Ian Fleming, so I think Sebastian Faulks really did his homework. Bond seems much more real in the novels than he does in the films and much more believable storylines (although sometimes it still requires a lot of imagination). A fun read which I would recommend to every Bond fan.
    • 3/5
      This is the first non-fleming bond book I've read. It does a reasonable job of sticking to the originals, perhaps knocking some of the nastier edges of the character. The originals get name checked (I didn't keep count of which got mentioned). This is the drinking smoking bond, who plays hard with money and drives a supercharged Bentley somewhat recklessly around the streets of London. There is a flemmingesque dig at homosexuals, but toned down for more modern readers. A reasonable evenings reading, but its not going to set the world alight.
    • 4/5
      Although I agree with reviewers stating that this is not Ian Fleming original novel - from the writers point of view (I mean only person capable of writing like Ian Fleming is Ian Fleming himself, right) - this book has that Bond-like touch :) It reads very fast (I finished it in couple of hours) and has a very interesting story (villain seems to be somewhere between dr.No and Bloefeld IMHO :). Story takes place where Fleming has stopped (Bond has avenged the death of his wife and is still considered somewhat mentally unstable by his service, so he is sent on an "easy" mission - at least it looks like it when it all begins).Good book. If you are an old-time James Bond fans give it a try, I think you'll like it, and if you are a newcomer this book is a good starting point (although there may be some smaller spoilers regarding previous adventures).Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I love the James Bond movies. However, this is the first James Bond novel I have ever read. Generally, I find that spy novels and thrillers are the exception to the rule that "the book is always better than the movie". While this hasn't been made into a movie (yet), I'm quite sure that the exception would prove true here as well.Faulks has gone back to the mid-60's and the Cold War for this particular incarnation of James Bond. However, he has a much more chaste and introspective Bond than we are used to. After contemplating the ravages of time on his face and body, Bond even turns down an offer to make love to a beautiful woman. What is going on? Of course, all it takes is a cartoonish super-villain with designs on starting a new world war to bring Bond back to his normal state.By the end of the novel, Bond, with confidence restored and libido fully intact, saves the world from disaster and whisks the woman (who has a secret that I could guess about 50 pages in) away for the beginning of a beautiful affair that will last until the beginning of the next book, of course.The book is an entertaining diversion, but as to advancing the character of 007...let's just say that Bond is still Bond.
    • 3/5
      This is pretty bad. I don't know what Fawkes was doing. At times it seemed like the screenplay of an Austin Powers movie.
    • 4/5
      Would have finished sooner, but loaned my Kindle to my wife. In other words, an easy read.Is it worth the money? Well, it's a Bond book. Just like reading a Don Pendleton or Tom Clancy book, you don't come in expecting that original a story. You read it to rejoin an old friend on one more adventure. That being said, it is rather formulaic. Woman who is not what she seems? Check. Bond gets caught by villain? Check. Damsel in distress? Check. Villain talks too much? Yup. Villain appears after the finale to try to kill Bond? Most definitely.I once read that Grisham wrote his original novels by outlining others and following the similar elements. Devil May Care, like this, is merely a connect-the-dots.But, as a father, I've learned that sometimes connect-the-dots are fun as well. Give it a 3 1/2.
    • 2/5
      Sebestian Faulk captures the style of Ian Fleming's Bond novels without catching the flavor of the Fleming Bond novels. Set after Fleming's run on the Bond stories, we meet Bond coming back from a three-month leave of absence and facing down the head of a drug-ring that has its sights set on overthrowing civilization as we know it.There are some nice scenes in the book, though their interspersed too much with an almost "greatest hits" feel of other Bond elements from the Fleming run.
    • 4/5
      I've been waiting to read Devil May Care since first learning that it was on the way more than a year ago. This is a very special book that I've been looking forward to for some time (and my wife and kids haven't seen much of me since I started reading it last Tuesday night -- the eBook was available a few hours before it was supposed to be on sale!). James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, died in 1964. The last novel that he "finished" was The Man With the Golden Gun, widely considered to be the worst novel in the series. I put "finished" in quotations because there is some speculation that the book was actually finished (or at least polished) by another writer (or writers) following Fleming's death and Bond fans have often wondered how the book might have changed had Fleming had a chance to work through a second draft before publication.Anyway, following Fleming's death, there have been three (well, actually five or six, depending on how you count) continuation authors plus a prequel author. Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham) wrote Colonel Sun the late 1960s. Then nothing more was written about Bond (at least not officially or literary; John Pearson wrote The Authorized Biography of James Bond in the 1970s [it has some really interesting ideas mixed in with some dreadfully bad concepts] and Christopher Wood wrote novelizations for The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker) until 1981 when John Gardner took over the helm as the James Bond author. Gardner wrote 14 novels (plus 2 novelizations). Then, Raymond Benson, author of the excellent (and hard to find) James Bond Bedside Companion, took over and wrote 6 more novels, 3 short stories, and 3 more novelizations). Gardner and Benson essentially ignored the 15+ year gap between Fleming's death (and The Man With the Golden Gun) and Gardner's first novel License Renewed (published in 1981). But, with the exception of Colonel Sun (a sadly overlooked and underrated novel), the James Bond of the 1950s and 1960s was not seen again following Fleming's death. Until now.Several years ago, to commemorate the centennial of Fleming's birth, his literary executors decided to have a "literary" author write a Bond continuation story. They chose Sebastian Faulkes. The reason that I was so excited about Devil May Care is that it picks up Bond's story following the events of The Man With the Golden Gun (which like virtually all Bond books is dramatically different from the movie that borrows its title). As it begins, Faulkes' Bond is still recovering from the events of The Man With the Golden Gun and, by necessary implication, the wider series of events that overshadowed the final few Fleming novels (the death of Bond's wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service leading to Bond's final showdown with Blofeld in You Only Live Twice and Bond's eventual capture and brainwashing by the Soviets).Don't get me wrong, I was a huge fan of both Gardner and Benson (although I must say that Benson did a much better job of both capturing the essence of Bond's character and of "name dropping" people and places of interest to Bond fans, not to mention trying to tie up many loose ends that Fleming left behind). Similarly, I have been thoroughly enjoying Charlie Higson's Young Bond series (4 novels so far, with the 5th and final book due this fall) following the exploits of a teenage James Bond in the 1930s (and where we are beginning to see glimmers of how this teenager became the cold, efficient spy) and Samantha Weinberg's (writing as Kate Westbrook) Moneypenny Diaries series. But the character that I have the most affinity and attachment to is that written by Ian Fleming. Thus, I have been very, very eagerly looking forward to returning to the James Bond of the 1960s in Devil May Care.I'm sure that most people who have seen one or more of the James Bond films have never read one of Fleming's novels. Do yourself a favor and give one a try (start at the beginning with Casino Royale); after all, Fleming's novels can, in many ways, be seen as the precursor to the modern thriller. Moreover, you may be surprised at how different the literary Bond is from the movie character (at least until Daniel's Craig's terrific performance in Casino Royale).Anyway, back to the review. I wanted to love Devil May Care; I wanted to think that it was the best book since Ian Fleming's death. But of course, nothing ever lives up to expectations. Thus, I have to view Devil May Care both in terms of the book that I wanted it to be, the book that it was, and the books that it tries to emulate. As a James Bond adventure, Devil May Care was well done and certainly fits in quite nicely to the canon of Bond stories. It is certainly not the best Bond story, but it is far from the worst. The villain is suitably evil and Faulkes continues with Fleming's penchant for giving the villain some kind of unusual physical trait. Similarly, the "girl" had several traits that reminded me (positively) of some of the more memorable Bond girl's from Fleming's novel. Finally, I liked that Faulkes kept with the idea from the later Bond books of independent villains (i.e., not just the Soviets) but intermixed the goals of the villain with the events of the Cold War.So why didn't I give Devil May Care 5 stars? Well, as enjoyable of a read as it was (and it was lots of fun, don't get me wrong), it just wasn't quite Fleming. Faulked did an admirable job of "writing as Ian Fleming" but somehow he missed some of the grandeur and sweep of Fleming's best novels. I also had a few quibbles with various plot elements, but hey, this is a James Bond novel, so I won't get too worked up over those sorts of issues.Just a few more quick notes: I really enjoyed the tennis match (harkening back to the golf game with Goldfinger or the bridge rubber with Drax), although Bond's skill at tennis seems to have been a bit more than should have been expected. Also, it was great to see the return of both Rene Mathis and Felix Leiter (and, it is worth noting that Faulkes does not ignore Leiter's serious injuries or the fact that he is no longer employed by the CIA). And I loved the bit when M and Bond compare the villain to some of the past villains that Bond has faced and recall some of his prior missions (including the mission briefly alluded to as having occurred just before the events of Goldfinger).So, on the whole, I really enjoyed Devil May Care, but it didn't quite live up to the unreasonably high expectations that I had for it. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to read it. I hope that it will serve as the entry point for people who are curious about the literary James Bond.
    • 5/5
      Having never read any of Ian Flemings James Bond novels, I wasn't too sure what to expect from Faulks. The reviews on Amazon are really mixed, but for me, I thought it a great novel, I was hooked from page one, plenty of Pace, action, thrills, & humor.