Devil May Care (2008) (Bond #36) by Sebastian Faulks. Mr. Faulks is attempting to write in the voice of Ian Fleming. To properly read and enjoy this book, and to properly review this book, the reader should have a history of reading the Fleming novels. If your only view of Bond is from the movies then you are seriously hindered in you appraisal of this writing. In the original novels Bond had survived WWII, seeing some action and forming a world view from his experiences, A survivor, and a killer due to that experience, he left nonsense behind and devoted himself to the mission, namely making certain that Great Britain remained Great and her enemies remained vanquished.
As a 00 agent he brought the same sensibilities. Enjoy today, do your best to see tomorrow, and regret nothing seems to be his motto for living, something the films have drained away replacing them with quips and gadgets. Self-reliance was probably Bond’s greatest virtue, something the movies retained but never truly heralded.
With that said, it is nice to return to a Bond adventure that harkens back to the original books. Yes, there is the travel to “exotic” locations and women and danger, but there is also the mission. I’ve read in various reviews that the Bond books and movies all run to a trope in that there is a “Super Villain” who plans “Super Evil” of some type, is assisted by a cadre of henchmen that try to stop Bond, and there are beautiful women (in the Fleming novels usually just a single beautiful woman) who are dangerous to one degree or another.
Of course these things are present. The 00 section is reserved for when killing is the probably only answer to the problem presented by the mission. Only a supreme evil needs such a drastic response. These books do not enlist a bad guy who has been diddling with his taxes or stealing boxes of paper clips from work. In order to send a 00 agent out there has to be a great threat to national security, and even world security. So when you pick up a Bond book you will always find what you expect. It is just in the manner of how the threat is presented and the reaction of Bond that differs.
Here the threat is drugs. Drugs are a self-inflicted horror that is easy to get into but difficult to remove yourself from. This is the minor threat presented by Dr. Julius Gorner, industrialist and evil mastermind (if you can call trying to get every young person in England addicted) that is soon overshadowed by his true plan for the destruction of Great Britain, and perhaps more of the world. Like all super evil beings, Gorner likes to win at every thing he does. There is a tennis match Bond participates in that somehow has been rigged in Gorner’s favor. There is the beautiful woman, one of a set or twins, who helps Bond with the match.
While Poppy seems to fall into trouble, Bond and her sister Scarlett do some terrain hopping trying to save her and the world. In all truth a Bond book doesn’t need a great, pristine new plot. The tropes of the past will carry us through the story. What is needed are twists and turns, unexpected betrayals and loyalities, a good bad person, a least one outstanding henchman, vivid depictions of localities (made more difficult to render properly when the date of the writing drifts further and further away from the time setting for the book) and a proper world view. Bond is always better when he relies on his own skill set, his tenacity, and often his charm rather than the movie gizmo’s and gimcracks that would have Flemings rolling his eyes in disbelief.
Is Devil May Care the best of the Bond books? Probably not, but it is a good, thrilling read that will leave the audience satisified. And really, isn’t that all we ask of a book, or our literary heroes? ( )

For completists only! It's kinda fine.

The early parts seemed pretty bad, and I was very aware of the pastiche. It warmed up though. I felt Faulks caught Bond's dialogue reasonably well. Big plot holes though, and twists which were pretty obvious (even to the characters), and M seems to have got a lot more sentimental than I remember. Overall, there's a slightly apologetic feel to it.

I think all of the things that are wrong with this are probably also wrong at times in Fleming's, but perhaps not all in one book. ( )

This book was published in 2008 as a tribute to Ian Fleming and it takes you back in time to the 1970s and the Cold War. The invasion and war in Ukraine beginning as I was reading this novel added a whole other dimension to the story. It is a long time since I read an Ian Fleming 007 book but I felt that Sebastian Faulks did a good job of including all the aspects of a Bond novel. There are car chases, a beautiful woman, an evil man with an ape hand and a side-kick that lacks any compassion. 007 flies between countries, enjoying good food and plenty of alcohol when he can and surviving torture and injuries when he has to. ( )

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. ( )

Having been an avid reader of the 007 books by Gardner and Benson, I can't help but be disappointed in this entry. The first 007 novel in some time, the idea of a story set in the Cold War neutralized most of the tension in this adventure, although Faulks does capture some of nuances of Fleming's style. He earns point for use of the Soviet EKroncraft (I'm surprised this cool piece of tech has not shown up in a movie before) but much of the novel plays out like a pastiche on Fleming's Bonds instead of something with a life and style of its own. Dairus is a stand-in for Kermin Bey and we are treated to a return appearance by Leiter (but without a pairing up with 007). The central villain is a bit OTT even for a Bond foe (a monkey paw, honestly?) and his last minute switch in diabolical plans from drugging all of England to precipitating war seems like Faulk suddenly felt this book needed a bit more action. The tennis match between Gorner and Bond is a too obvious homage to Goldfinger.Not very exciting but I suppose worth a read for the completionest. I think the way to go is to bring back Benson and keep the modern Bonds going. ( )