Date first published	1 Dec 2011
ISBN Number	978 1 4091 16431
Page Count	421 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

Bourne's enemies are gathering force. Severus Domna, a secret and ancient cabal, has called forth its members from the four corners of the globe, with one objective: to vanquish the last person capable of destroying their bid to destabalise the world economy - Jason Bourne. But how can they possibly succeed where so many others have failed? By turning Bourne's most trusted friend into his greatest and most deadly enemy.

Boris Karpov has finally reached the pinnacle of his career- he has taken over the Russian FSB-2, one of the most powerful security operations in the world. This new role has come with a heavy price. Karpov agreed to a devil's pact with the former head of FSB-2, the notorious Cherkesov. Now Cherkesov has called in the favour - and it's far worse than anything Karpov could have imagined. Cherkesob has demande that he kill Jason Bourne, his oldest friend.

Review

The Bourne of the Van Lustbader novels, is a now a very different being to that created by Ludlum. In fact if he were the same man, he would be around his late 60s, early 70s. Well beyond the age of most spies.

The past novels I have not enjoyed, whether it is because of poor writing, or it is me fighting against the alien Bourne that now appears I'm not sure. So I was mildly surprised to put the book down and find that i actually quite enjoyed reading it.

Severus Domna, has become a form of SPECTRE from the James Bond films, and you could actually imagine these books going straight into movie production, in direct competition with Mr Bond.

In some ways this story just stays in the borders of the real world, and I wonder whether in real life if Bourne left them alone whether he would actually pursue them. Certainly any organisation would think twice about poking a problem as big as Bourne. It's like going out into the street seeing a Rattlesnake in the middle of the road, giving it a kick and then wondering why you've just been bitten!

The action is fast and frenetic, however unlike Ludlums books there is lees of the 'in mind screaming' - read the early stories if you don't understand. Bourne is now shorn of any personal life, he has no family few (if any) friends, and is largely isolated. He does have contacts with the American Intelligence Services, who seem mainly intent on an a vendetta against Bourne, and what he knows. In some ways quite depressing.

So to finalise, a better book than the last one. It has made me think whether I should revisit some of the earlier stories and re-review them.

Use this bar to navigate the Bourne Section
Previous	Index

Use this bar to navigate all Ludlum Books
Previous	Index	Next