Devil May Care

By: Sebastian Faulks

Narrated by: Tristan Layton

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.

Critic reviews

“Keep[s] the action coming fast and furious.... Devoted to full-throttle pursuit.” —The New York Times“A satisfying thriller. . . . A fond and at times funny homage to all the other books in the series.” —The New York Times “Superb. . . . Clever, quickly paced and pedal-to-the-metal entertainment.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Superior.... The book races along. Unlike many modern novels, it gets better and better.”—The Economist“Well-written [and] entertaining.... The tension ratchets up.” —The Wall Street Journal“Goes down as easily as one of 007’s bon mots.”—The Christian Science Monitor“So satisfying was Sebastian Faulks’s new James Bond novel that I felt obliged to celebrate by making myself a vodka martini, very dry, shaken, not stirred.” —Fritz Lanham, Houston Chronicle“Faulks is a graceful writer with a bracing cold streak and a sharp eye for period detail.” —Time“Has admirable style and verve, in large part because Faulks approaches the material with respect, never winking at the reader.”—The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Tristan must have never watched a Bond movie.

What did you love best about Devil May Care?

The story is good and it is in the style of the Ian Fleming books. Better than many others I have read. However, the narrator must have never watched a Bond Flim, he miss pronounced Felix Leiter's name; to be fair, he pronounces has it should be, but all movies it is lighter.

Attention Grabbing

A well written adventure, for most of the novel, you will feel like you are right there. Spoiler alert, no real twist... The only disappointing part.

Loved it!

What made the experience of listening to Devil May Care the most enjoyable?

Loved the story. Wish it wouldn't end.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

It wasn't a suspenseful as some I had listened to before, but it was still entertaining.

Very close to the original

If you enjoy the original Bond books you will definitely enjoy this. I recomend it to fill your Fleming fix. This is definitely one of the post Fleming books that will pull you in and make you think you are listening to the Bond of old.

Worst James Bond story EVAR!

Would you try another book from Sebastian Faulks and/or Tristan Layton?

No.

Would you ever listen to anything by Sebastian Faulks again?

No. The story makes no sense, the characters' motives are absurd and James Bond behaves like the worst, most incompetent spy in the world. Its a terrible story, and screams with the most clichéd Bond stereotypes of a philandering drunk out to use violence to perpetuate western hegemony. Ian Fleming was no Shakespeare, but at least his stories made sense, his characters were plausible, and Bond had redeeming qualities. This is just rubbish.

What didn’t you like about Tristan Layton’s performance?

His foreign accents are pitiful. If you're that bad at accents, don't try. Just read the characters naturally.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

Save your money or credits. Get something else. Jeffrey Deaver's Carte Blanche is a much better story.