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    Solo
    Solo
    Solo
    Audiobook7 hours

    Solo

    Written by William Boyd

    Narrated by Dominic West

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Bond. Is. Back.

    It’s 1969, and, having just celebrated his forty-fifth birthday, James Bond—British special agent 007—is summoned to headquarters to receive an unusual assignment. Zanzarim, a troubled West African nation, is being ravaged by a bitter civil war, and M directs Bond to quash the rebels threatening the established regime.

    Bond’s arrival in Africa marks the start of a feverish mission to discover the forces behind this brutal war—and he soon realizes the situation is far from straightforward. Piece by piece, Bond uncovers the real cause of the violence in Zanzarim, revealing a twisting conspiracy that extends further than he ever imagined.

    Moving from rebel battlefields in West Africa to the closed doors of intelligence offices in London and Washington, this novel is at once a gripping thriller, a tensely plotted story full of memorable characters and breathtaking twists, and a masterful study of power and how it’s wielded—a brilliant addition to the James Bond canon.

    Editor's Note

    Bond is back…

    William Boyd picks up where Ian Fleming left off with everyone’s favorite MI6 agent. The first new novel in the Bond series is a thrillingly modern take on 007, while remaining true to Fleming’s famous spy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 8, 2013
    ISBN9780062265272
    Solo
    Author

    William Boyd

    William Boyd is also the author of A Good Man in Africa, winner of the Whitbread Award and the Somerset Maugham Award; An Ice-Cream War, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys War Prize and short-listed for the Booker Prize; Brazzaville Beach, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; Restless, winner of the Costa Novel of the Year; Ordinary Thunderstorms; and Waiting for Sunrise, among other books. He lives in London.

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    Reviews for Solo

    3.5/5

    172 ratings23 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This is quite a good book, actually. It is not a real travelogue, in which you read all about the travel, and also about the various people and cultures you meet on such a journey. It is a socio-political discourse of sorts, with a journey as an enabler. Having said that, it is a good book, and one well worth reading. While I do love North East India, this book serves to open my eyes to a lot about that part of our country, and gives a brief introduction to some of the issues facing people who live there. Well written, reading the book is a breeze. She takes you along on her journey.
    • 5/5
      Great listen
    • 4/5
      Typical Higgins - excellent story telling with a style that makes you want to continue reading. The two central characters were interesting with good support from an array of people. The book was not too long which I was grateful for as too many adventure stories go on forever without adding to the central story. Higgins managed to build the story and characters in just over 200 pages. Excellent bedtime/holiday reading.
    • 3/5
      Some of Jack Higgin's books are a bit hit and miss with some being rather bland plot rehashes seemingly using cardboard cut out characters borrowed from other books with different names.

      Thankfully this was not one of those books, whilst it does feature the same 'world' as some of the other books of his it is a stand alone story that manages to stand by itself.

      Would recommend to those who enjoy reading stories of intrigue.
    • 4/5
      An underrated story with an excellent narrator. I would like more James Bond books written by Boyd. I would also like more books narrated by Dominic West. He is an excellent actor who does a very convincing American accent. If you have ever seen the Wire or the Affair you know ( and if you have not seen the Wire, stop what you are doing and run RUN to the nearest TV and start watching one of the greatest shows in history) that. Of course he is great with the Accents in this story as well.
      I will say one thing for Boyd. He is an excellent author with a flair for descriptive setting. I really love his habit of going into detail about the exotic locales and various colors. he does not waste time with frivolous description, but gives you exactly what you need to really feel the setting, and then moves on.
    • 4/5
      This is decidedly not Fleming, but Boyd is especially adept at describing Africa (fictional though it is, it seems real enough). His style is distinctly his and I would not have it any other way. We find a Bond that is sensual in his enjoyment of life's pleasures and cynical when it comes to geopolitics.
    • 3/5
      A quick read, helped by breakfast in bed on Saturday morning.... a bit 'nice' as I remembered James Bond as being nastier - but it's so long since I read the Flemming books that I might well be quite wrong. Enjoyed the African bits especially.
    • 4/5
      Excellent continuation of Ian Flemings "007"
    • 4/5
      This is a 3 and a half star book, but I cannot round it up to 4 stars because that would over praise it. You know it is not an Ian Fleming James Bond on the first page where "real writing" appears and throughout the book William Boyd displays flashes of his normal quality writing, whilst staying within the template of a Bond book. There is lots of drinking, smoking, sex, food and guns as one would expect. I was amused by the gun buying sequence in Washington. This was supposed to be 1969 and, sure enough, little has changed, a Beretta and a highpowered hunting rifle over the counter with no identity checks! I noticed a few editing issues, e.g. also buying binoculars before the main purchase and did he really intend to use sodality rather than solidarity, I think not.I think it is probably the best of the Bond Redux novels I have read, the word is fun!
    • 4/5
      I haven't read many post-Ian Fleming Bond novels, but I enjoyed this one. It was especially an improvement over the last 007 outing, written by Jeffrey Deaver, which updated Bond to our times and made him so "p.c." that he wasn't even recognizable at James Bond anymore. Denver's 007 didn't smoke, was moderate with the booze, had a healthy respect for women, and seemed more "licensed to wound" than "licensed to kill." He was a "company man" through-and-through who was prone to ask himself "what would M do" in any particular situation. Ugh! The character could have just as easily been called Malcolm Goodwright, for all the resemblance he had toward Bond.

      The new novel, "Solo," brings back a creditable Bond. We're back in the 1960s, with Bond being 45 years old. He loves his martinis, his fast cars, and his women. But what I liked about this novel is that it took Bond out of his element. Rather than traveling to the world's exotic spots to battle megalomaniacs seeking global domination, he is sent to a dismal West African country in the midst of civil war. On top of that, he isn't even allowed to pack a gun!

      To be sure, there will be plenty of gunplay before the book is over, along with other nastiness, but along the way, Bond is also exposed to some of the ugly truths about colonialism and the role he plays as a government agent in realpolitick. These lessons aren't dealt to the reader heavy-handedly, but it is significant that the novel takes place in 1969, just as a new administration has begun in Washington whose entire foreign policy was based on realpolitick. As Bond says at the end of the book, "Realpolitick isn't just a German word anymore."

      William Boyd, the novel's author, knows Africa, having spent much of his life there, making the African scenes particularly compelling. I'd enjoy having him write a sequel.
    • 3/5
      It wasn't bad, but it left me with the same vague feeling of disappointment that all non-Fleming Bond novels do.
    • 3/5
      Entertaining, but ultimately uninspired, addition to official Bond canon.
    • 3/5
      This is moderately successful, better in some parts than in others, much like the Ian Fleming originals. There's a certain pleasure in ticking off all the generic conventions as they're duly called into service: fast girls, faster cars, particular - and often peculiar - dietary requirements, the right weapon, characters' bizarre names (Sunday, Blessing, Christmas), inventive death, etc, etc: yes, they're all here. Boyd even remembers the story of Fleming learning that in real life one always vomits when recovering consciousness. Fleming included the detail in his next novel, and here it is in Boyd, too. Twice.While all of this may indeed 'A James Bond Novel' make, it doesn't in itself add up to an effective thriller. Solo is exciting in places, but drags in others, which I suppose is not unusual, but one has come to expect more from James Bond, perhaps unreasonably, especially as I think I remember the same being true of at least some of Fleming's efforts, though they at least had the benefit of originality, a luxury not enjoyed by Boyd.Boyd has famously chosen to set the novel in 1969, so here we have a historical novel, too: while period detail is dutifully included and anachronism doesn't exactly abound, neither is it wholly absent, and it grates. I don't for a moment believe that she had a 'day from hell', and I'm suspicious of a hospital that was 'state of the art', or that Bond appreciates 'effective PR'.A generally enjoyable literary exercise: well done. Now, put your money away, Mr Boyd, and write something much better.
    • 2/5
      Quite possibly the most disappointing work by William Boyd. His attempt at the iconic James Bond was rather flat and not terribly thrilling. A far, far cry from the quality he's known for in his other works.
    • 2/5
      Boyd has done a good job at replicating Fleming here. Bond pontificates, eats and relates to the world just as Fleming wrote bond. But where was the fun plot? Yes a couple of twists are here but by the end it was difficult to care about the story.
    • 2/5
      I hate to say that I didn't like, let alone love, a James Bond book, but Solo just didn't work for me. The early, London-based sequences were an intersting view into Bond's life that felt true to the character. However, once he is sent on his mission to Africa, things turned progressively ... boring. That's really the only way to describe it. Sure there were a few action sequences, but none that stood out or were reminiscent of traditional Bond-esque action scenes. Too much sitting around drinking waiting for something to happen. And the final third of the book just felt as if the author needed to find some way to make this an Bondian thriller and wrap the story up, neither of which was he able to do successfully.
    • 3/5
      Always a difficult job to come after a trend setting author who has created an icon. William Boyd does a fair job but a little like Jeffery Deaver before him, he gives his Bond characteristics that jar with those familiar with Flemings Bond. Bonds new car, his attitude when investigating a character in the first third of the novel, all seemed to be forced. This is Bond as a Wilbur Smith African adventurer. He has some characteristics of Flemings creation: darkly intelligent, ruthless but loyal, resourceful but in this setting, with these fictional African locales, it all seems like a need to put a favourite of the authors into his own fictional locations. This isn't Fleming pastiche, like Faulks recent effort, & it shows. It doesn't feel like Bond. Read as an adventure in its own right, it's enjoyable. Just don't expect things to be the way a purist would like.
    • 4/5
      Boyd was always a good storyteller. He doesn't disappoint here in the continuing James Bond sags.
    • 4/5
      Good one! It starts off in 1969, on James Bond's 45th birthday. In classic Fleming style, Bond dines on fine cuisine, drinks only the best, and dresses, well, like James Bond! The whole opening part of the book reminded me of the classic Bond! The middle of the book is James' mission - to end a civil war in Africa. Not terribly interesting, but full of action and extremely fast paced! And the end is again classic. The drink, the girl, and the job. I really think this book captured the Bond that I loved as a kid, and I'm glad I read it! I also liked that it had a "classic" villain too! Welcome Kobus Breed to the Bond villain wall of fame!
    • 3/5
      The Good Stuff Will appeal to Bond fans, especially fans of those early Fleming novels This Bond felt like a Daniel Craig style Bond - but than again maybe that is just how I imagined him to be. Nice addition to the back story of Bond Bond Girl was fabulous, really enjoyed her personality and how she dealt with Bond. Well written, Boyd does a fabulous job of setting the scene and the mood of the story. The African setting is a nice change of pace Author obviously has done some thorough research on Bond, he really has a true understanding of his character I have a feeling this will appeal mostly to the older Bond enthusiast as the slow paced style of the story will probably turn off the younger reader - this would be my Dad's Bond type of story (This isn't a negative comment) Nice to read about Moneypenny again, I have missed her (though would have liked to have more of her)The Not So Good Stuff Rather dull at times and quite frankly, couldn't wait to be done so I could pick up something a little more exciting. This has nothing to do with Boyd's ability to write (his talent is very evident) but this particular story was not my cup of tea Must we always kill off the women that Bond sleeps with. Than again I would risk death to have one night with Daniel Craig's Bond (But I would get the hell out of whatever country we were in once I left his bed & would have a big ferocious dog with me too (not to mention a full body bullet proof suit) I think Cory is going to be mad at me since I didn't love this book as much as he did (FYI he is young and loved it so maybe my observation about how this will appeal to older readers might be inaccurate)Favorite Quotes/Passages "Sometimes, Bond thought, Moneypenny's banter could verge on the annoyingly self-satisfied. He was vaguely irritated that she must know how old he is.""Bond found he rather admired the Captain's tireless ability to lie so fluently and with manifest conviction. He was good at his job, but no one was fooled.""They had seen everything, these nurses, Bond realized. Words like prudish, embarrassed, shocked, disgusted or ashamed simply weren't in their vocabulary. Perhaps that was why people - why men - found them so attractive."3 Dewey'sI received this from William Morrow (HarperCollins) in exchange for an honest review
    • 5/5
      Just finished reading Solo by William Boyd. This is the latest James Bond by an author picking up after Ian Fleming. I really enjoyed this book. This book seems to be the most faithful to Fleming's James Bond character. The book is set in 1969. The descriptions of the period seem to be very accurate from my recollections.The story is about James Bond being sent to a fictitious west African country in the midst of a civil war with the mission of enabling the defeat of the rebels. Bond has run ins with several strange characters along the likes of Jaws, Blofeld, etc. Bond also has a dalliance with an agent who turns out not to be who he thinks she is. He also has a relationship with another woman. The sex with the beautiful women is described in a similar manner to the way Fleming handled it and in the early Bond films.The title Solo is about Bond's actions after returning from the end of the civil war in the west African country. He is plotting revenge outside of MI6 over what happened while in Africa.If you enjoyed Ian Fleming's Bond books, you should enjoy this book.
    • 4/5
      When i was about 13 or 14 I read Ian Fleming's James Bond novels quite avidly, even though they were by then already rather dated and, at least to an adolescent's boy's taste, rather anodyne compared with the films that they had spawned. However, as one of my old drinking buddies was a huge fan of them I tried to re-read a couple of them just a few years back and found them very hard going, almost to the point of being utterly impenetrable.However, ever since reading his first novel, "A Good Man in Africa", I have been, and avowedly remain, a huge fan of William Boyd, whom I consider incapable of writing an inelegant sentence. I was, therefore, intrigued to hear that he had accepted a commission from the Fleming Estate to write the latest "official" James Bond story. Boyd's recent novels have followed espionage-related themes, though operating on a far more elevated plane than Fleming's shockers, but he rises to the challenge of continuing Bond's career with great gusto. The book is set in 1969, and opens on Bond's 45th birthday. To celebrate he book the day off and arranges to spend the previous night in The Dorchester Hotel. We get chapter and verse on his meals, even down to the number of eggs scrambled for his breakfast, though this attention to detail isn't at all intrusive. Having met a beautiful woman in the hotel lift, he then heads off for a day of intense self-indulgence for his birthday, including a test drive of the legendary Jensen FF. This all works very well, and Boyd paints an appealing picture of the swinging sixties in west London.Indeed, the plot only really gets properly started some four or five chapters in when Bond eventually makes it to his office and is briefed by M for his mission which is, basically, to go to West Africa and bring an end to a vicious post-colonial civil war that is besetting the state of Zanzarim.. Bond is flown out to Africa masquerading as a reporter for a French news agency. The story proceeds true to the tried and tested James Bond model.I think this was an interesting experiment but I am not sure that it worked - basically William Boyd is just too good a writer and it seems a dreadful waste to have his ability reined in to match the weaker template set by Fleming. Still, I did enjoy it, and I might even try some of the originals again.
    • 5/5
      This is a book about resourcefulness. Boyd's Bond is a pared down sixties version but with a reasonably rich interior life drawn straight from the liberalism of later years. He does not act without compunction and he generally considers and weighs up each situation as a human being, rather than a super-construct-hero. The story is engaging and well plotted. Though it does dip occasionally into the realms of disbelief it provides remarkably easy and entertaining escapism for a day or so.