Carte Blanche. A James Bond Novel

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Nana Kwabena Owusu in Entertainment Now

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There are some things which retain an aura of intrigue, excitement and sheer delight through generations. One of such ‘things’ is the legend of 007, Bond, James Bond. This has been a stalwart in the lives of boys and girls, men and women for many years and finally another chapter (well several) has been written, literally.

“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…”

A new James Bond novel, Carte Blanche, has been released written by thriller author James Deaver who wrote the Bone Collector, the first in his Lincoln Rhyme novels, which was adapted for the movie, The Bone Collector and starred Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolia and Queen Latifah). Deaver is not the first to pen a Bond novel of course, but he is the second in recent times to make an attempt at impersonating Ian Fleming. Reviews seem to indicate that he has fulfilled his brief excellent and the Bond of Fleming’s era is back. Well some reviews anyways.

The new novel is set firmly in the 21st century with Bond in his mid-thirties. Here is the synopsis.

James Bond, in his early thirties and already a veteran of the Afghan War, has been recruited to a new organization. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of MI5, MI6 and the Ministry of Defense, its very existence deniable. Its aim: To protect the Realm, by any means necessary.

A Night Action alert calls James Bond away from dinner with a beautiful woman. Headquarters has decrypted an electronic whisper about an attack scheduled for later in the week: Casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected.

And Agent 007 has been given carte blanche.

The many things we love about James Bond are alive and well in this novel. Bond drives a Continental GT Bentley, ‘Q’ Branch modified of course, with all the gadgets a modern spy will need. As a sign of the times, he has his iQphone with him at all times and uses espionage apps.

According to the Guardian website, the launch was in itself straight out of a Bond movie.

Deaver arrived at St Pancras International this lunchtime in a red Bentley, flanked by a female motorbike stunt rider, where he was presented with copies of the book by four members of the Royal Marines, who abseiled from the station’s roof onto the concourse. The books were then locked away: their plot will remain a secret until midnight tonight.

So what would you do if a major scene in a book or movie is set in your city be it Accra, Kumasi or Takoradi? I would make noise about it and get excited. And that is exactly what this cape-town blog writes about.

Bond’s adventure in Cape Town sees him trying to unravel a terrorist plot along with the help of a ‘feisty police inspector’ from the SAPS. Apparently, more than half of the book is set in Cape Town and in that time, Bond samples some interesting elements of the Mother City – he stays at the Cape Grace Hotel in the V&A Waterfront, he drinks wines from Franschhoek and the winelands, he eats Bobotie and also finds the time to listen to singer Thandiswa Mazwai in the Bo-kaap. Not bad hey?

The novel is available from several online bookstores and retailers in various formats. You can find it on Amazon[Affiliate Link] and Barnes and Noble. Will keep you updated on availability in bookshops in Ghana.

Read an Excerpt

Carte Blanche. A James Bond Novel

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