Devil May Care (Faulks novel)
First edition cover, published by Penguin Books
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| Author | Sebastian Faulks |
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| Cover artist | Photography: Kevin Summers; Design: The Partners |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | James Bond |
| Genre | Spy fiction |
| Publisher | Penguin 007 |
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Publication date
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28 May 2008 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 295 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 192027506 |
Devil May Care is a James Bond continuation novel written by Sebastian Faulks. It was published in the UK by Penguin Books on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond. The story centres on Bond's investigation into Dr Julius Gorner, a megalomaniac chemist with a deep-seated hatred of England.
Faulks wrote the book in the style of Fleming, and the novel carried the credit "Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming"; he also took the same timeframe as Fleming, setting the novel in 1967, following the events in Fleming's last novel The Man with the Golden Gun. He ignored the influences of the other Bond continuation authors and the films, producing a characterisation of Bond in the style of Fleming's.
The novel was broadly well received by critics and went into the best-seller lists by the end of the first week of sales, selling 44,093 copies in four days to become the fastest-selling fiction book after the Harry Potter titles. Faulks stated that although he enjoyed writing the book, he would write no more Bond novels.
The story is set in 1967. Bond is instructed by his superior, M, to investigate a man named Dr Julius Gorner, and his bodyguard, Chagrin. Bond is warned that his performance will be monitored and that a new 00 agent is waiting in the wings if his actions go awry.
Bond flies to Imperial Iran (Persia) to investigate. Gorner owns factories and produces legitimate pharmaceuticals, however MI6 suspects he has other motives. During Bond's investigation he identifies Gorner due to a deformity of his hand, and establishes Gorner's complicity in a scheme to not only flood Europe with cheap drugs but also to launch a two-pronged terrorist attack on the Soviet Union, whose retaliation will subsequently devastate the UK. The attack is to be made using a stolen British airliner, earlier hijacked over Iraqi airspace, and an ekranoplan. Bond is assisted in his investigation by Scarlett Papava (whose twin sister Poppy is under Gorner's emotional spell), Darius Alizadeh (the local head of station), JD Silver (an in-situ agent), and Felix Leiter.
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