Preview
  • Carte Blanche

  • The New James Bond Novel
  • By: Jeffery Deaver
  • Narrated by: Toby Stephens
  • Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (846 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Carte Blanche

By: Jeffery Deaver
Narrated by: Toby Stephens
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.49

Buy for $22.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The face of war is changing. The other side doesn't play by the rules much anymore. There's thinking, in some circles,that we need to play by a different set of rules too....

Fresh from Afghanistan, James Bond has been recruited to a new agency. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of Five, Six and the MoD, its very existence deniable. Its aim: to protect the Realm, by any means necessary. The Night Action alert calls Bond from dinner with a beautiful woman. GCHQ has decrypted an electronic whisper about an attack scheduled for later in the week: casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected.

And 007 has been given carte blanche to do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission.

©2011 Jeffrey Deaver (P)2011 Simon & Schuster Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
About the Creator - Jeffery Deaver

About the Creator

Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His books are sold in 150 countries and have been translated into 25 languages. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America, and was recently named a Grand Master of MWA, whose ranks include Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Mary Higgins Clark, and Walter Mosley.
The author of 43 novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. His The Bodies Left Behind was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller, The Broken Window, and a stand-alone, Edge, were also nominated for that prize. The Garden of Beasts won the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in England. He’s also been nominated for eight Edgar Awards by the MWA.
Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy
Deaver's most recent works are Hunting Time, a Colter Shaw novel, and The Broken Doll, a four-story collection from Amazon Original Stories. His Shaw novel, The Never Game, will be a CBS Prime-time series later this year.

What listeners say about Carte Blanche

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    343
  • 4 Stars
    268
  • 3 Stars
    158
  • 2 Stars
    48
  • 1 Stars
    29
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    331
  • 4 Stars
    173
  • 3 Stars
    94
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    16
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    274
  • 4 Stars
    195
  • 3 Stars
    123
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    24

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An excellent continuation of the Bond stories.

The characters were well developed and reminded me of previous bond books. The story was not as good as some but better than most.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

License not to offend

Being not only a huge James Bond fan but also a Jeffrey Deaver fan I decided to give this audio book a try, and what I got was a very disappointing representation of the character that I've hold most dear in literature and movies. Deaver gives Bond too much of a conscience along with his dry wit and bite. Examples of this include insulting other characters then immediately scolding himself for doing so. This is something that Fleming's or Craig's Bond would have never thought twice about doing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bond in the contemporary context!

A fantastic listen from start to finish. Believable characters, exotic locales, ruthless villains and all wrapped up in a plot that could be taken from headlines

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Deaver Does An Awesome Bond! Great book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

First, Deaver is an excellent writer who understands and writes in the genre with the best of them. I think we are lucky a writer of his caliber would take on Bond at all. Bond movies are so anticipated and loved, they tend to be judged more by how few times you are forced to suspend belief than by how good the story really is. I must confess I carried the same anticipation into the reading of Carte Blanche. In this case, Deaver delivers in a very big way with a complex mystery that is as entertaining as it is realistic.Best of all, he gives Bond the sophistication and complexity he deserves.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Carte Blanche?

I loved how Deaver used the contrast of proper police work to expose how Bond's 00 status allows him far more leeway than most law enforcement.

Which character – as performed by Toby Stephens – was your favorite?

Bond, James Bond.

Any additional comments?

If you love good writing, excellent mystery, and believable suspense and of course James Bond, you'll love Carte Blanche!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!

If you like the new Bond movies, with their more realistic James Bond ... you will love this book. I really enjoyed it. Interesting story, good writing, and the performance was terrific. One of my first Audible.com books and I was very pleased. Sat in the car occasionally, because of the suspense of the book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

Deaver has a style that works well for describing characters. He tries hard to conjure some of the savoire faire of Ian Fleming. Bond and other of the familiar stable of characters are likably portrayed. The role of women has been appropriately updated. But the story line had no tension in it at all. When the denouement sloooowly unfolded, I really didn't care that much. I might not bother to read a second novel in the series.





Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it I want more

I would love to see more of this version of bond ready for more

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not Fleming

About 10 times in the book, Bond apparently walks straight into a trap. Each time, a few paragraphs later it is explained why he was able to carefully avoid the mistake. This technique gets very old very quickly. I have read all the Fleming novels and rarely remember him using this literary device. Perhaps with the bank note in Casino Royale, but even that was more of a puzzle. Also, I was dismayed by the "surprise" betrayal at the end. Another trick not used by Fleming too often.

The plot was typical nonsense. You couldn't analyze Fleming's plots too carefully either. Bad guy was interesting. Henchman was good, very clever. I hate when characters act stupid just to move the plot along.

Some of the other "re-boot" features were actually quite good. Q, Tanner, the iqPhone, etc. I liked the lessons in "tradecraft" that were sprinkled throughout the book. That was Fleming-ish (or should I say Flemish?).

I thought narration was OK.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thriller and Well Paced Adventure

Jeffery Deaver puts a new spin on a classic. This book was hard to put down and more difficult to anticipate what was going to happen to our hero.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best Bond novels

Enjoyed the book for start to finish. It's one of the best Bond novels ever.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful