A More Cerebral James Bond
921749
I had never read one of the Gabriel Allon series, but I may have to go back and pick up a few.  When I was in high school, I read a dozen James Bond books in about two weeks, and this just updates that feeling, although I am not quite speedreading them like I did with those.  I picked up a couple of other spy series over the years, so this may be another of those.
2305116
A very good score from distinguished british composer DAVID ARNOLD; now James Bond's composer.
2651527
Bond is up against SPECTRE, an organization determined to threaten and blackmail the world with nuclear weapons.  Bond meets up with a deadly SPECTRE agent named Fatima Blush, who tries to kill him in unexpected ways.  The key villain is Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), who toys with bond as long as he thinks he's in control.  Brandauer is an outstanding Bond villain.  Sean Connery is excellent as Bond.  -Roger Weston, author of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Recruiter/dp/B007DQ4B6I/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Recruiter</a>
986572
"Devil May Care" is good imitation Ian Fleming, with an emphasis on "imitation." All of Fleming's tropes--the ultra-English protagonist, the semi-deformed villain, the prolonged game set-piece, the exotic female cohort--are dutifully recreated, and reasonably well. It also has a clever conceit of it's own, in that instead of trying to make an anachronistic Cold War figure applicable to modern times, author Faulks places Bond in the mid-sixties, when everything was changing, and has him a borderline anachronism there. This is clever because, while the Bond movies adapted with a changing era, there were no new Fleming novels past 1964, so we don't know how Fleming would have reacted to the changing decade. If there is a divergence between the real Fleming and this licensed follow-up, it is length. Fleming's books were very short, very terse, and sometimes didn't even contain endings (the novel version of "From Russia With Love," for instance, doesn't even bother to indicate at the end whether or not a poisoned Bond will survive). "Devil May Care" is stretched out to contemporary novel length, which results in many overly padded sequences. Even with that, though, this may be the best of the ersatz Bond novels.
1846824
To give the reader some perspective, I never understood everyone's love affair with the first Daniel Craig Bond movie and the second one was a disaster.  Skyfall is a return to the Bond movies we know and love and consider it to be much better than the previous two.  Three and a half stars.

Spoiler alert.

Despite the unrealistic conclusion to the the opening sequence (where the agent only shoots Bond but doesn't take another shot at the evildoer) and the overly long climax (is there an editor in the house?), this Bond movie was very enjoyable.  The opening credit sequence was extraordinary, well orchestrated with the song by Adele.  I'm glad they continue that tradition.  It could have had a few more gadgets and a tighter script and pace, but that's Hollywood these days!
2148404
Referring to James Bond, Bill Tanner tells Kate Westbrook  niece of Miss Jane Moneypenny, on the final page of this trilogy that not only is J, or 007, still very much alive but that she has met him sometime during her years long quest, following her aunt's diaries of the hidden world of MI 6 and international intrigue an  espionage that began book 1 in the days leading up to the Cuban missile crisis.

Yes, James is still alive and we have met him, not squirreled away in Jamaica as always led to believe but instead living the quiet life on a remote Scottish island. It took me a few minutes of calculating to put the pieces together and I had been looking forward to  a further adventure of Dr Westbrook hot on the trail to Jamaica to finally meet the real live super spy lightly fictionalized by the actual master of spies, Ian Fleming, but this will do. In fact it does, rather nicely.
2994989
Daniel Craig is, in my opinion, the best Bond since Connery. He's human, multidimensional, and rugged enough to be believable. While I didn't find this movie quite as good as Craig's Casino Royale, it was nevertheless non-stop action and kept me on the edge of my seat for two and a half hours. Judy Densch was also excellent in this movie; we got a glimpse into M's human side for a change.
Highly recommended.
2946562
In Zero Minus Ten, the first novel in Raymond Benson's cycle, James Bond makes a welcome return to action in a timely tale that captures the flavor of Ian Fleming's classic secret agent and the modern action that Bond is known for.

Set against the backdrop of the real-life handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese, Bond has ten days to solve the mystery of the deaths of a British company's board of directors, discover the connection to a Chinese mafia, and prevent a nuclear disaster from wiping Hong Kong off the map. Benson effectively brings Bond's mixture of ruthlessness and humanity to life, to the point of bearing the guilt of a trusted colleague on his shoulders.

Another strong point in Benson's favor is the way he smoothly transitions from the John Gardner cycle of the 80s and mid 90s to bring James Bond to the late 90s era, paralleling the Pierce Brosnan movies of the time. A one-off line in "Goldeneye" is more than effectively fleshed out in print, which Benson (and Gardner in his cycle) handles well.

Action, intrigue, and plenty of gratuitous sex and violence - the hallmarks of any 007 tale - Raymond Benson brings it all in Zero Minus Ten.
4695104
Not the best James Bond movie i have seen, but still entertaining in the same spirit.
Now they'll have to find a Bond junior to continue the serial!
2013891
Thought that this was a great Bond film.  The scenery is classic Bond and the plot is more involved.  Fewer gadgets and more dialogue.  The Bond wave of the future!
167524
A pretty entertaining read, all in all.  Fairly literary (akin to Fleming's work), but a little wrapped up in sentimentalism (a little too much reminiscing about past missions) and too influenced by the films.  I felt like this was about 60% Fleming novel and 40% film.  Seemingly, Bond is ready to retire but one page later he's back on a mission.  Also, the US involvement in the plot makes little to no sense.

Still, the plot is pretty engaging, the villain is standard Bond-fare, and it was a fast read.  There are some good action sequences and it's a breezy summer read.  Personally, I'd wait until it came out in paperback or check it out from the library.
2141693
What a delight it has been reading Book 1, Silverfin by Charles Higson.  There have been a few cartoonish attempts to do a young James Bond, but this author got it right.  We begin where young Bond would have begun, early 1930s as a beginning student at Eton whose parents have recently died.  Higson is very careful to craft the time in young Bond's life and how he developed traits that would forever mark his character. Even to the scar on his face.

The first part of the book is like a non satanic Hogsworth without a Harry Potter.  A very good derscription of such schools, especially Eton.  Young Bond must go through all the things that one would expect and in him you see the beginning of the man willing to take challenges, gallant, and faithful to friends and to his developing beliefs.

The action then moves to Scotland for Easter break where Bond stays with his guardians, his Aunt Charmiam and Uncle Max.  We learn later that Max himself was in the secret service during The Grat War, but doesn't want young James to do likewise.  It is here that James develops a love of cars and through an acquaintance learns a lot of things that years later would become useful.

However, what is a Bond story without a super villain and we have one in Randolph Hellebore, complete with a castle, a squad of henchmen and designs to build a super race that would interest the new chancellor of Germany, Adolph Hitler.  Though it may seem like the same old same old, it isn't and the author has the 13 year old Bond learning as he goes through the most horrible experiences.

Though this book is written for young people, it is one all ages can enjoy and I have been a Bond fan and collector of 007 memorabilia since the sixties.  Charlie Higson does a much better job than Raymond Benson and I do wish he'd take over that franchise, putting Bond back in the period of time Ian Fleming wrote.  I received a feeling about this book I haven't had since I first read Ian Fleming.  I say that though I enjoyed John Gardner very much.  I had about decided to read no more new Bond novels until I heard about this one.

The great news is that this will be a series and as soon as I submit this review I am ordering the next one (due out in June) and then passing Silverfin on to my son and grandson.

On an added note.  There are hundreds of Sherlock Holmes books being written and for the most part they stay within the time period of 1880 and 1920.  (Only a few before or after that period.)  Good authors know they don't have to put Holmes in a 21st. century rocket suit to make him come alive again.  The same is true of James Bond.  Higson took a time period we are all familiar with and told an excellent story without losing sight of where the original James Bond came from.
139893
In a world tearing itself apart it is reassuring that one can turn back to happier times. This would be the last film for Roger Moore as James Bond. Perhaps sensing this, John Barry composed a rather elegiac score. John Barry composed 3 previous scores for the Roger Moore Bond films: THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, MOONRAKER and OCTOPUSSY. A VIEW TO A KILL is a rather endearing score several times highlighting Bond's personification of the old fashioned and noble hero somehow in the twilight of a world where nice guys can still save both the day and the girl. From an action point of view "Snow Job" one of the best cuts on this CD. It is very reminiscent of the driving main title from ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and demonstrates the energy and determination of James Bond. "Pegasus' Stable" has a very good stealthy quality to it similar to "The Spa" and "Switching the Body" from THUNDERBALL. Two haunting pieces: "Destroy Silicon Valley" and "May Day Bombs Out" are strangely reminiscent of GOLDFINGER and ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE which also interestingly demonstrate on several occasions the concept of time running out. "Wine with Stacey" is my favorite track on this CD. It is a simple yet beautiful haunting melody that once again hearkens back to the romanticism and noble qualities of the character. The main title song performed by Duran Duran is an excellent piece and is a standout of the series. For me it is an uplifting song with a great beat that really accentuates an idea that you are as young as you feel. This soundtrack harkens back to a time of a kinder and gentler James Bond. That's what true heroes are made of after all.
3695876
I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. This is a vastly different depiction of the James Bond character. He is a believable and mature individual. There are no exotic gadgets, endless chase scenes, gratuitous scenes of violence, etc. In this book, Bond's world is plausible and recognizable to those who lived through the "cold war".

Tough, bright, worldly and even philosophical. A pleasant diversion from the outlandish cinematic incarnation that many of us have been exposed to via the film industry. Though, I do respect the latest cinematic incarnation, as displayed by Mr. Daniel Craig.

I would recommend this book to anyone who may be interested in reading an intelligently written and suspenseful story.

A big thank you to the author Mr. Ian Fleming!
377425
The characters almost seem like they are in a James Bond movie, only the plot is more realistic. Early on a helicopter explodes with $20 million on it and our hero, Cotton Malone, is holding on to the landing gear until the last moment. Lots of action in Croatia, Venice and Washington D.C. and flashbacks to the horrors of a child, Hana Kim / Hana Sung, born and raised in a North Korean prison camp. The main villain is a fictional brother of the leader of North Korea who seeks information to cause the USA, China and North Korea severe financial damage. A big part of the puzzle is whether the 16 amendment to the US Constitution which authorizes collecting income taxes was legally ratified. I learned a lot about income taxes, including that when first put in effect it only applied to five percent of the people. The President depends on Cotton Malone to come out of retirement and handle the situation which is potentially disastrous for the United States.
3610994
I've enjoyed all the Bond movies, they excite the imagination, have great action, and not insulting to this female viewer..this movie does not quite measure up to the above your imagination action of its other episodes
1249785
Sean Connery's first break from James Bond comes from an exceptional if slightly overdone turn in the fifth James Bond adventure.

A conflict between the US and the USSR over an encounter in space is causing both to veer into nuclear war. Odd that this movie would bring to fold nuclear war, half a decade after the Cuban Missile Crisis. But its a James Bond story and one that is a pretty cool, but a bit outrageous. Taking it from Hong Kong to Japan, this story has some pretty cool moments. However for fans of the original novel the only good thing that this does bring is Bond vs the mysterious man with the cat in an encounter with the world in danger.

Trademark James Bond storytelling from one-liners, amazing sets, action, lovely women and gadgets are to be expected here.

Nice Blu-Ray and some good special features from the DVD release. B