Review - Solo: A James Bond Novel by William Boyd

Solo: A James Bond Novel by William Boyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published October 8th 2013 by Harper

Source: Review Copy

Synopsis:

'It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in the small West African nation of Zanzarim. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice. Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington, D.C., where he discovers a web of intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Even if Bond succeeds in exacting his revenge, a man with two faces will come to stalk his every waking moment.'

My Thoughts:
I read this instalment in the Bond series virtually straight after reading the first ever Bond book, Casino Royale, as I was interested to see the comparison to the first one, especially since it was written by a different author.

I must say that I did enjoy this book a lot more than I did Casino Royale. It had a much deeper storyline, a lot more action, was easier to read and James Bond himself was a much deeper character and had less of an abrupt nature.

Solo is a little bit slow to start with as the storyline and the point of his latest mission develops, but around halfway through it really picks up pace and grabbed my attention all the way until the end.

I found Solo really easy to imagine being made into a movie and I personally kept picturing Sean Connery as the Bond in this book.

The Solo Bond is definitely more mature and sensible in nature. Something that really surprised me was how attached he seemed to get to the females in the book. That is not something that you really associate with Bond's character and I'm wondering if it was a way of showing that he has matured as a person.

Overall I really liked reading Solo and will most likely try reading some of the older Bond books now to see how the series develops along the way. I am a little bit bothered by the cliffhanger ending as things like that always annoy me slightly but I'm still keen to read the next instalment to see how it all plays out.