I picked up a copy of the new James Bond book on Wednesday evening, after unfruitful trips to a couple of bookshops where it had sold out I had given up trying to find one and thought I would wait until I could get one from Amazon, but just as I walked through the train station at Paddington I spotted a couple on display at the WH Smith there (at half price – bonus!) and managed to snaffle my copy on the day of release.

Sebastian Faulks is well known for his own books, but for this one he adopts the style of Ian Fleming and produces the first new James Bond story for some years. He has done this before – in his 2006 book ‘Pistache’ he also channeled Fleming for one of his stories.

So – with Devil May Care, he once again steals Flemings pen, and with the full backing of the Fleming estate, he crafts a new Bond story.

Set in the 1960’s, and located in true Bond style – Paris, London, Persia and Russia. It describes Bond taking on another megalomaniac villain, hell bent on destroying civilisation. It is a typical ripping yarn, full of perfectly pitched references to the secret agent lifestyle (Morland cigarettes and room service Martinis), and takes you instantly back to the cold war.

Of course – there is a girl or two, and the usual characters join the fray (M, Moneypenny and Felix), but the story has an excellent echo that feels current and brings the reader back to the present day.

You can feel the ghost of Fleming in every line, Faulks recreates the style and structure of those boyhood tales. I remember reading the original James Bond stories as an early teen and this took me back to those stories and the beginning of my own relationship with Bond.

An excellent reprise of the quintessential British Hero.