007 back in print in ‘Devil May Care’

James Bond, Britain’s most famous secret agent, returns to the page in “Devil May Care,” released around the world in 21 languages Wednesday amid a blaze of publicity not seen since the last Harry Potter book.

Publishers are hoping the thriller, already topping Internet retailer Amazon’s best-seller list in Britain, proves a fitting centenary tribute to Bond’s late creator, Ian Fleming – and a lucrative new chapter for a franchise that has sold 100 million copies since the suave spy first appeared in “Casino Royale” in 1952.

Sebastian Faulks, the author of popular, respected literary novels including “Birdsong” and “Charlotte Gray,” was a surprise choice by Ian Fleming’s family to revive 007 in print.

He has kept most of the key Bond ingredients for “Devil May Care.” There is a glamorous, colorfully named woman – Scarlett Papava – and a memorably disfigured villain, Julius Gorner, who has an oversized monkey’s paw for a hand.

Set in 1967, the book is a Cold War tale of the international drug trade that takes Bond to Iran, the Caspian Sea and Russia.

Faulks said most of his preparation for “Devil May Care” came through reading the 14 Bond books Fleming completed before his death in 1964.

“I was pleasantly surprised – they were stylish, well-written in a crisp, journalistic style,” he said.