Devil May Care - Classic Bond, Re-told

Devil May Care captures the spirit of Fleming perfectly, and does so without the outdated attitudes of the time. In terms of plot its exactly what you'd expect from a bond story, even if it is a touch too movie orientated. All the key elements are there, the car chases, the gadgets, the women, the Megalomaniac with a physical deformity and a grand plan to bring down the British Empire. Its a good holiday read, and for fans of Fleming, the novel continues on smoothly from previous stories, but whilst Fleming seems to have grown tired by the end, Faulks is revitalized and brings the story alive with his creativity and a way of building a plot that despite the story having been told 20 times before still excites.

The original Bond novels where by today's standards racist, sexist and homophobic, which at times made them hard reading and would almost certainly have prevented Fleming from getting published in today's world. So Faulks had a challenge to keep true to a Bond that in its nature was outdated and a sociological dinosaur, especially as the story carries on directly from "The Man With The Golden Gun". Faulks does this by focusing on Bond's recovery and deliberately introducing an aspect of modernisation into the secret service, and the wider world order, which places Bond as the old guard, and allows significantly toned down views, so he remains sexist but realizes that its an outdated view, there is a gay character who is the figure of some ridicule, but its done in a way that openly reflects the time. What isn't there is the crass Bond who magically cures the Lesbian instincts of Pussy Galore, and gone too is the racisim, instead Faulks focuses on how Gorner (Arch Criminal with Anglophobia and a dodgy hand) manipulates and exploits those in poverty. The result is that it allows the Bond character to be re-positioned in a world and an age that Flemming lived but that has thankfully moved on from.

Another change in storytelling since Fleming's day, has been the increase in sex and swearing and violence in novels. So Devil may care certainly does notch up the descriptive nature , But comparatively to other modern fiction it remains conservative, and thankfully Faulks is very tasteful about Bond's woo'ng of the love interests, and has managed to stay away from swearing almost entirely. One thing that hasn't been modernised in Bonds character is the drinking and especially the smoking, we find the main characters smoking at every interval, and whilst it undoubtedly would have been the case at the time, i don't like the growing trend of role models smoking in modern fiction and TV.

There are some nice references to earlier novels that pop up throughout the book and for those who have read the Flemming back catalog they will jump off the page, but for those new to Bond they will just add a little bit of color to the story. A number of old stories are name checked and old arch-villains referenced all in order to give the bond character depth for new readers. Some of the familiar characters of the past make a reappearance too, Leiter, Ponesenby, Housekeeper May, and of course M and Moneypenny But sadly no reference to Quarrel,or his decadence.

I've certainly read more gripping stories with more complicated plots and better developed characters. I've read more realistic crime novels and certainly more believable plot lines. But none of this is what bond is about and ultimately as a Bond novel Devil May Care certainly stands its own, and it's up there with the best of Fleming Bond stories. Its light hearted even humorous at times yet still packs a punch rattles along at a pace and manages to make the incredible seem plausible and great evil seem laughable. The books should be great escapism for those stuck on a busy commuter train, and easy to read on the beach in some far off land. With such an expectations would have been very easy for a talented writer such as Faulks to have retained too much of his own depth and to have completely miss-played the story, but thankfully Devil May Care was an easy and enjoyable read throughout, and noble addition to the Bond plot line.