Jeffery Deaver’s Carte Blanche, published in 2011, resets Bond for a new century. It was commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications, and the Bond it presents is in his early thirties and already a veteran of the Afghan War. An alert interrupts a dinner with a beautiful woman, and the book is under way.
In the books
This is a continuation novel, listed as number 45 in the extended Bond series. Deaver recruits Bond to a new organisation conceived after 9/11, which operates independently of MI5, MI6 and the Ministry of Defence and whose existence can be denied. The Bond Dossier review calls it not much like Fleming but enjoyable in the end, and describes an unrecognisable Bond, which is the point of the reboot.
Reading it now
We would choose it if you want a thriller more than a period piece: it is firmly set in a post-9/11 world. Our link goes to the publisher’s own page for the book, where you can check the edition before you buy.
Specifications
| Author | Jeffery Deaver |
|---|---|
| Published | 2011 (Hodder in the UK, Simon & Schuster in the US) |
| Setting | Present-day Bond, a deniable post-9/11 agency |
| Series | Continuation novel; number 45 in the extended Bond series |
Deaver describes the book on his own site.
More novels, games and collectables are in Books & Media; the screen Bonds are on the Bonds page, and every title is listed under Films.
