Somebody Did It Better

Last year the estate of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond (and also, fun fact, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), invited the novelist Sebastian Faulks to write a new Bond book under the Fleming pseudonym. Devil May Care (Doubleday; 278 pages) begins magnificently: a world-weary 007 drifts through the pleasure capitals of Europe, recovering from the exertions of Octopussy and wondering if it might be time to hang up his 00's for good. The 20th century is leaving him behind: it's the 1960s; there are hippies in the streets, and M is making him do yoga. But when Bond gets the call...