James Bond is back in a Bentley

We’ve known James Bond would be back in a Bentley for his upcoming literary reboot novel Carte Blanche, but now there’s a press release with a number of good pictures. All the pictures are of Jeffery Deaver in or outside of Bond’s new Bentley Continental GT from his time in Dubai. Full press release below.

Press Release

BOND GIVES BENTLEY CARTE BLANCHE

Bond is back, and as ever he is sporting the best in luxury cars. In the pages of Carte Blanche,the new James Bond book by international best-selling author Jeffery Deaver, the fictional British spy has continued with his classic preference of luxury sports car by selecting the breathtaking new Bentley Continental GT as his transport of choice.

Carte Blanche is due to be published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK on May 26, a few days before the anniversary of Fleming’s birthday. It has been commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.

The book is partly set in Dubai, which is where the author and the new Bond car have been spotted, outside the InterContinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City. Bond’s new Continental GT certainly suits his character, with a fabled 6.0-litre, W12, twin-turbo engine capable of producing 567 bhp and 516 lb-ft of torque.

While James Bond’s new car may be better suited for a secret agent in understated tones, the author of the book admired a less inconspicuous model. Set in stunning white with a blood-red interior, the new Continental GT mixes svelte good looks with power, poise and exceptional prowess. The hand-stitched leather interior contains all the high-tech gadgetry Bond could ever need. And with the famed sound dampening that only lets through the captivating sound of the wonderful engine, the cabin provides a true Quantum of Solace for Fleming’s jet-setting gentleman spy.

Jeffery Deaver sampled the stunning vehicle on his recent visit to the Emirates, where he commented, “I’m really excited about being back in Dubai. It is an inspirational and awe-inspiring city and makes a perfect Bond location-especially for a novel that pushes our hero to new extremes.”

Regarding the book’s title, which was revealed in January, Deaver added: “In the world of espionage, giving an agent carte blanche on a mission comes with an enormous amount of trust and constantly tests both personal and professional judgement. Part of the nonstop suspense in the novel is the looming question of what is acceptable in matters of national and international security. Are there lines that even James Bond should not cross?”

The James Bond of Ian Fleming’s original novels also opted for a Bentley. The world’s most famous spy would choose nothing less than the scintillating performance and second-to-none quality of the classic luxury car.

Jeffery Deaver has written 28 novels and sold more than 20m books worldwide. He is best known for his Kathryn Dance and Lincoln Rhyme books, most notably The Bone Collector, which was adapted for film in 1999, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Before becoming a full-time author, Deaver was a journalist, like Fleming, and attorney. He started writing suspense novels on the long commute to and from his office on Wall Street. His books are now translated into 25 languages and he lives in North Carolina.

Carte Blanche US cover art unveiled

Following the recent announcement of Jeffery Deaver’s upcoming James Bond novel Carte Blanche in Dubai, we now have the US cover art from US publisher Simon & Schuster. Big tip of the hat to The Book Bond for the find.

Carte Blanche press release

Press Release

The new James Bond book, due to be published later this year and written by best-selling thriller writer Jeffery Deaver, is to be called Carte Blanche. Its title and cover artwork are unveiled today (Monday 17th January), at a special launch event at the InterContinental Hotel in Dubai.

Like Fleming, Jeffery Deaver takes inspiration from exotic locations around the world, and after visiting Dubai for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature last year he decided to set part of Carte Blanche in the United Arab Emirates City.

Carte Blanche is due to be published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK, a few days before Fleming’s birthday, on 26th May 2011. It has been commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.

Jeffery Deaver comments, “I’m really excited about being back in Dubai. It is an inspirational and awe-inspiring city and makes a perfect Bond location—especially for a novel that pushes our hero to new extremes.”

Regarding the book’s title, Deaver added, “In the world of espionage, giving an agent carte blanche on a mission comes with an enormous amount of trust and constantly tests both personal and professional judgement. Part of the nonstop suspense in the novel is the looming question of what is acceptable in matters of national and international security. Are there lines that even James Bond should not cross?”

Unlike the most recent James Bond book, Sebastian Faulks’ period piece Devil May Care, Jeffery Deaver’s Bond will have a contemporary setting. As part of his latest assignment, the modern-day secret agent travels with Emirates Airline and spends a number of thrilling hours in Dubai both meeting up with an old friend and tracking a very disturbing villain.

The novel’s setting encompasses Deira and Port Saeed, and the history of the Emirates provides an exciting backdrop for some heart-stopping action.

Bond is renowned for visiting the most exotic and glamorous of cities and this is the first time Dubai has featured in a James Bond novel.

Jeffery Deaver will be making a special appearance at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, on Tuesday 18th January, when he will be speaking about his love of Bond and his experience of writing Carte Blanche.

Carte Blanche also features Fleming’s favourite car – a Bentley. Historically, Bond owned three Bentley cars in the course of the fourteen original novels written by Ian Fleming and, bringing the plot completely up to date, Bond drives a Bentley Continental GT in the new book.

Jeffery Deaver has written 28 novels and sold more than 20 million books worldwide. He is best known for his Kathryn Dance and Lincoln Rhyme books, most notably The Bone Collector, which was adapted for film in 1999, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Before becoming a full-time author, Deaver was a journalist, like Fleming, and attorney. He started writing suspense novels on the long commute to and from his office on Wall Street. His books are now translated into 25 languages and he lives in North Carolina.

Carte Blanche; Project X title revealed

Project X is now Carte Blanche. In Dubai new James Bond author Jeffery Deaver announced the title of his new James Bond novel formerly known as Project X and gave a first look at the cover art.

A new website was simultaneously launched at 007carteblanche.co.uk.

Carte Blanche will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK on 26 May 2011 (2 days prior to Ian Fleming’s birthday) and in the US by Simon & Schuster on June 14.

Deaver to reveal Project X title and cover in Dubai

On 18 January new James Bond author Jeffery Deaver will be in Dubai for the 2011 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature where he’ll be sitting down and talking about James Bond with local radio and TV presenter Shahnaz Pakhravan. Among the topics being discussed by Deaver will be his writing of Project X, his love of 007 and insights into stepping into Ian Fleming’s shoes. Jeffery will also be sharing with the audience new tidbits about the upcoming Bond adventure. The event will be taking place at the Dubai Cultural and Scientific Association at Al Mamzar.

Of most interest, however, Deaver has revealed on Twitter that fans will finally get to see the book’s title and cover art.

Project X – working title only – will be published on 28 May 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US.

Deaver's Edge published, talks Bond

James Bond literary fans are hopefully well aware of Project X, the James Bond literary reboot by American author Jeffery Deaver that brings Ian Fleming’s character into the modern era similar to 2006’s Casino Royale. That book gets published next year in May, but in 2010 its author has been quite busy with two new novels hitting store shelves. In June his publisher Simon & Schuster released The Burning Wire, the ninth novel in the Lincoln Rhymes series of books. Additionally Deaver also had a short story published in June in a book called Stories that was edited together by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio. This November Deaver’s new standalone novel, Edge was published. Edge tells the tale of Washington D.C. police detective Ryan Kessler who is targeted by a ruthless lifter (a man who specializes in extracting information from his victims by any means necessary) named Henry Loving. Kessler is then put under government protection, specifically by a protection officer named Corte.

“Deaver unveils some nifty new tricks in this edge-of-your-seat thriller . . . Deaver’s first first-person narrator, Corte, is an exciting new weapon in the author’s arsenal of memorable characters.”
—Publishers Weekly

“In Mr. Deaver’s kaleidoscope world, the odds seem to change with each turn of the page.”
— Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

Promoting this new novel Deaver sat down with USA Today and talked mainly about Bond although Deaver can’t mention anything about the story or even the locations in Project X with the exception of London. What he did mention most have us have already known, but he did drop this interesting quote: “I get him into a lot of trouble in the book,” Deaver says. “The poor guy. I almost feel bad for him. He doesn’t get a lot of rest.” If you don’t know much about Deaver, give this article a read. A lot of interesting information on him. Did you know that Deaver raises champion briards? Two of them have won best of breed at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

Project X manuscript imminent

Jeffery Deaver’s forthcoming James Bond novel Project X is right on schedule, it seems.

Back in June, we reported the author was set to deliver the book’s manuscript on 30 October. A recent update on the official Project X website has confirmed Deaver is putting the finishing touches to the manuscript.

28.10.10 – Stop press: Rumours of a manuscript

Rumours are circulating that Mr Deaver has nearly finished writing Project X, and that the papers will soon be delivered to a top-secret location. This is causing huge excitement in the Hodder and Ian Fleming offices and we can’t wait to read it. Although, like you, we’re going to have to wait until May next year to discover James Bond’s latest adventure.

Little is known about Project X (working title only), except that it is the first in a brand new series of James Bond novels set in the present day. Each book will be written by a different author.

Project X will be published around the world on 28 May 2011.

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Updated: Meet Jeffery Deaver

Ian Fleming Publications and Hodder & Stoughton invited select members of the press to a “Top Secret” meeting with new James Bond author Jeffery Deaver today. In true Bond style, the one-on-one meetings with the author took place in the crypt of St Andrews church in Holborn/London. The location was only revealed to attendees after they RSVP’d, and it was not revealed in advance that the meeting would be with Deaver (who recently arrived in the UK to start his latest book tour).

Commanderbond.net’s own ‘Admiral’ was there, but he has yet to report back on what exactly went on. Watch this space for further information, which we’ll post here as soon as we have them on our desks.

Update: Read the debrief on the event in the CBn forums

Jeffery Deaver on updating James Bond

Details about the next James Bond novel – tentatively called Project X – remain sparse, but author Jeffery Deaver has dropped some more hints about his approach to writing about 007 in an interview with the News & Observer.

The bestselling thriller writer confirmed that his Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award-winning book Garden of Beasts was what landed him the 007 gig. “What happened was, a book of mine, Garden of Beasts, was a hit in Europe. It’s a historical thriller about a hit man in America given the option to go to Berlin for 1936 Olympics and assassinate the guy that was helping Germany rearm after World War I.”

“It’s actually my favorite book of any I’ve written, and it won an award in Europe that was sponsored by the Ian Fleming estate. When I accepted the award, I said how it meant a lot to me because I had read all the Bond books when I was young and they were a big influence on me.”

“I didn’t think anything of it beyond that. Then out of the blue, my agent got a call, and – was I interested in writing the next James Bond novel?”

“The Russians never did attack America; the threat of nuclear war didn’t happen. It’s hard to generate tension with those things anymore.” – Jeffery Deaver

However, there were a number of hurdles to overcome before Deaver accepted the offer. “I almost had to turn it down due to legal issues with my other publishers. And I also didn’t want to do a period piece. The Russians never did attack America; the threat of nuclear war didn’t happen. It’s hard to generate tension with those things anymore. There are new threats other than Cold War threats. But as it turns out my fears were unfounded because they want me to write a book in the modern day.”

“I joke that I have a co-author, Mr Fleming, because his estate is looking over my shoulder.” – Jeffery Deaver

But how exactly does Deaver plan to update Ian Fleming’s quintessential spy for the 21st century? “I’m writing the book myself, but I joke that I have a co-author, Mr Fleming, because his estate is looking over my shoulder. The work that I’ve done has been preliminarily approved. But I do have to go back and forth with them to get the details straight, which we’ll do over the next few months.”

“The book will be set in mid-2011, which is when the book will be coming out. Bond is a 29- or 30-year-old agent for British security, doing what he did in the original books. And he will be a veteran of the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. You’ll see the cast of characters readers are familiar with – Miss Moneypenny and M – but updated for the present day.”

“The character in the books is much more complicated. He’s darker. He’s a killer.” – Jeffery Deaver

It’s clear Deaver is taking his time to craft a well-plotted adventure. The author’s finished outline runs at about 180 pages. “What I’m doing is taking two templates, or formulas. One is taking the very complicated and edgy character that Fleming created. If people know Bond only from the movies, that’s just one interpretation. The character in the books is much more complicated. He’s darker. He’s a killer. The 00 classification, the license to kill, didn’t mean he was allowed to kill someone defending himself. It meant he was sent out on assignment for the express purpose of assassinating someone.”

“It takes a very special kind of person to do that. Now in fact, he rarely did. In some books, he didn’t kill anybody. He took a life if he needed to, regretfully. He didn’t enjoy it. Which, I think, makes him all the more human. He’s a flawed character. So that’s template one. And that will all translate into the modern day very well. It’s a post-modern character, really.”

“The other template is my kind of storytelling – very intricate plotting, very fast paced. The book will take place over only a few days. There will be exotic locations – and that’s part of the Bond formula as well, of course. It will have a lot of twists and turns and misdirections, and several big surprise endings.”

Be sure to check out the full interview, in which Deaver discusses more about his approach to thriller writing, in the News & Observer.

Deaver plans to deliver the Project X manuscript by 30 October. The book will be published around 28 May 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US.

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Jeffery Deaver to deliver Project X manuscript by 30 October

An update on the United Agents blog – the literary agent for the Ian Fleming Estate – alerts James Bond fans to the news that the manuscript for Jeffery Deaver’s Project X will be delivered by 30 October.

Deaver, currently on tour in the United Kingdom, is in the process of outlining the novel, the first in a contemporary re-imagining of the literary 007.

The blog post also reveals that Project X has landed its first foreign publication deal, with Dutch publisher Unieboek. It’s anticipated the book will be published in over 30 countries following its release next May.

Offers are already coming in from publishers in Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Korea.

Project X – working title only – will be published on 28 May 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US.

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