Devil May Care

Devil May Care cover To celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, Doubleday is proud to announce the publication of the brand-new James Bond novel DEVIL MAY CARE which will see its release on, May 28, 2008, what would have been Fleming’s 100^th birthday. The author and acclaimed novelist Sebastian Faulks, best known for his award-winning French trilogy The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, was hand-picked by the Fleming estate to pen the novel in Fleming's voice. The book will read like vintage Fleming: exciting, sexy, action-packed—everything you would expect from the classic James Bond series.

Sebastian Faulks on writing DEVIL MAY CARE:

“I was surprised but flattered to be asked by Ian Fleming publications if I would write a one-off Bond book for the Ian Fleming centenary. I told them that I hadn’t read the books since the age of 13, but if when I re-read them, I still enjoyed them, and could see how I might be able to do something in the same vein, then I would be happy to consider it.

On re-reading, I was surprised by how well the books stood up. I put this down to three things: the sense of jeopardy Fleming creates about his solitary hero; a certain playfulness in the narrative details; and a crisp, journalistic style that hasn’t dated.

I developed a prose that is about 80 percent Fleming, I didn’t go the final distance for fear of straying into pastiche, but I strictly observed his rules of chapter and sentence construction. My novel is meant to stand in the line of Fleming’s own books, where the story is everything.”

One of the most compelling writers of our time, Sebastian Faulks brings us a riveting and unforgettable novel that captures the original sprit of Ian Fleming’s iconic series.

Our Review of Devil May Care

The wait for the next installment of the James Bond thrillers is now here. The sauvé and handsome James Bond is back in his latest adventure. However, Sebastian Faulks has provided us with a more matured and seasoned 007 that we have been seeing on the silver screen.

In this latest novel, Devil May Care, we are introduced to a man who has done his time and is contemplating the rest and relaxation of retirement. Although the plot of the book takes on the familiar themes and style of earlier books, the writer has provided what may be Bond’s greatest adversary – getting old. He is an old man in a profession infused with younger agents. Although his legacy is mythical, the next 007 is right around the corner – and he (or she) is many years his younger. The thoughts of leaving his life as a secret agent are prevailing throughout much of the early part of the book. He begins to question his own abilities. Does he have what it takes to still be of service and benefit to his country? Can he continue to act independently or will he need to rely on these younger agents for help? Most importantly, can he still attract the women in the same ways as he has done in the past?

Bond obviously takes on an assignment or it would be an awfully short book. With what begins with the murder of a drug runner in the outskirts of Paris provides the initial platform to a domino effect that begins to spiral out of control and may even lead to war. James Bond, who is already on a sabbatical, is called back to duty to impede upon the forces of evil, and with the help of a sexy and smart Parisian woman, they are able to do just that. While amidst the turmoil of his assignment he continues to come to terms with his internal self-struggles, and handles them in the same cool, calm and sophisticated way he deals with everything else – if only the rest of us could deal with problems in the same fashion.

While reading the book I was taken with the fact that I could almost imagine myself reading this as though it were written by the Ian Flemming. There seemed to be the same flow and style of prose that Flemming brought to the early Bonds adventures. However, Faulks does bring a sense of modern day relevance to the stories that are sometimes lost in the stories from the days of the Cold War. The book was very well written, and although the plot was predictable at times, was immeasurably pleasurable. [Review by Jaeh-D]

PRESS RELEASE

IAN FLEMING ESTATE COMMISSIONS BESTSELLING BRITISH AUTHOR SEBASTIAN FAULKS TO WRITE NEW BOND NOVEL FOR CENTENARY

DOUBLEDAY TO PUBLISH DEVIL MAY CARE IN MAY 2008

New York, NY -- Doubleday will publish a new James Bond novel commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd and written by Sebastian Faulks, it was announced today by Stephen Rubin, President & Publisher, Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group. Rubin bought U.S. rights from Gillon Aitken, Aitken Alexander Associates, with Deb Futter, Vice President, Deputy Editorial Director, Doubleday, to edit. DEVIL MAY CARE will be released simultaneously in the US and UK (Penguin) to mark what would have been Fleming’s 100th birthday—May 28, 2008.

“Three pages into DEVIL MAY CARE and you are immediately thrown back into the world of James Bond and all those wonderful characters we have come to love,” says Rubin. “DEVIL MAY CARE is pure Fleming channeled by Faulks—a madcap adventure, a romantic romp and a book you can devour in one sitting. It all starts in Paris, and no one alive writes better about Paris than Sebastian Faulks.”

Fleming’s last Bond book, Octopussy and the Living Daylights, was published in 1966. Forty-two years later and in keeping with the tradition, DEVIL MAY CARE is set in the Cold War and the action is played out across two continents, exotic locations and several of the world’s most glamorous cities.

“My novel is meant to stand in the line of Fleming’s own books, where the story is everything,” said Faulks, author of Birdsong, Charlotte Gray and Engleby. “In his house in Jamaica, Ian Fleming used to write a thousand words in the morning, then go snorkeling, have a cocktail, lunch on the terrace, more diving, another thousand words in the late afternoon, then more Martinis and glamorous women. In my house in London, I followed this routine exactly, apart from the cocktails, the lunch and the snorkeling.”

Corinne Turner, Managing Director, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd said of Faulks: “We had him in mind for our Centenary novel for quite some time. He has an ability to write convincingly in whichever period or genre he chooses, and his novel On Green Dolphin Street in particular made me think he might enjoy exploring the world of Ian Fleming and James Bond. When his agent, quite independently, suggested Sebastian, it was just meant to be. We gave a sneak preview of the manuscript to Barbara Broccoli [producer of the Bond films] who said if I had told her the family had found an old manuscript of Ian’s in the basement she would have believed me. Sebastian couldn’t have written a better book to celebrate Ian’s 100th birthday.”

The publication of DEVIL MAY CARE is at the center of a larger program of celebratory events that will run in the UK and US throughout 2008 to mark the occasion of the Centenary.

JAMES BOND PUBLISHING

FACT SHEET

Ian Fleming Publications Ltd is the Fleming family owned company that owns the copyright in the Bond books. www.ianflemingcentre.com

10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT JAMES BOND & IAN FLEMING

A Quiz

Q: Although James Bond is regarded by many as the quintessential English hero, he is actually not English. What is his nationality in the books?

A: He is half Scottish and half Swiss. He also hates that most English of drinks, tea - and describes it as 'mud'!

Q: Bond has had many famous incarnations on the big screen but, prior to these, he was first played on the radio by which British actor and game show host?

A: Ernst Stavro Blofeld. On Her Majesty's Secret Service reveals that Blofeld was born on 28 May 1908. Ian Lancaster Fleming entered the world on the same day at 7 Green Street in London.

A: President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was known to be a big fan of Fleming and listed From Russia With Love as one of his top 10 favourite books. Bizarrely, both Kennedy and his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald are believed to have been reading Bond novels the night before Kennedy was killed.

Q: Which famed children’s author helped Ian Fleming adapt his children's adventure story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the big screen?

A: At Goldeneye, his Jamaican home. Although now part of a luxurious holiday resort, the house was very basic in Fleming's time - so much so that his friend and neighbour Noel Coward referred to it as Goldeneye, Nose and Throat!

Q: Although Ursula Andress wears the most famous bikini in cinema history in her iconic performance in “Doctor No,” in Fleming's novel of the same name the character Honeychile Rider wears even less. What does she wear?

Q: The first Bond novel, Casino Royale, originally had a different title when it was published in the US. Under what title was it initially published here?

A: Breakfast. He has a particular penchant for scrambled eggs, and the short story “007 in New York” even includes his own recipe for them.

A: Miss Moneypenny was named after a character in an unpublished novel written by Ian Fleming's brother, the travel writer Peter Fleming.

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Devil may care

Our Review of Devil May Care

PRESS RELEASE

JAMES BOND PUBLISHING

FACT SHEET

10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT JAMES BOND & IAN FLEMING

A Quiz

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