Carte Blanche

The New James Bond Novel

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Toby Stephens

The face of war is changing. The other side doesn't play by the rules much anymore. There's thinking, in some circles,that we need to play by a different set of rules too....

Fresh from Afghanistan, James Bond has been recruited to a new agency. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of Five, Six and the MoD, its very existence deniable. Its aim: to protect the Realm, by any means necessary. The Night Action alert calls Bond from dinner with a beautiful woman. GCHQ has decrypted an electronic whisper about an attack scheduled for later in the week: casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected.

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

©2011 Jeffrey Deaver (P)2011 Simon & Schuster Audio

An excellent continuation of the Bond stories.

The characters were well developed and reminded me of previous bond books. The story was not as good as some but better than most.

License not to offend

Being not only a huge James Bond fan but also a Jeffrey Deaver fan I decided to give this audio book a try, and what I got was a very disappointing representation of the character that I've hold most dear in literature and movies. Deaver gives Bond too much of a conscience along with his dry wit and bite. Examples of this include insulting other characters then immediately scolding himself for doing so. This is something that Fleming's or Craig's Bond would have never thought twice about doing.

Bond in the contemporary context!

A fantastic listen from start to finish. Believable characters, exotic locales, ruthless villains and all wrapped up in a plot that could be taken from headlines

Deaver Does An Awesome Bond! Great book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

First, Deaver is an excellent writer who understands and writes in the genre with the best of them. I think we are lucky a writer of his caliber would take on Bond at all. Bond movies are so anticipated and loved, they tend to be judged more by how few times you are forced to suspend belief than by how good the story really is. I must confess I carried the same anticipation into the reading of Carte Blanche. In this case, Deaver delivers in a very big way with a complex mystery that is as entertaining as it is realistic.Best of all, he gives Bond the sophistication and complexity he deserves.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Carte Blanche?

I loved how Deaver used the contrast of proper police work to expose how Bond's 00 status allows him far more leeway than most law enforcement.

Which character – as performed by Toby Stephens – was your favorite?

Bond, James Bond.

Any additional comments?

If you love good writing, excellent mystery, and believable suspense and of course James Bond, you'll love Carte Blanche!

Fantastic!

If you like the new Bond movies, with their more realistic James Bond ... you will love this book. I really enjoyed it. Interesting story, good writing, and the performance was terrific. One of my first Audible.com books and I was very pleased. Sat in the car occasionally, because of the suspense of the book!

Disappointing

Deaver has a style that works well for describing characters. He tries hard to conjure some of the savoire faire of Ian Fleming. Bond and other of the familiar stable of characters are likably portrayed. The role of women has been appropriately updated. But the story line had no tension in it at all. When the denouement sloooowly unfolded, I really didn't care that much. I might not bother to read a second novel in the series.

loved it I want more

I would love to see more of this version of bond ready for more

Not Fleming

About 10 times in the book, Bond apparently walks straight into a trap. Each time, a few paragraphs later it is explained why he was able to carefully avoid the mistake. This technique gets very old very quickly. I have read all the Fleming novels and rarely remember him using this literary device. Perhaps with the bank note in Casino Royale, but even that was more of a puzzle. Also, I was dismayed by the "surprise" betrayal at the end. Another trick not used by Fleming too often.

The plot was typical nonsense. You couldn't analyze Fleming's plots too carefully either. Bad guy was interesting. Henchman was good, very clever. I hate when characters act stupid just to move the plot along.

Some of the other "re-boot" features were actually quite good. Q, Tanner, the iqPhone, etc. I liked the lessons in "tradecraft" that were sprinkled throughout the book. That was Fleming-ish (or should I say Flemish?).

I thought narration was OK.

Thriller and Well Paced Adventure

Jeffery Deaver puts a new spin on a classic. This book was hard to put down and more difficult to anticipate what was going to happen to our hero.

One of the best Bond novels

Enjoyed the book for start to finish. It's one of the best Bond novels ever.