The Golden TypewriterDevil May Care
Bond follows Julius Gorner’s narcotics operation from Paris towards Persia in a Cold War mission.
- Type
- Novel
- Series position
- Standalone work
- First published
- 2008
- Suggested age
- Adult readers
- Audiobook narrator
- Jeremy Northam
Is it worth reading?
Our view: Devil May Care is a straightforward choice for someone who wants another period Bond mission after Fleming rather than a modern restart. The centenary commission explains its publication context, while the setting after Bond’s encounter with Scaramanga gives the reader a recognisable route in. We rank it eighth in our selective continuation list, favouring other books’ more distinctive starting questions. If remaining in the familiar historical world matters most to you, you may reasonably place it higher.
The story, without spoilers
M sends Bond to investigate. The route takes him through Paris to Persia, where Scarlett and Poppy are connected with the danger surrounding Gorner's plans.
Faulks returns to the period of Fleming's Bond rather than updating him to the year the book was published. The mission follows Bond's confrontation with Scaramanga, making it a period sequel with a recognisable place after the final Fleming novel.
Can I start here?
It works best after The Man with the Golden Gun. No other continuation writer's books are required, so it is a straightforward option once you have finished Fleming's main sequence.
What stands out
The period setting is the reason to pick this over a modern reboot. It was commissioned for Fleming's birth centenary, and its Scaramanga connection gives a reader who has just finished Fleming a clear route forward.
Who wrote it
Faulks, the novelist behind Birdsong, was commissioned to mark Fleming’s birth centenary with Devil May Care. The 2008 novel returns Bond to the Cold War.
Where it fits in Bond’s life
Faulks returns to the 1960s after Bond’s encounter with Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun. Fleming’s final novel supplies the useful starting context.
Content notes
Adult readers. Narcotics trafficking, threatened mass violence, coercion and adult relationships.
Main characters
James Bond, M, Julius Gorner, Scarlett, Poppy.
Editions and formats
Paperback
ISBN: 9780141035451
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2009
Audiobook
Read by Jeremy Northam.
A centenary commission, not a contemporary reboot
Sebastian Faulks’s Bond novel was published in 2008 for Fleming’s birth centenary. Its story returns to the Cold War rather than making Bond a new agent in the year of publication. That distinction is central to choosing the book. Someone looking for a modern intelligence thriller should not infer one from the date on a later paperback. The publication event celebrates the original author; the fictional world deliberately looks back.
A commemorative commission can raise expectations about imitation. Our advice is to keep those expectations specific. Recognisable settings and habits can provide continuity, but the novel remains a work by Faulks. It should not be described as an undiscovered Fleming manuscript or judged only by a count of familiar details. Ask what the new mission offers and whether the period approach is what you wanted from another Bond adventure.
The route into the story
The official premise follows an investigation involving narcotics and Dr Julius Gorner, with a route through London, Paris and Persia. Scarlett and Poppy are part of the danger surrounding the mission. Those names orient the reader without explaining the relationships’ final resolution. A first-reading guide should preserve the difference between recognising the people in the story and being told how every uncertainty will eventually be settled.
The historical use of Persia belongs to the novel’s setting and description; it should not be mistaken for a current country name. More generally, a thriller’s treatment of a place is not a reliable substitute for its history. Read the locations as part of the fiction and consult separate sources if the real background interests you. This guide concentrates on the book’s premise, publication and place in the reading sequence rather than presenting its imagined operation as fact.
Where it follows Fleming
The publisher connects the mission with the period after Bond’s encounter with Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun. That makes the final Fleming novel the most useful preparation. You do not need to complete Gardner or Benson first, because Faulks is not asking you to arrive at the end of their separate author runs. For a reader who has just finished Fleming, it is an accessible one-book continuation route.
The connection also means that detailed discussion can reveal material from the earlier novel. Finish that book before reading spoiler sections if you want its developments intact. Publication order across every authorised Bond book is not compulsory, and it may be a cumbersome way to approach a standalone period commission. Choose a route based on the context this novel uses rather than on the assumption that every later author carries forward every earlier continuation event.
How we assess its appeal
Our editorial preference is for a continuation that gives a particularly clear new question about Bond. Devil May Care’s strongest selling point for us is its return to a recognisable period mission. That is enough to make it useful for a reader who wants to stay in that world. It is less of a change of direction than a prequel, a contemporary restart or a story centred on damage to Bond’s own judgement.
If you read it alongside another continuation, compare the purpose of the return rather than trying to score isolated references. Colonel Sun makes M the object of rescue; Forever and a Day asks about a new holder of the number 007; Carte Blanche creates a contemporary framework. Faulks’s approach belongs in that range of choices. A lower place in our list reflects the criteria we favour.
Themes to notice without resolving the plot
The investigation combines a familiar service mission with uncertainty around the people Bond encounters. Watch how much the agent knows compared with what you as a reader suspect. The difference between information and assumption is a useful way to follow a thriller without relying on a synopsis. It also helps you discuss the book afterwards without reducing every response to whether you guessed a particular development.
The period setting invites comparison with the original novels’ relationship between professional duty and personal appetite. That is a reading question, not an assertion that Faulks reproduces every aspect of Fleming’s voice. Notice the choices the later author makes and decide which you find convincing. A continuation can be recognisable while still revealing another writer’s priorities; acknowledging that difference makes the comparison more honest.
Print, audio and your next book
The linked Penguin paperback was published after the original 2008 release, and its ISBN identifies that edition. Jeremy Northam reads the listed audiobook. Check the format and narrator when comparing listings so that a later date does not cause you to mistake the recording or reissue for a different work. This guide does not promise stock, membership inclusion or a price for either format.
Afterwards, consider Colonel Sun for the earliest authorised continuation or one of Horowitz’s novels for a more explicitly placed relationship with a particular Fleming book. If you want to move away from the period setting, Carte Blanche provides a clearer change. The continuation hub groups those options by author, while the ranking explains our preferences. You can use either without treating this standalone novel as the beginning of a longer Faulks Bond sequence.
Spoilers: discussing the story
Show spoiler discussion — including connections to earlier books
The stated placement after Scaramanga means this novel carries forward the background of The Man with the Golden Gun. Its investigation involves Gorner, Scarlett and Poppy, but their relationships should not be reduced to a spoiler-free character key that gives away the resolution. We leave those outcomes to the novel. After reading, consider how the personal and professional uncertainties work together: does one strengthen the other, or do you find yourself more interested in one strand? That is a useful basis for comparing Faulks’s period continuation with a different author’s approach.
Publication facts and the linked edition
- Author
- Sebastian Faulks
- First publication
- 2008
- Listed print edition
- Penguin, 2009, paperback
- ISBN of the linked paperback
- 9780141035451
Devil May Care first appeared in 2008; the linked paperback dates from 2009. Match ISBN 9780141035451 when choosing this edition.
Frequently asked questions
When was Devil May Care first published?
In 2008, as a commission marking Fleming’s birth centenary.
Is Devil May Care set in 2008?
No. Faulks returns to the Cold War period of Bond’s world.
Do I need another continuation novel first?
No. The Man with the Golden Gun is the useful Fleming background; another continuation author’s sequence is not required.
Who narrates the listed recording?
Jeremy Northam reads the listed audiobook.