'The face of war is changing. The other side doesn't play by the rules much any more. 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 fulfil his mission.
When I think of a reboot of James Bond, I think about Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies and all the newer Bond movies. Carte Blanche is the first novel in the Bond series to get a reboot; a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and former smoker. These are the only real big differences I can see in this novel. Everything you would expect in a Bond novel/movie is still here; the cars (a Bentley Continental GT and even a Subaru Impreza WRX) the girls (so many of them), the gadgets (including a custom iphone called a qiphone) and of course the over-the-top action. Even some of the common friends of Bond make an apperence in this book, including; M, Moneypenny and Felix Leiter.
As for the story, this reminds me a lot of Tomorrow Never Dies but instead of an insane Reporter causing all the attacks it is an Eco Terrorist group. There is a lot of action, flirting and double crossing, I’ve never read another Bond novel but this was everything I wanted. I know many people are concerned about this reboot but I must admit, it still lives up the the Bond name. I will go back and read some of the older 007 novels but for now this lives up to the Bond name, if I compare it to the movies.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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29 June, 2011:
Finished reading
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29 June, 2011:
Reviewed