Carte Blanche: The New James Bond Novel

Written by Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by Toby Stephens

James Bond as you've never sen him before...in the smashing new thriller and #1 international bestseller from Jeffrey Deaver.

A Night Action alert calls James Bond away from dinner with a beautiful woman. Headquarters has decrypted an electronic whisper—plans for a devastating attack:

Casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected.

James Bond, in his early thirties and already a veteran of the Afghan War, has been recruited to a new organization. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of MI5, MI6, and the Ministry of Defense, its very existence deniable. Its aim: to protect the Realm, by any means necessary.

And Agent 007 has been given carte blanche to do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781442340657

Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver is the No.1 international bestselling author of more than forty novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages.

Reviews for Carte Blanche

[knowledgelost · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I think of a reboot of James Bond, I think about Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies and all the newer Bond movies. Carte Blanche is the first novel in the Bond series to get a reboot; a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and former smoker. These are the only real big differences I can see in this novel. Everything you would expect in a Bond novel/movie is still here; the cars (a Bentley Continental GT and even a Subaru Impreza WRX) the girls (so many of them), the gadgets (including a custom iphone called a qiphone) and of course the over-the-top action. Even some of the common friends of Bond make an apperence in this book, including; M, Moneypenny and Felix Leiter.

As for the story, this reminds me a lot of Tomorrow Never Dies but instead of an insane Reporter causing all the attacks it is an Eco Terrorist group. There is a lot of action, flirting and double crossing, I’ve never read another Bond novel but this was everything I wanted. I know many people are concerned about this reboot but I must admit, it still lives up the the Bond name. I will go back and read some of the older 007 novels but for now this lives up to the Bond name, if I compare it to the movies.

[John S. Peterson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Are you kidding me the guy is not even British

[bezoar44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No reasonable reader expects high quality literature in a Bond novel, and this isn't. It is fun - the plot is better than most, and the characters are off-beat. The author was apparently charged to 'update' Bond, leading to some jarring changes in core character details - this Bond is in his early thirties in 2011, and displays a greater degree of empathy towards (some) women. There's just no way this Bond can live in the same universe as the canonical Bond. The dialogue seems modeled on the Roger Moore version of the character -- witty and irreverent -- but it often falls amusingly flat. For example, a beautiful flight attendant on a private jet accidentally wakes Bond when she opens a bottle of Dom Perignon near him. She apologizes, he forgives, adding, "and don't worry. My second favorite way to wake up is to the sound of champagne opening." Even without a leer, that's just smarmy. Part of the updating involves a new signature cocktail, which Bond orders (and consistently claims to have invented) even when he's under deep cover, which seems remarkably inept, though it may simply be de rigeur for an international man of mystery. Brand names of cars, men's clothing, and alcohol are ubiquitous in the novel, as are potted descriptions and color details of the exotic locations Bond visits. It's a little hard to tell if the author traveled to them in person or just used Google Earth and Wikipedia - I suspect the latter -- but the story bludgeons the reader with its authenticity. Still, I didn't put it down halfway through, so for a Bond novel, it was great.

[bensdad00 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jeffery Deaver was hired to do a modern reboot of 007 novels just as Daniel Craig was brought in to the film franchise. Similar Big Name. Similar Big Results.

When I have recommended Fleming's Bond books to people in the past I've told them that, while they are completely formulaic and a product of their time, they transcend the limits of formula thrillers and the constraints of outdated ideology through a careful literary feel for when to bypass the formula and a studied political ear for when to cut against then-popular group-think. His instincts - both for conventions and their undermining - served Fleming well. How did Deaver do? Let's run the checklist:

The classic Bond novels were structured, in my reading, around five sections - like a newspaper - and had something for everyone.

Bond (mot in order):

1) Went somewhere 'exotic' - a travelogue
2) Ate great meals - food and restaurant review
3) Gambled, and gave us an insight into a game - sports columnist
4) Fought a bad guy - headline news
5) Bedded a beautiful woman - to stretch a poor newspaper analogy, personal ads

And he did all of this in about 200 pages.

Deaver nails all of the points save #3 - albeit in a bloated 400 pages; and without attempting to subsume his own stylistic bents at all. In addition to the Fleming formula, we are inundated with typical Deaver devices - double agents, misheard and misinterpreted scraps of conversation, ambiguous pronoun-ing to disguise characters and cliffhanger chapters that are shocking...until they happen so often that they are not.

Carte Blanche is a good James Bond and it's a good Jeffery Deaver; but with a little more attention to convention it could have been great.

[sarielle-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love all the books from Jeffery Deaver and when I found out that he wrote one of the James Bond books I was really interested. And definitely, I'm not disappointed.

James Bond is given a new mission. His unsuccessful action in Serbia seems to have a bigger impact than anyone suspected. A dangerous engineer of the felonies, the Irishmen escapes to UK where Bond has no power to act. But as the case becomes more and more serious, he has to leave England to stop the criminal schema.

In some way this is a very typical book from Deaver. The plot is intense and complicated with lots of twists. Nothing is what it seems to be. Everybody who likes Deaver style won't be disappointed. Bond is also more complicated character than what we know for the movies.

This is a highly entertaining read.

[andy_dimartino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nice addition to the 007 family

[paulagalvan-323293 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was great to read a James Bond (who will forever be Sean Connery in my head) book again. I think Jeffery Deaver did it justice. The action was non-stop and the creepy villain, Severan Hydt, with his long, yellow fingernails and perversion for all things dead was captivating. I loved the sexy girl's name too - Felicity Willing. She didn't fool James though. Very entertaining.

[csdaley-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was barely a 3. It tried way too hard to bring Bond into the modern age. Deaver is a good writer but I constantly was pulled out of the story by what I thought were Bond movie moments. It was like someone gave him a great toy and he didn't quite know what to do with it.

[kvrfan9 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

James Bond: Organization Man? Say it ain’t so!

Yet this is exactly what Jeffery Deaver has given us in Carte Blanche, his reboot of the 007 franchise.

And the result is a pretty terrible book.

While Deaver is intent on reiterating Bond’s tastes in fast cars, sharp attire, and quality booze, he misses what originally made 007 such an iconic figure. Ian Fleming’s James Bond, arising from the conformism of the 1950s, carried the appeal of being an outsider within the system, someone who exercised the freedom of his “licensed-to-kill” status to create his own rules, bucking convention. Fleming’s Bond worked on very long tether from HQ as he pursued his quarries, as in his search for his nemeses from SPECTRE. He could be cold and arrogant, definitely not a team player. While a reader certainly roots for him, there are occasions that same reader might not be sure whether he likes him. Critics even came to characterize him an “anti-hero.” (In contrast to Deaver, the cinematic reboot casting Daniel Craig as 007 actually captures these character traits quite well.)

Deaver, on the other hand, wants to have a likeable James Bond, who loves his parents, cares about world hunger, only wounds his attackers if he doesn’t absolutely have to kill them, and is always “phoning home.” His relationships with all his colleagues at HQ are warm and chummy. His apartment decorations reflect sentimentality. Even in pursuit of a bad guy, Bond takes time to “smell the flowers,” noticing the beauty of his surroundings. At one point, Deaver has Bond asked himself, “What would M do in this situation?”—something Fleming’s Bond would never be caught doing. This is a sanitized Boy’s Life version of James Bond (an appropriate metaphor in more ways than one, since the book feels like it was written at a sixth-grade level).

As for the central villain, he’s a cipher, nothing more than a cardboard cut-out. Again, one of things that Deaver neglects is that Ian Fleming created villains who were memorable because they were even matches with Bond. 007’s confrontations with Le Chiffre, Drax, Goldfinger, and Blofeld held tension because they were resolved through a battle of wits, not gadgets. Over and over again in Carte Blanche, Bond proves he’s at least one step ahead of his adversaries, having outthought them at every step. In every one of these instances, the reader feels cheated because even when it seems Bond in danger, it is later revealed he wasn’t in danger at all because 007 had taken all the options into account and already taken countermeasures to keep the upper hand.

Fleming's 007 was a character who would probably be pretty insufferable if you had him as a friend, but he made for some pretty riveting adventures. Deaver's Bond is someone who would probably prove to be a good friend, but all in all, that makes him pretty boring.

[preston.whit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I do not want to ruin the ending for anyone interested in reading this book. However, I will say that the story is formulaic of 007. Like many of the more recent Bond films such as "Casino Royale", this book has many themes and is much grittier than classic 007 movies like Dr. No.

With that being said, I will answer the essential questions?

1. Is the book entertaining? YES

2. Are some of the themes believable? This one's a bit mixed.

I like one of the characters' interest in recycling old computers and saving its hard drives to reassemble classified information and metadata.

If you know about metadata or work for government agencies such as libraries, museums or the FBI, you will find the nefarious intentions, which I will NOT mention due to spoilers, a bit of a stretch. But regardless of what you might think, this is a decent summer read but not a life-changer, either.

If you are an archivist, you may break out into NARA hives at the thought of some of the "recycling" ideas.

Another enjoyable story, but nothing fantastic, either.

[mausergem_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a James Bond novel. While Ian Fleming's James Bond was a chain smoking ruthless killer and a womanizer, Jeffery Deaver's James Bond has a human side to him. This does go down well for me. The story overall is fast paced and keeps you interested all the time, this James Bond story doesn't hit the mark.

[con.rad · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good read, the villains were a little underwhelming, and some of the reversals were very cinematic in the reading, the character update was OK, but looking forward to see how the writer develops with these characters. Did not so much like the call outs to all the stock characters, and the women's names were, well, unfortunate.

[carl_alves_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

James Bond finds a relaunch in Carte Blanche. This is not your father’s James Bond. This version uses spy cell phone apps and made his bones in military intelligence in Afghanistan. Early in Bond’s career, he is working in a special branch of Britain’s national security where he is given carte blanche to get the job done to protect the realm, no matter what he has to do. In this novel, he is trying to stop an incident from happening following a waste magnate and his hired gun, Niall Dunne, who it readily becomes apparent, is the brains of the operation and the adversary that Bond will ultimately have to stop. The story goes from Serbia to England to South Africa with lots of action in between.I enjoyed the new style of James Bond. The modern update works fairly well. I also found the writing to be competent and professional. What the novel suffers from is a lack of believability. The technology the bad guys use is science fiction and has no basis in reality. Also, the characterization of all of the villains in the story is weak. The twist at the end doesn’t work very well. In the end, this is an entertaining but not really good novel.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

[tulsatv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very competent update of 007. Doesn't have the sparkle of Fleming, but I enjoyed the modern details of spycraft. The double-cross count was too high, as in John Gardner's 007 novel, "Icebreaker", which hurt believability. The windup was a bit too mystery novel-like. All in all, though, very "readable" (as M once conceded of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books).

[robfreeze · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good read but not quite Fleming's Bond. The new adaption of Bond was good. I would have given the book a 3.5 if I had the option - not quite a 4 since it did not hold my attention from chapter to chapter like some books. Entertaining none the less.

[mporterf_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jeffery Deaver doing James Bond is like having Robert Downey, Jr. play... Sherlock Holmes. Well done, but with serious disconnects on multiple levels. One needs to just enjoy the story as a story, and suspend complaints about deviations from Fleming's ideal. Though I am enjoying the story, I think Deaver needs to get back to Lincoln Rhyme.

[aadyer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Started well & read very like Fleming & was almost the thought that you were reading a Bond for the modern age. The further it went on though, the more it became more Jeffrey Deaver than Ian Fleming. As a purist, I was a little let down

[arjacobson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Carte Blanche: The New James Bond Novel by Jeffery Deaver (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. 432 pp) originally posted at wherepenmeetspaper.blogspot.comBorn outside Chicago, Jeffery Deaver earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University. Prior to becoming a bestselling author, Deaver was a journalist, folksinger and attorney. Having written thirty books, Deaver has won numerous awards. For The Bodies Left Behind, he won Novel of the Year from the International Thriller Writers Association; The Cold Moon was named Book of the Year by the Mystery Writers Association of Japan and the Grand Prix Award. Additionally, he has received the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the Nero Wolfe Award.Old History and New BeginningsWhen James Bond first stepped onto the pop-culture stage, the Cold War was in full effect. Ian Flemming created the character in 1953, and 007 stopped a speeding Serbian train loaded with hazardous chemicals. No tricky gadgets, no iphone app. Bond was a man’s man and a predecessor to MacGyver, without the cheesy mullet.However, as the Cold War drew to an end, James Bond’s enemies fell from view. With no clear enemy in sight, the Bond series fell into disrepair. But, with the dawn of the insurmountable enemy that is global terrorism, James Bond came upon the scene again. Jeffrey Deaver, an American, tells a new tale of the technically supreme James Bond.HomagePerhaps in homage to the 1953 James Bond, Deaver starts the novel by having James Bond stop a train with hazardous chemicals on board. “His hand on the dead-man throttle, the driver of the Serbian Rail diesel felt the thrill he always did on this particular stretch of railway, heading north from Belgrade and approaching Novi Sad...his imagination told him the noise was the metal containers of the deadly chemical in car number three, jostling against one another, at risk of spewing forth their poison. Nonsense, he told himself and concentrated on keeping the speed steady. Then, for no reason at all, except that it made him feel better, he tugged at the air horn” (3-4).With trains hauling deadly chemicals, this novel starts the way every other bond tome begins. Not until later in the novel do we meet the new James Bond.The VillainSeveran Hydt (Severan seems to always be a name indicative of evil – Harry Potter’s Severan Snape certainly alludes to this fact as well) is not your typical villain – he’s concerned about the environment, and also has a penchant for photographing dead bodies. Hydt is also responsible for spreading fear by threatening to inflict the Gehenna attacks, an unknown event that will place thousands of British lives in danger. The trick is that this threat is unknown; Bond and MI5 are trying to find both the details and the location of the attack.“Estimated initial casualties in the thousands, British interests adversely affected, funds transfers as discussed” (156).As the novel unfolds, the message becomes clearer,“Confirm incident friday night, 20th, estimated initial casualties in the thousands” (366).Using a typical spy cover as an arms dealer, Bond is able to infiltrate Hydt’s base of operations in South Africa in order to ascertain more about the scenario. While undercover, he forms a relationship with a policewoman named Bheka Jordaan in order to try to investigate the work of Hydt.KnighthoodJames Bond is a knight – simply driven by the knight’s code of right versus wrong and honor versus dishonor. He is willing to sacrifice himself, and to exercise his “carte blanche” when he needs to. “Carte blanche”, or the ability to operate outside of the law is something that Bond always struggles with in light of his knightly values. He always is curious: “at what point do I become just like the enemy if I continue operating outside of the law?”Fast FoodAll in all, Carte Blanche is a good book. I’ll liken it to fast food; it’s amazing, and you know it. But, you really don’t want (or at the very least shouldn’t want) a quarter pounder with cheese every day. If you do, I strongly urge you to seek medical attention soon, as your heart may have already stopped several times. So, read it. Aside from the current global events that provide an intriguing setting for our hero, don’t expect any life changing revelations, or some moralistic platitudes. But, you can expect a novel that delivers James Bond, and with the lack of Double-Oh-Seven films lately, no one can really blame you. If some good, indulgent fast food interests you, read Carte Blanche.originally posted at wherepenmeetspaper.blogspot.com

[cwlongshot · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've always loved the Bond films, even the corny ones with Roger Moore, but I'd never gotten excited about the Ian Fleming books. So, not being much of a spy novel fan in general, I was surprised how good this book was. Sure Deaver has to include a few Bond trademarks, but I like how he wove them in to prevent a cliche. The book feels fully modern the way the Daniel Craig movies have. I look forward to reading other books by Jeffery Deaver.

[weeziesbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very enjoyable book. I gave it an 4star rating and it is almost there for me. I have been reading Jeffrey Deaver's for quite some time but have been disappointed with his last few books. Reading ‘Carte Blanche,’ with 007James Bond as the hero, I feel as if Deaver may have come back to his previous style and high quality of writing. “Carte Blanche” is a completely modern thriller based upon today’s world concerns of personal and financial safety and privacy. This is a hot topic and plays into an ‘age-old’ fear of governmental intervention or big brother, except in this book, the villains are simply a number of unscrupulous and twisted individuals (men and women) whose love of money, power and strange personal eccentricities drive them to extreme acts of evil. The primary villain Severan Hydt is well developed evil character whose facade of passionate and committed businessman makes me glad that I don’t have to meet him in any context. I will be able to see his long yellow fingernails that caused such revulsion in Bond, to be a picture in my mind for some time. The topic of data mining through a massive recycling and garbage collection business could cause us to feel as if we must smash old laptops, then shred, burn and pour water on our discarded personal documents and never place anything important on any other type of technological tool, email or social media again. I may think twice whenever I see a big green truck rolling down my street in the early hours of the morning. James Bond is still living a fast paced, edge of the seat dangerous lifestyle with his usual fast cars, fine wines and brilliant, powerful, beautiful women as partners and foes. The personalization of Bond by bringing in his own private questions and fears about his parents and his past was a surprising good sub plot which I felt added depth to Bond’s character. This was a very good book and I will again look forward again to the next Jeffrey Deaver book.

[mswallack_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

And yet another difficult book to review. As any of my followers know, I'm a huge James Bond fan. So, I tend to really like James Bond books but I also expect a lot from James Bond books. With Carte Blanche, Deaver has "rebooted" the Bond series (much as Daniel Craig's Casino Royale did). While one or two elements seemed a bit off, all-in-all, I liked the way Deaver moved Bond into the post-9/11 (and 4/11) 21st Century, in particular the way new technology was both utilized and relied upon. It's hard to think of Ian Fleming's James Bond using an iPhone, but to Deaver's Bond, that device is just part of the standard operating kit. As a story, Carte Blanche brought some fresh ideas to the Bond canon, including an interesting villain that had some of the traditional quirkyness of a Fleming villain, but without going off into the ridiculous. The motivations of another important character were also left murky until the conclusion in a way that offered the reader a bit of surprise. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the violent and morose elements of Bond's character, but his living in the high life was on wonderful display. Hopefully, Deaver will return to Bond before too long.

[kevinspicks2011 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very disappointing. After all the hype I expected so much more than a basic plot for the ongoing film series. To be honest only Kingsley Amis' attempt is any good...always difficult to carry on a much-loved character. Still better than Sebastian Faulks' attempt.

[maureen61_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful addition to the James Bond collection. This modern day spy thriller focuses on the recycling industry and an evil mogul who strives to further enrich his bizarre passion for death and decay. Well written with unexpected twists and plot turns that keep you interested to the very end.

[jeffv_19 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

James Bond, the movie star, might be shelved for unforeseeable future, but he lives again in literature. No, Zombie Ian Fleming didn't crack out a posthumous volume. Veteran suspense writer Jeffery Deaver takes up the mantle with another tail featuring our favorite secret agent.Bond movies are pretty formulaic, and Deaver's book follows suit. Smart, powerful villains, impossible situations, and goofy gadgets are all here. This James Bond seems based on the hardened, terse Daniel Craig version. A combat veteran of Afghanistan, we find out a little more about his past, particularly his parents. This is the sort of content you just won't get in a movie -- it doesn't really promote the action, but it does flesh out the character.Also to the formula the book ends with an unexpected twist. Is a twist unexpected if you expect it to be there? Hmm. In any case, Deaver executes it in style, and the book had a satisfying, entertaining end.

[mountie9_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Good Stuff * This is my first James Bond book ever and I was seriously impressed. I love spy movies but have never been a fan of spy books, usually way too much detail and bored with all the spy stuff. But this was fabulous * Fast paced plot with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing * The right blend of action and intrigue for both the spy novel fan and those who usually are not keen on this sort of thing * Stays true to the James Bond mythology but at the same time brings him into the modern age. Done without losing what makes you love Bond, fabulous cars, great gadgets, excitement and hot bond girls * Great character names * After reading this I am off to pick up some more Jeffery Deaver books, I really enjoy the way he writes * Lots of intrigue and on the edge of your seat scenes - sort of like watching a Bond flick * Writes a good Bond, sort of pictured him as a mix of Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton with a little bit of Connery thrown in - would totally want to wake up in bed with him * Nicely multicultural and not as misogynistic * Interesting back history on James Bond's parentsThe Not so Good Stuff * M is a man -- I know historically he has been a Man, but I have loved that in the movies M is now a women * Some boring spy descriptions -- now for true spy novel fans this point should go in above section, but hey I am being honest about MY particular enjoyment of the bookFavorite Quotes/Passages"He shaved with a heavy, double-bladed safety razor, its handle of light buffalo horn. He used this fine accessory not because it was greener to the environment than the plastic disposables that most men employed but simply because it gave a better shave - and required some skill to wield; James Bond found comfort even in small challenges.""Evil, James Bond had learned, can be tirelessly patient.""And don't worry. My second favorite way to wake up is to the sound of champagne opening."She responded to this with a subtle smile."Who should/shouldn't read * Perfect for James Bond purists and those new to the genre * Great for fans of intrigue and spy stories4 Dewey's My Blog Post from the Jeffery Deaver signingI received this from Bookalicious at the Yummy Mummy Club. Plus I bought my own copy to be signed for my hubby and me

[twiglet12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wasn’t expecting to, but I really enjoyed this book. I certainly enjoyed it more than Sebastian Faulks’ attempt with Devil May Care. Although Bond gets a reboot in much the same way as he did in the films, Jeffery Deaver has managed to stick fairly faithfully to the style and rhythm of the Fleming’s creation and the book contains many of the joys that the original novels provided; the sensual delights of fine food, expensive liquor, fast cars and flirtatious encounters with women, the fascinating details of tradecraft and the opportunity to be introduced to different countries, cultures and industries. This is the first time I have read a Jeffery Deaver novel and if his other books have the same way of making it impossible to put the book down at the end of a chapter, then I am more than tempted to pick up one of his own creations.

[gaskella_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the latest addition to the Bond canon, Jeffery Deaver takes our favourite thirty-something secret agent, uproots him from the 1960s and transplants him firmly into the twenty-first century, in the same way that the film of Casino Royale did a few years ago. The Bond I envisaged though wasn’t the gorgeous Daniel Craig, but the original and best, Sean Connery, and Deaver has succeeded in bringing Fleming’s original character up to date. All the trademarks were there – cars, quality booze, jet-setting, and women, including the superfluously named Felicity Willing! As far as women go though, this modern Bond has a very slight vulnerability – he is deeply attracted to his new secretary, Ophelia (Phillly) Maidenhead – a girl who rides a motorcycle. She does have a fiancé though, and Bond isn’t going to intrude.The plot moves on at a cracking pace in typical Deaver style with, as he puts it, a surprise ending every few chapters. The surprises are not always cliff-hangers either – there is even the odd anti-climax or two which ups the ante for the next biggie. We start in Serbia, before moving to London and environs, then Dubai and Cape Town – all perfect locations for action.The main baddie is a typical megalomaniac with a modern field of business – recycling – in all aspects you can think of. He is a nasty man who has a peccadillo – a lust for examining death and decay – from still alive but ageing, beauty queens to exhumed corpses. This fetish leads him to need fresh newly killed bodies to explore, and a partnership with an skilled Irishman who, throughout the book, remains almost unreadable. Together they have hatched the ‘Gehenna’ plot, and Bond will have to go undercover and use all the technology and personnel at his disposal to foil it. The moment I heard the word ‘Gehenna’ though, my alarm bells started ringing. Surely, using names such as a Jewish word for Hell for one’s dastardly plot, would similarly set klaxons off at GCHQ and other monitoring stations. Why don’t baddies choose fluffy names for their dastardly deeds?Fleming may have been one of the first authors to use branding to highlight the lifestyle of his hero – Dom Peringnon and Aston Martins spring to mind, but Deaver takes that concept and slight overdid it for me. He also never forgets to let us know he’s updated the scenario – I found the constant reminders that we’re now in the 21st century were all too plentiful. Mentions of Top Gear, Guy Ritchie films, and the Two Ronnies(!), which are all so of their time, will date this book in a way that keeping it classic, as Fleming did, won’t. The one area of direct homage to Fleming is Deaver/Bond’s creation of a new cocktail – viz the ‘Vesper’ inCasino Royale. For info, a Carte Blanche is a double Crown Royal over ice (a Canadian Whisky I’m unfamiliar with), half a measure of triple sec, two dashes of bitters and a twist of orange peel.On the whole, I thought Deaver’s Bond was well done – he’s obviously researched long and hard to make sure he got it right, going back to the original novels. The result is a good hybrid of Fleming’s Bond in a Deaver thriller. A few little Americanisms appeared to have got through – a woman is ‘keyboarding’ rather than typing at a computer for instance – but that is small beer. Deaver’s expertise in modern tradecraft is also admirable, but does require much explanation for all the new technology at Bond’s disposal. One nice thing was that Deaver has delved into Bond’s back-story to bring tantalising glimpses of growing up to life.The supporting characters were great – especially Philly, and Percy Osborne-Smith, Bond’s counterpart in MI5. The love interests though were rather subdued, sublimated to the driving pace of the plot; (if this gets filmed, no doubt, they’ll be more prominent). The villains may have been rather one-dimensional as regards their personalities, but the detail they brought to the plot was impressive. The bickering between the government agencies made up for any deficiencies there though, and we get reminded of M’s first name … first revealed in Moonraker, but my lips are sealed.In summary, this book is not perfect, but it was great fun, and a must for any Bond fan. (7.5/10)