5. Devil May Care (Sebastian Faulks)
Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks is a classic throw back to the older Bond stories. Taking place in cold war Connery era of Bond in the 60s, Bond is instructed to look into a heroin dealer. M is very harsh with Bond at this point telling him that he will be replaced by a new 00 agent if he fails. Bond investigates the drug dealer Gorner in a race that takes him all over London and the Middle East. In a classic show down (SPOILER ALERT) he kills Gorner by throwing him into the propeller blades of a boat, stopping the massive amounts of heroin from reaching England. SPOILER ALERT AGIAIN! Bond then learns that his Bond girl throughout the novel is actually the 00 agent M threatened replacing him with and that the threat was empty all along. M just wanted Bond to agree to work with another agent. Apparently lone wolf James doesn't play well with others.