Scan barcode
A review by johnmcpheat
Carte Blanche 007 by Jeffery Deaver
4.0
It's hard to talk about this book without giving anything away. So I'll say it first up: SPOILERS!
This is not simply another James Bond novel, featuring a hero who has been somewhere between 35 and 45 for the last 60 years. This is a reboot of the series. Bond is in his mid-thirties. His parents died mountain climbing - in the 1990s. He has worked for a secret government agency only for the last 3 years.
I thought it was interesting, but not enough was made of his new-ness to the role. Already he is a favourite of M (male, former admiral) and it feels like he's been with the organisation for years. 60 years.
I enjoyed the story. The villain was suitably creepy and eccentric. The only thing I didn't like was the way Bond could guess what his enemies were going to do. There so often seemed to be a twist ... which was always anticipated by Bond. I would have liked to see him get into more trouble - and then get out of it.
All in all I thought it was an enjoyable read and a decent attempt at bringing the literary Bond up to date. And there's an interesting subplot concering Bond's parents that is sure to feature in the next installment in the series.
There's a short essay at the back of the book from Jeffery Deaver about writing the book, but no information about the next in the series. Though I had a look on the Ian Fleming website and see the next book is to be written by William Boyd and will feature the 'classic Bond' - ie from the 1960s. Why spend all this time reinventing the character if you're just going back to the 60s?
This is not simply another James Bond novel, featuring a hero who has been somewhere between 35 and 45 for the last 60 years. This is a reboot of the series. Bond is in his mid-thirties. His parents died mountain climbing - in the 1990s. He has worked for a secret government agency only for the last 3 years.
I thought it was interesting, but not enough was made of his new-ness to the role. Already he is a favourite of M (male, former admiral) and it feels like he's been with the organisation for years. 60 years.
I enjoyed the story. The villain was suitably creepy and eccentric. The only thing I didn't like was the way Bond could guess what his enemies were going to do. There so often seemed to be a twist ... which was always anticipated by Bond. I would have liked to see him get into more trouble - and then get out of it.
All in all I thought it was an enjoyable read and a decent attempt at bringing the literary Bond up to date. And there's an interesting subplot concering Bond's parents that is sure to feature in the next installment in the series.
There's a short essay at the back of the book from Jeffery Deaver about writing the book, but no information about the next in the series. Though I had a look on the Ian Fleming website and see the next book is to be written by William Boyd and will feature the 'classic Bond' - ie from the 1960s. Why spend all this time reinventing the character if you're just going back to the 60s?