Review Tuesday: James Bond - CARTE BLANCHE by Jeffrey Deaver

This is the latest James Bond novel and it's a REBOOT of the entire series: 007 - CARTE BLANCHE.

Jeffrey Deaver pens the new James Bond reboot. The 007 franchise has been updated: James Bond is a nineteen year old veteran of the War on Terror, an officer of the special forces in Afghanistan. He was recruited by a secret government agency and given "Carte Blanche" to do whatever must be done to protect the Motherland. 007 is on a mission with scant clues and details chasing suspects all over the Eastern Hemisphere.

In terms of appearance, it seems that Deaver got that mostly correct. I was told that Deaver got them wrong in the book, since I couldn't remember, it didn't bother me. Deaver is a good writer and spun a tale with ups and downs like a roller coaster. All the old characters are back and are joined by some that will be clearly appearing in upcoming novels.

The bad. This story is WAY more complicated than any of Ian Fleming's Bond novels. Bond still drinks but no longer smokes. That's right, JAMES BOND DOESN'T SMOKE. That caught me off guard. Somehow Bond is this wise and seasoned agent, but it's clearly written in the book that his parents died four years earlier when he was 15. How did he accumulate all this experience?   

The summary, this is a fun SPY STORY but has problems as a BOND STORY. If you've never read any of the Fleming books, you might be okay with this, otherwise, you might actually get angry!

You can find it on AMAZON