Carte Blanche by Jeffrey Deaver

I found Jeffrey Deaver and Carte Blanche to be a perfect mix of the classic Bond with a contemporary, modern reboot. At this stage, Bond is in his early thirties, a veteran of the Afghan war, who joins a new organization independent of MI5 or MI6.

We are introduced again to Moneypenny, M, and Q, and there is a brief section that describes how James became a 00 agent. While not new, it doesn't drag or hinder the tone of the book at all.

Deaver has done a great job of maintaining the style and tone of the series while punching it up with more action and intrigue. This never gets out of hand or becomes overly gratuitous. The action is mainly physical: hand fights, gunfights, and it's always in a believable way—you can see an actual person carrying out these plans. He has weaknesses but keeps his eye on the main goal of the job at hand. He is not a superhero or super spy, but an ordinary man fighting evil.

Irishman Niall Dunne attempts to derail a cargo train in Serbia, causing a massive chemical spill. Bond investigates a recycling consortium that may have ties to the train incident. Green Way International is run by Severen Hydt, an enigmatic man with oddly long fingernails and strange desires for death and decay. In a page-turning sequence, Bond investigates an abandoned UK hospital ready for demolition by Hydt's company and gets caught in the crushing blast. He follows Hydt to Dubai and meets up with old friend CIA agent Felix Leiter. They learn of an impending attack with devastating casualties and tail Hydt and the Irishman to South Africa. Bond impersonates a 'Seth Efrican' millionaire and begins working with Hydt to discover his ultimate plan.

There is also a side story about Bond's search for the truth about his family. Were his parents spies as well? Some questions are answered in ways that build nicely on the Bond character.

While Hydt's recycling plant, with all its material crushing equipment, could lead the story into an overblown finale, Deaver stays with the tone of the original Bond character and keeps the action man to man. There are plenty of twists and great characters.

If you imagine a Bond novel to be full of intrigue, action, exotic locales, and clever thinking, you'd be right, and not disappointed in Carte Blanche.

If you like action, this is a Bond book to read.

2011 / Paperback / 544 pages