Ranking James Bond Authors

9. Jeffery Deaver

Tenure – 2011, Novels – 1, Short Stories – 0

The post-Fleming Bond novels have fluctuated extensively in terms of setting. The series returned to a period backdrop in 2008 after almost three decades of contemporary stories, before the decision was made to switch back to the modern day once again with Jeffrey Deaver’s Carte Blanche in 2011. The second American author to be given the reins to the series, Deaver crafted something of a hybrid environment for 007 to operate in, featuring established Fleming characterisations alongside new interpretations of his own.

Unfortunately, it happened to be an overcomplicated and dull environment. It’s ironic that the story begins with a train crash given that things go quickly off the rails soon after, with the plot unable to decide if it centres on the assassination of a cancer researcher, a conspiracy to engineer a war in favour of an African charity, an investigation into a Cold War KGB operation or a bizarre villain that fetishises death.

Deaver was offered the opportunity to write a second novel, but allegedly turned it down. A highly prolific and successful crime writer, his foray into the world of espionage fiction was a misguided one that sadly sticks out like a sore thumb within the Bond series.