Customer Reviews
A poor imitation - By: A. J. Allars, 01 Jan 2009 
I'm afraid this is a very poor attempt to continue the James Bond novels, & the Fleming estate, who commissioned the book, should never have let it be published.
I'm afraid Mr Faulks fails to capture any of the plausibility of the original books & has clearly suffered from watching too many of the recent films.
The plot, to destroy Britain with a combination of heroin & Russian nukes is ridiculous, the villian is completely unconvincing & the love interest for Bond luke warm. The tennis match where Bond first meets the villian tries to emulate the golf roundin Goldfinger but fails completely.
I soldiered through to the end but wished I hadn't, I recommend you not to bother.
Disappointing rip-off - By: G. Watson, 29 Dec 2008 
I really wanted to like this book. Ive been a fan of the original Bond books for years & I was expecting much more from this offering than the same old recycled nonsense.
The plot is generally poor. In common with the most recent Bond film, it seems to skip around aimlessly, never really driving the narrative but only serving to deposit Bondin another exotic location where he can beat up some baddies, drink martinis etc yawn etc.
The whole book to me lacks imagination. There are no new ideas & the few good parts are lifted either from fleming's originals or from the films.
The books primary location - pre-revolutionary Iran - is an attempt at giving it some modern day relevance but Faulks only ends up patronising his readers by not addressing the problems the country was facing at the time. He also completely fails to mention the growing Islamist movement that was emergingin the country. His excursion into Soviet Russia is a similar wasted opportunity.
By the way Mr Faulks, you may play tennis but James Bond certainly does not.
A mish-mash of bond lore - By: E. Davis, 22 Dec 2008 I don't think I'd ever envy the job of penning continuing the adventures (singular or plural) of a character like James Bond, that being said I don't think Sebastian Faulks fails to recapture the feel of the novels.
In 'Devil May Care' what the reader gets are a series of nods & winks to the past Flemming series. Bond isin the 60's but by the way he acts anyone would think he's livingin the politically correct 21st century. Bond no longer drinks as usual, women don't entice him, almost like he's ready for retirement. The villain lacks the strength of past foes, he seems unconvincing & aside from the usual obscure disability that tragically Bond villains seem to always have, doesn't really have any menace. He sells drugs, & wants to bomb Russia, for flimsiest of reasons.
The book returns to old characters like Mathis & Leiter, but it feels rushed almost like he's trying to throw as many familiar faces as possible to make it a Bond novel. The female interest is surprising but then annoying. The locations of Afghanistan & Iran or Iraq (apologies if I confuse you), are there only to draw comparisons. the climax & conclusion are dull to say the least, the death of the villain being an incredibly disappointing.
If this was a person doing an impression as it says of Ian Flemming he should be booed off stage. I once heard this might be considered for a movie, I hope not.
Skillful Pseudopigraphy... - By: T. Patmore, 30 Nov 2008 
A good effort - from my limited experience of Bond books, I can't really tell this apart from one. The plot is interesting & perilous & goes places Bond never went before (e.g. the Soviet Union & Persia). It also has all of the ingredientsin the right proportions (girls, guns & glamour), which make for a good action adventure, without lapsing into cliche.
A word on the narrator. Jeremy Northam isn't as good as Rufus Sewell is on the other Bond audio books, but is clear & slightly edgy which make for a well spoken & not dull voice, even if it is not overly brimming with character at times...
My one criticism is that the text is a little crude at various points, which I know the Bond books can be, but this one seemed unnecessarily lecherousin its attempt to make Gorner out to be evil. The whole 'parade' & workers harem do add to the vileness of the baddy, but don't really add much to the plot, other than to make the baddy a bit too much of a Stalinist caricature.
So, allin all, it is good. The best thing about it is that the audio book has a bond song recorded by 'Sal', which wipes the floor with any other bond theme song I've heard since 'Tomorrow never dies'. Can't get it on iLike, but it is a raw & gritty song that makes you wish for a film version...
James Bond by Numbers - By: Mr. K. G. Ansell, 24 Nov 2008 I have just finished reading Devil May Care & am surprised at all of the rave reviews the book has been getting.
I have collected & read/re-read all of the James Bond books over the years by Ian Flemming, Robert Markham (aka Kingsley Amis), John Gardner & Raymond Benson & found Sebastian Faulks story to be almost James Bond by numbers when compared to his predecessors. The climax (or should I say anti climax) of the bookin which Bond kills the villain is almost tagged on as an after thought. The one thing I did enjoy was the fact the story is setin the 1960's directly after The Man With The Golden Gun.
