The Janson Directive: A Novel

I have read all of Robert Ludlums books. The Janson Directive does not read like his other books. It is as if someone else wrote this book and put Ludlums name on it. I found the story dull and very detailed.

The Janson Directive was published after Robert Ludlum’s death. It’s very typical of a Ludlum novel filled with high-wire action scenes and loaded with twists and turns. In this novel, Paul Janson, a former assassin for the United States government who now runs a private security company is hired to rescue kidnapped Nobel Peace prize winner, Peter Novak. He is being held captive by Muslim extremists in the Indian Ocean. Just after his rescue attempt, Novak is killed in a fiery explosion. Instead of this being the end of the novel, it’s just the beginning. Janson is then targeted by assassins throughout Europe, leaving a trail of dead bodies in the process.

This novel certainly moves at a fast pace and is enjoyable to read. The reveal behind the novel is absolutely preposterous, which is typical of Ludlum. I wouldn’t say it kills the novel, but it certainly made me groan. Believability is not one of Ludlum’s strengths, but action is, and this novel has it in spades. A fun novel, but not one that requires a great deal of deep thought.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

THE SETUP
Philanthropist Peter Knovac is kidnaped by rebels on the island of Anura (near Ceylon), and is scheduled to be publicly executed. Knovac's "Liberty Foundation" hires Paul Janson (a former special forces soldier, later Consular Ops operative, now working as an industrial security consultant) to rescue Knovac. Janson assembles a team and succeeds, but the plane Knovac and the team leave in is blown up, leaving Janson the only survivor. Subsequently, Janson discovers that he has been framed for the murder of Knovac.

The plot is frequently interrupted with flashbacks to Vietnam, where Janson was captured by the North Vietnamese, having been betrayed by his psycopathic mentor and commanding officer, Alan Dimerest. Upon his escape he sees to it that Dimerest is executed for various war crimes. While this at first this backstory seems to just be adding color, it turns out to be a key component of the plot.

VERDICT
"The Janson Directive" is an extraordinarily well-written thriller. One of those thrillers which grabs you by the throat and won't let go until the last page. The book is well paced, with "rest spots" between the frantic scenes.

As in all books of this genre, the plot is a bit contrived, there are implausibilities, and a few technical errors--but I gladly overlook them all.

CAUTION
The tracts on disk 6 and 7 of the original audio-version are jumbled--badly out of order. Presumably this has been fixed, but I would not buy a copy without assurance that disk 6 and 7 are updated, or full return privileges.

> Click on “Stoney” just below the product title to see my other reviews, or leave a comment to ask a question.

Robert Ludlum departed from this side of the veil a couple of years ago. He left a variety of manuscripts prior to his death including THE JANSON DIRECTIVE, which was about 90% completed prior to his death, and then was edited by his long time agent, Henry Morrison and his editor, Keith Kahla.
Ludlum did not invent the master spy novel, but it is doubtful that the genre would exist in its present form without him. The plots are of a basic theme: take a larger than life hero and put him up against impossible odds with the price of failure being the fate of the free world. One would think that the variations on this theme would wear thin and in the hands of a less-able writer they would, and have. THE JANSON DIRECTIVE, however, is the finest of page-turners.
Our hero in this case is Paul Janson, an almost-legendary super-assassin who, weary of the bloodshed and brutality that marked his career, retired from the covert agency where he made his career and hired himself out as an industrial consultant. His retirement abruptly ends, however, when he is contacted by a representative of the Liberty Foundation, a private organization devoted to the cause of peace and democracy throughout the world. It seems that Peter Novak, founder of the Liberty Foundation --- and a man to whom Janson owes his life --- has been kidnapped by the forces of a terrorist known as The Caliph. Worse, Novak has been summarily scheduled for execution within a few days. Janson, at the request of the Liberty Foundation, assembles a crack team of operatives to rescue Novak.
The mission, against all odds, proceeds successfully until, within the span of a few moments, everything turns disastrous. In the aftermath, Janson is inexplicably marked for death by operatives at the highest level of the U.S. Government and finds himself on the run, unable to trust those formerly closest to him. And soon Novak finds himself pursued by Jessica Kincaid, Janson's protégé and an agent of breathtaking ability who knows all of his secrets and his weaknesses. There is a passage dealing intimately with the process of drowning that will leave you gasping for air. Literally every character from Janson to adversaries who pass into and out of the novel in a single paragraph, is interesting. Even the anticipation that all will end well, or reasonably so, by novel's end does not make the journey any less interesting, or compelling.
THE JANSON DIRECTIVE continues Ludlum's fine tradition of suspense writ on a global scale, dealing with topics that seem to be eerily prescient of tomorrow's headlines. Ludlum, through his work and the work which he inspired, truly lives on. There is no better epitaph than that.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Paul Janson thought he had left the world of spies and intrigue behind. The nightmares had faded as well though he still mourned his deceased pregnant wife Helene. Her death at the hands of terrorists occurred five years ago and was the impetus for his leaving Consular Operations, a covert spy unit within the State Department.
The five years have been financially rewarding, as Janson is now a corporate security consultant. The company is his and his reputation allows him to be very selective about his clients. His calm and very orderly life is shattered when, while sitting in a VIP lounge at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, he hears an old operational alias of his being paged. What initially appears to be coincidence quickly turns into an urgent plea for help from Marta Lange on behalf of Peter Novak.
Peter Novak is a Billionaire and philanthropist who oversees the Liberty Foundation. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Novak is a visionary who has achieved peaceful settlements in some of the most war torn places in the world. While brokering a peace agreement, he was kidnapped by Kanga rebels led by the world-renowned terrorist known as Caliph. They have announced that Novak is to be executed for various crimes within days.
Not only does Janson owe his life to Novak because of a past situation, the very group responsible for killing Helene in a terrorist bomb attack has grabbed Novak. A debt of honor must be paid and Janson quickly assembles a team consisting of some of the most skilled operatives he has worked with in the past. For various stated political reasons, the United States government won't help and it is up to Janson, his four-member team and the resources of the Liberty Foundation to rescue Novak. But things begin to go very wrong from the start of the operation and Janson, feeling his age as well as his old skills returning, becomes aware that he is being used by forces unknown for unknown purposes. Compromised and suspected by his agents of his own government he thought were friends and allies, Janson finds himself soon on another rescue mission. In this case to save his own life and clear his name.
It is extremely difficult to criticize a novel by a novelist now deceased. This novel has all the usual Ludlum elements in that it features complex storylines, plots within plots, rogue elements of the United States government, honor and debts to be repaid as well as a globe trotting spy cast adrift. But it misses the human touch that made some of his work so incredibly good.
Paul Janson is a complex character full of deep emotion and pain according to the novel. And while that idea is constantly reinforced throughout the work, the novel never makes the visceral connection with the reader. There is an emotional detachment to the work, which is difficult to describe, that distances the novel from the reader and renders the repeated emotional references meaningless.
Despite the usual Ludlum elements as noted above, this lack of human connection in the work makes this an average read at best and disappointing at worst. For long time Ludlum fans with a discerning eye, this novel does not reflect the grand master at his best. Rumor has it that at least one more and possibly as many as three more are in the publishing pipeline. One can hope that one of those may reflect the grand master at his writing best.

Robert Ludlum's latest thriller is par for the course - an amusing diversion that entertains while you read but is pretty forgettable after you're done. Even now, a mere week after reading it, I find it hard to recall exactly what it was about.
Ah yes, now I remember: An ex-spy named Janson is recruited to save the life of a philanthropic billionaire who is being held by a terrorist. The rescue almost goes okay, but then goes really wrong and Janson is suddenly a fugitive. Janson - like all Ludlum heroes, haunted by the death of a relative, in this case his wife - is caught between the government and the bad guys, and often has trouble figuring out which is which.
At first, this one seems like an atypical Ludlum novel. The terrorist who Janson is up against seems strictly minor league and the global conspiracy that is standard Ludlum is nowhere to be seen. Eventually, such a conspiracy does appear, but while it is a clever enough idea, the main villain - in certain ways obvious from the get-go - has achieved his power in a completely ludicrous way. The sheer dumbness of the villain's rise to power - even though recognized as such by Janson - hurts the plausiblity and quality of the book.
But if this is not a great book, it is still the type of entertainment that Ludlum typically delivers. For those familiar with Ludlum, there will be little disappointment here, and even for those unfamiliar with him, this will not be a bad read. While I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this book, I wouldn't actively steer anyone away from it either.

Initially published one year after the death of Robert Ludlum, the nearly finished manuscript to this action-packed novel of government deception and cover-up was reportedly completed by his editor.

If not for his legendary Jason Bourne character, the main character in this novel - Paul Janson - could have been the Ludlum franchise in movies and successful book sequels.

And it is more than eliminating the first "n" in the last name for the misunderstood hero to be like Jason, as there are a number of close parallels; he is a Vietnam veteran who survived the sadistic manipulations of a commander, worked in a government covert agency that ultimately will try to eliminate him and is haunted by scenes from his past, including the murder of his pregnant wife by a terrorist organization.

The hunt for Janson is started when an "off-the-books" rescue attempt of a billionaire philanthropist goes terribly wrong, which leads to friends becoming enemies in a fast-paced game of searching for answers in the shadows between fact and disinformation.

Meticulous details and patented Ludlum plot twists make this novel more than a summertime read. This recent reissue clearly shows that Ludlum was moving in a direction to produce another seminal hero in the thriller genre.

it still is very entertaining. The one and only fault that I could find is that the book contained run on which is not characteristic of Ludlum's writing. So I zipped through those parts but they were usually short. An example is how a timed bomb works. Just give me the bottom line and I am happy. All the intricate detail is way above my pay grade.

Now lets put that aside and talk about the enjoyable book. First of all this book contains quite a few twists and turns so buckle up and you will be in for a ride. Our hero, Paul Janson, is a retired operative who is lulled back for a job. A philantropist Peter Novak is kidnapped by rebels from a small country which is close to Sri Lanka. He is to be a mediate between the goverment and the rebels but instead he is captured. Novak's foundation hires Janson to rescue him but alas, everything goes wrong and Novak and Janson's men do not make it. Next thing you know is that his own agency and goverment and guns for hire are after him. It is a long chase for him to get away from the people who are after him and also to find out who and why he is being hunted.

Along the way one of the people who tries to kill him, Jessica Kincaid, eventually becomes an ally and helps to find out what is actually going on. They keep on running into stone walls and sharp turns. As we go along we meet quite an interesting collection of indiviuals with the best being the Russian, Grigori Berman, who since the fall of the Soviet Union has been trying to an Englishman. The way he goes about it is a hoot.

All in all the book is enjoyable from the first to the last page with no stops in between. It may not have been all Ludlum's work but it still comes out as very enjoyable.

Peter Novak, multibillionaire philanthropist, Nobel peace prize winner and head of the Liberty Foundation has been kidnapped while trying to broker a peace settlement on the Indian Ocean island of Anura. A terrorist leader there known as the Caliph has refused ransom and plans to execute Novak. Using it's vast resources the Liberty Foundation reaches out to former top Consular Operations specialist Paul Janson.
Janson, now a corporate security specialist, was at one time the top covert operative in his agency. Janson was a resourceful killing machine who had spent 18 months as a POW in Vietnam before escaping. Top executives from Liberty implore Janson to rescue Novak. Janson reluctantly assembles a top notch 5 man team to extract Novak from his fortress-like prison on Anura.
In the midst of this daring raid Janson becomes aware that there is some convoluted government plot behind this abduction. He learns of some secretive information that turns him from the hunter to the hunted. Janson's own government has designated him as a rogue agent marked for assasination. Janson now must use all his elaborate training to avoid the Consular Operations teams sent out to eliminate him.
Ludlum's last offering before his unfortunate demise represents a nice effort in the action and adventure genre he made so popular.

I read the Bourne Identity awhile ago and enjoyed it, this book cemented my fandom for Robert Ludlum. While I only gave this novel 3 out of 5 stars, there are reasons.

This is a taut thriller that grabbed and held on to my interest for the first 400 or so pages, then it began to wane. At this point I did a little research, this novel was not finished by Ludlum, he passed away in 2001 and this was the first of his books to be "Ghost Finished", I'll chalk up the somewhat uninspired ending to the ghost writer.

More about the book. It is very "running man" The protagonist, Janson, is a sort of super spook, think Jason Bourne without all the memory loss, who is given a mission to save a billionaire philanthropist devoted to world peace. Janson assembles a crack team who go in to a impossible mission and succeed, only to have it all unravel at the end. Then Janson is blamed for the mistake and he traipses all over the world hunting down clues until he finds the ultimate answer, a conspiracy that would take down the entire free world. It is very well written and the characters are enjoyable, my favorite is the Russian money launderer, too bad Ludlum cannot give these characters any more adventures.

As a posthumous release, I was thrilled to have yet another Ludlum novel to curl up with and enjoy. But, although the plot and its development were quite good, I found some of the style elements of this book rather annoying. For example, the numerous paragraphs filled with questions to lead the reader on (What will he do?, Where to go now?). This shows a certain limitation in the writing style I don't remember seeing much in previous novels. Perhaps these were part of the 10% not written by the author himself...
Also disrupting were the excessive missing words, word order inversions and typos found in the edition I read (the hardcover first edition by St. Martin's Press). This made it look like a rush order to bring this book to the public, but it also shows a certain lack of concern for quality. I would recommend waiting for a second edition to be published if you are also bothered by such details.
However, the plot is interesting and I found myself immersed in Ludlum's world of espionage and intrigue once again. Although a small part of the story line is quite predictable, the author manages to through in enough spins to keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.
Enjoy!

I read the Bourne Identity awhile ago and enjoyed it, this book cemented my fandom for Robert Ludlum. While I only gave this novel 3 out of 5 stars, there are reasons.

This is a taut thriller that grabbed and held on to my interest for the first 400 or so pages, then it began to wane. At this point I did a little research, this novel was not finished by Ludlum, he passed away in 2001 and this was the first of his books to be "Ghost Finished", I'll chalk up the somewhat uninspired ending to the ghost writer.

More about the book. It is very "running man" The protagonist, Janson, is a sort of super spook, think Jason Bourne without all the memory loss, who is given a mission to save a billionaire philanthropist devoted to world peace. Janson assembles a crack team who go in to a impossible mission and succeed, only to have it all unravel at the end. Then Janson is blamed for the mistake and he traipses all over the world hunting down clues until he finds the ultimate answer, a conspiracy that would take down the entire free world. It is very well written and the characters are enjoyable, my favorite is the Russian money launderer, too bad Ludlum cannot give these characters any more adventures.

As a posthumous release, I was thrilled to have yet another Ludlum novel to curl up with and enjoy. But, although the plot and its development were quite good, I found some of the style elements of this book rather annoying. For example, the numerous paragraphs filled with questions to lead the reader on (What will he do?, Where to go now?). This shows a certain limitation in the writing style I don't remember seeing much in previous novels. Perhaps these were part of the 10% not written by the author himself...
Also disrupting were the excessive missing words, word order inversions and typos found in the edition I read (the hardcover first edition by St. Martin's Press). This made it look like a rush order to bring this book to the public, but it also shows a certain lack of concern for quality. I would recommend waiting for a second edition to be published if you are also bothered by such details.
However, the plot is interesting and I found myself immersed in Ludlum's world of espionage and intrigue once again. Although a small part of the story line is quite predictable, the author manages to through in enough spins to keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.
Enjoy!

Mr. Tucker's review encapsulated my opinions very well. I also agree there there are other writers at work in this novel. First, the trade name for the neuroparalytic that was used on the limo driver was used instead of the generic which he has always used in the past. In addition, there are extraneous ad nauseum descriptions of places, people, etc. that far exceed the detail he typically provided in previous novels. Either that, or he he made it more interesting and brief. His prior novels impressed me as story driven but also managed to provide sufficient detail to keep the reality there and it was always obvious he did his research about events and places in his novels. The details provided in this novel are incredibly well done, but to an extent that I never noticed before. Especially information related to medical information. (I'm an RN, so I was well impressed). I question the use of a cholinergic to decrease sweating since it in fact increases secretions. I don't care, however, I'll take Ludlam anyway I can get him. Even if he left summaries that someone else is filling in, I can live with that. It's just taking me a little longer to force myself to read through all the unnecessary detail provided in this story. I find myself skipping paragraphs that have nothing to do with the story itself just to get to the real story. I like the way there are some flashbacks about Jansen provided about his Vietnam experience as a POW. As horrifying as they are, these things in fact happened. Not enough is said about what vietnam vets suffered whether they were POW's or not. Thanks for the great review Mr. Anderson.

After reading numerous Ludlum novels I thought I had reached a point where I just couldn't take it anymore. You can only take so many one word sentences, italics, exclamation points, and wasted pages of a conversation happening on the other side of the world.

That has all changed with Janson Directive. This was a very well written book. It seemed to have more action than the average Ludlum and one hell of a main character, Paul Janson. The sniper scene reads like Clancy with all the intricate details. It's good to read a book by Ludlum that employs more of today's technology. For instance in the Bourne Identity, Jason is constantly running for pay phones. Now our hero Janson simply goes online to CNN.com to get his information.

Non Ludlum readers beware, even though there is a good amount of action that moves the story along, it is still a long one. 700 pages paperback!!!

I really liked it. It might be better than my all time Ludlum fave, The Matarese Circle. It's too bad Janson couldn't have had a few novels dedicated to his days with the DIA or his time on his new job with his new partner (which you have to read the epilogue to see what I mean).

Janson vs Bourne. I'd take Janson.

Suspense - Action - Intricate Plotting - Wonderful Intrigue - All the things which Robert Ludlum provided the reader in his most successful books are contained in THE JANSON DIRECTIVE. This is an action adventure thriller to rival the Jason Bourne trilogy, and fans will hope that a sequel for Paul Janson was also conceptualized before Ludlum's death.
Paul Janson, a retired field operative from the covert agency Consular Ops is clandestinely recruited to attempt an exfiltration of Peter Novak, a billionaire and Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been kidnapped by nationalist rebels on the island kingdom of Anura and is to be executed in three days time. After being informed of the details of the mission by Marta Lang (head of Novak's philanthropy - the Liberty Foundation), when Lang thanked him for providing she and her associates with hope Janson remained silent but concluded that "perhaps false hope was better than none at all". And indeed, on the verge of apparent success a terrible tragedy occurs as Part One ends. For reasons totally unknown to Janson or the reader, a "beyond salvage" is then issued by Janson's former agency and he is targeted for death.
The remaining eighty percent of the book involves unraveling the intertwined mysteries of the life of Peter Novak, the Vietnam wartime experiences of Paul Janson, the role of the secret ops of the U.S. government, the disappearance of Marta Lang, and the continuing role of the masterful Anuran rebel leader, the Caliph, who has also a fateful link with Janson's past.
The intricate nature of the conspiracy as it unfolds rivals the best books of this nature that I have read, and the characters are well drawn, especialy Jessica Kincaid, the young sharpshooter of unbelievable ability (literally, her achievements were a bit too good) who is on the team chosen to pursue Janson, but also several of the bit characters as well including the Russian Grigori Berman. I was especially intrigued by Peter Novak, who Ludlum clearly seemed to model on George Soros in many details. However, Novak chooses to achieve his goals through an activist "directed democracy" rather than Soros' methodology of simply promoting "Open Society". Nevertheless, the existence of Soros as a real life model for the accumulation of such vast wealth makes Novak's character more believeable.
As most of Ludlum's books, this displays deep cynicism regarding the actions of our government, and great understanding of the arrogance of power. I found Janson's contempt for "the best and the brighest" and his analysis of their faults truly refreshing. Several things argue against this being written (rather than plotted) by Ludlum. Most noticably, the contemporary idiom relative to his other books, as well as the more graphic and detailed violence. I was repulsed by a few of the descriptions of torture, as was undoubtedly the intent given their context. However, the fact Ludlum stepped out of character to write THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO and THE ROAD TO OMAHA keep me from reaching a firm conclusion regarding the extent of his role in the preparation of this manuscript. But is is good enough so that the publisher should have informed its readers concerning whatever collaboration occurred in its preparation and provided appropriate credit, as this would not have detracted from its appeal.

This is my first Ludlum novel, although it is apparently "Ludlum by proxy."

The book holds your interest, and while the plot itself is nothing ingeniously new or surprising, the tale moves along nicely with plenty of action and character interaction.

In numerous (if relatively brief) instances, the writer shows a doting fascination with the details of death, injury, and torture. These emphases are expressed in flavors both morbid and clinical. It can be a bit sickening, even disturbing at times; yet these kinds of things are also notorious for being interesting. Quentin Tarantino would probably have fun with parts of this book.

There is also one dangling plot thread that is left completely unresolved: that is, the fate of Angus Fielding. The reader must rely on their own imagination to figure that one out. The later segment with Fielding was put in as a sort of side-show, and to further establish the nastiness of the story's main antagonist (whose villainy really needed no further defining by this point). But since the writer(s) and editor(s) neglected to provide closure on this point, Fielding's second appearance should have been left out altogether. It really is a glaringly obvious omission. Ludlum, I am sure, would never have left it up in the air like that, were he alive to finish this book.

On a nitpicky note, there are a few incidences where the writer's use of arcane or pretentious vocabulary can be a little annoying. For instance, when I see a word like "munificence" repeated within 40 or 50 pages of itself, I almost have to laugh out loud. And surely, the mainstream reader can be spared words such as "bedizened."

But all in all, this is a richly crafted book. It plays out nicely.

the good: the action is frequent and fun. The book, overall, doesn't bog down too much. It's not overly verbose

the bad: as others pointed out, the characters are VERY 'cookie cutter', even the situations and environmenst the characters are put in are cookie cutter.

The lead character , Janson is like James Bond + Jason Bourne with an identity crisis. I almost think that this story would have been better served as a plot for a Splinter Cell game, though Sam Fisher is more interesting than Janson.

So is it worth it? Well, yes if you want a low maintenance read to pass the time, perhaps on a beach or airplane.

But as I said, it's almost as if the book was written in the hopes of making a screenplay out of it. The cookie cutter characters that hollywood loves to put in its movies are ripe for the taking in this one.

If Ludlum is your thing, you'll probably enjoy this one on the plane, train or beach. Only my second read of this author, and I know now that watching movies with Matt Damon chase around amid high technology is a better investment. This plot plods along with a protagonist/antagonist plotline. Our hero Paul Jansen,an ex-elite Navy SEAL carrying psychological baggage from Vietnam, is hired by a mysterious organization to save an enigma -- world philanthropist Peter Novak from the clutches of evil. But who is Peter Novak? And who is pulling the strings? And how will the world be affected?

It doesn't matter, the reader keeps turning pages to get to the resolution. Assassins galore, a sexy sniper, MacGyver-like techno-brilliance, impenetrable fortresses, Jihad promoters, torture chambers, in short all the accoutrements of classic spy versus spy are here. Enjoy it, Ludlum fans.

Although this book doesn't differ much from Ludlum's other novels, it is still an enjoyable read. The story is actually very similar to The Matarese Circle, minus the Russian spy. It's about a retired American agent for the State Department's Consular Operations, Paul Janson. Retired from espionage and not quite enjoying his new career as a security consultant for private businesses, Janson is summoned by billionare philanthropist Peter Novak's personal assistant. She asks Janson for his help in freeing Novak from Arab kidnappers who have him confined in a palace on the island of Anura. Janson agrees to participate in the operation because of a personal debt he has incurred to Novak for saving his life. He quickly assembles a crack team of operatives to help him in the exfiltration and they set out to rescue the wealthy humanitarian from his captors. What follows is an interesting sequence of events that keeps both Janson and the reader in the dark while providing just enough information to entice the reader to keep reading.

Without divulging too much of the book's secrets, the high points include the many action sequences that showcase Janson's ability to think quickly and the occasional flashbacks to his days as the leader of a Navy SEAL counterintelligence team in Vietnam. The reason I say this book is similar to The Matarese Circle is because both protagonists have been disavowed by American Intelligence and both have a price on their head; a price being pursued by teams representing more than one interest. The action that follows Janson trying to elude his assailants, while simultaneously trying to find out more about the odd sequence of events that followed the rescue operation, fills much of the novels pages. Therein lies one of the book's letdowns. Almost the entire middle of the book (approx. 275 pgs) is rather uneventful and dull. The beginning and the end are both filled with revelation after revelation but the middle lacks that same development. The occasionial pursuance of Janson by professional killers is interesting but does not make up for the fruitless trials of Janson to discover more about who is after him and who HE needs to chase. That, coupled with the fact that Janson seems to elude death by mere inches one too many times, is my motivation for docking this book by one star. Still, the clever and elegant plot(which is more powerful than it appears on the surface) is what makes this a worthwhile read.

This book that was released after Ludlum died truly feels like a real Ludlum. I was wondering if it would have the same nuances of his other books completed when he was still living or be entirely in the voice of whomever pieced it together post Ludlum. The only slight difference between Ludlum's earlier work and this is the extensive detail placed upon military weaponry and background. It also feels like Ludlum in that the plot is really pretty silly when you get down to its bare bones. I think I have read a dozen Ludlum's in my time and all but the first Bourne book deal with a cabal or figurehead intent upon taking over the world. Nothing is new here. Once the story starts to congeal into a structure where the reader begins to understand what is going on, very predictable plot threads start to come to life.

My main complaints here are the dozens of times that Janson escapes getting shot or killed by the best of the worlds hired killers. Bullets are constantly narrowly missing the guy or he is rescued from out of left field by his friendly version of the Calvary. The evil dude here is so predictable when it comes time for him to enter the book that it was groan-able. So in essence, this is a pretty stupid book. If you take offense to my calling this a stupid book, I recommend that you try some thrillers by other authors with more capable hands. It's obvious that you have not yet read enough of this genre. Some early Tom Clancy books are definitely better, or Jim Harrison and Dashiell Hammett's work. But I think that you might enjoy Denis Lehane's books even more if you give him a chance. Start with Mystic River and go from there.

Ludlum is always enjoyable on a certain level, and if you are able to suspend disbelief and work around characters that show absolutely zero personality, this would be a fine book. I sort of think of Ludlum as writing comic books for adults and there is nothing wrong with that from time to time.

While it's probably not a surprise that Ludlum didn't write this book (at least not in its entirety), The Janson Directive is a fast-paced international thriller that -- in typical Ludlum fashion --will keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. It's very fast-paced and loaded with action and suspense. Further, based on writing style and characterization, "this" Ludlum often surpasses the "real" Ludlum. The Janson Directive is a big book (547 pages) and lots of fun to read (although I think it might have been even better if it been 50-100 pages shorter,which kept me from giving it a 5-star rating). Hopefully, there will be more books by "this" Ludlum. I think you'll find that once you start The Janson Directive you'll agree that your in for an exciting reading experience that will allow you to escape far from reality. Enjoy!

Well, we have two gentlemen to thank for this piece of work, Mr. Ludlum's long time agent, Henry Morrison and his editor, Keith Kahla. With a reported 90% of the manuscript completed, Messrs. Morrison and Kahla rounded out a gem in THE JANSON DIRECTIVE; this book rings true to the REAL Ludlum as opposed to the "Covert One" series carrying his name. This storyline has the same content, feel, flair, and panache as Ludlum's classics (PARSIFAL MOSAIC, THE MATARESE CIRCLE, The BOURNE series...), which makes sense in that he wrote the vast majority of THE JANSON DIRECTIVE. I guess true Ludlumites will be hoping Mr. Ludlum left behind several more uncompleted manuscripts to quench our endless thirst for his works. Regardless, THE JANSON DIRECTIVE certainly was a nice surprise.
For those unfamiliar with Ludlum, the basic premise of most of his thrillers is to create an arguable hero, a villanous cabal or individual, and place our hero against impossible odds. The price of failure? The fate of the world.
Our hero in THE JANSON DIRECTIVE is Paul Janson, a legendary superspook retired from the clandestine covert agency where he made his career. His taste for brutality and violence bitter, the loss of his wife and the desire to live a solitary existence, Janson joins the ranks of the entrepreneur and hires himself out as an industrial consultant. The peaceful life takes a turn south when he is contacted by a representative of the Liberty Foundation, a private organization devoted to peace and democracy throughout the world. The Foundation's founder and nobel prize-winning laureate, Peter Novak, has been kidnapped and is scheduled to be publicly executed...by the same terrorist group responsible for his wife's death. Janson has another reason to consider reactivation; Novak was personally resonsible for saving Janson's life many years ago and Janson is not one to forget a debt owed. Without hesitation, Janson assembles a team of star operatives to rescue Novak.
The mission, against incredible and overwhelming odds, is a success until, moments after Janson bids farewell to his team and Novak, the escape helicopter explodes into a fiery ball of flames as Janson watches. His team, his friend and star pupil, and Novak-gone in a flash. As Janson tries to piece together WHY?, he finds himself marked for death in nearly every city he passes through. Janson believes it must be operatives of the terrorist group seeking revenge for his part in the daring rescue of Novak. However, Janson soon realizes his would-be assassins are American! As the storyline builds, Janson saves one of his latent assassins from rape and certain death. This act creates doubt in the assassin, Jessica Kincaid. As soon as Janson realizes that Kincaid works for the same agency from which he retired, his peerless instincts kick in, making Jason an inexorable opponent for his former agency.
As with most TRUE Ludlum novels, the plot devinely twists and turns keeping the reader absorbed in the storyline until the final twist at climax.
While the Covert One series maintains the broad brush "ideas" of Ludlum, these books are not true Ludlum books. Do not be mistaken, the Covert One authors, Gayle Lynds and Philip Shelby, are fine writers and understand the mechanics of the spy/mystery genre. However, those of us who grew up reading Ludlum know the Covert One books are a mere shadow of what was. Lynds and Shelby lack the characterization and panache of the master; we can only hope they continue to aspire to his literary summit. Kudos again to Messrs. Morrison and Kahla for briefly quenching an insatiable deire for more of Ludlum's gems. Here's hoping there are more.

The Jansen Directive is the second novel published since Ludlum's death. (With each passing book, one is left to wonder if there are any more finished or nearly finished transcripts in the pipeline or even to what degree the last two works were ghost written, at least in part.) Having read almost all of Ludlum's work, the Jansen Directive certainly felt like "a Ludlum." This was a great book....very hard to put down.
This book grabs the reader early and does not let go, leading on more than one occasion to fits of yawning in the morning because I had stayed up too late reading the night before. All in all, the Jansen Directive provides all of the action, suspense, frequent plot twists, and unexpected events that Ludlum aficionados have come to love in the conspiracy-thriller genre. This is clearly among Ludlum's best.

the store.com provided a detailed synopsis of Ludlum's latest posthumous offering, so I'm going to forego providing my own.
Besides I don't want to give away a sentence of plot, as hopefully many people will read this excellent thriller based on the author's hard-earned reputation as master of the spy thriller. Some speculation admittedly if this was a novel written by Mr. Ludlum or by someone else, I claim it matters not, this is by far his best novel since The Bourne Identity. The book is long but every page is packed with suspense, thrills, chills, and even romance. The plotting is as familiarly paced ( i.e. fast paced) as one has come to expect of a thriller bearing Mr. Ludlum's name. Some may be disappointed which is there perogative, personally, I felt his characterization and general technical background was deeper than in some of his recently published novels and as a whole The Janson Directive is an action packed page turner (cliche but true.)

I highly recommend this book without any reservations! Having read or listened to most of the books he had written, this book is in the top tier. It is a good believable read and the protaganist is well thought out. The hero, if you will, is Paul Janson, a less than perfect human being, just like the rest of us. He has a lot of unresolved issues about his past, Vietnam and his government work. Another scarred survivor of the Vietnam War who was good at what he did, almost too good for his own liking. The story moves along very well and has very believable, well developed characters. Ludlum is one of my favorite adventure writers, and I have listened to this book twice this year. If you like a good adventure yarn with ironic twists and turns throughout the story, you would do well to read or listen to this book.

"Ludlum's best since his masterpiece The Bourne Identity"- Kirkus Reviews. The Janson Directive is a covert one novel. The hero in this novel, Paul Janson is the most unlikely hero, a super assassin. He is a successful entrepreneur and former agent of the United States Covert Ops.
A representative from the Liberty Foundation contacts Janson and asks him to rescue the founder of the Liberty Foundation. The founder of the Liberty Foundation is Peter Novak a billionaire and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Novak is kidnapped by the same terrorist group responsible for Janson's wife's death. Janson agrees to rescue Peter Novak who was personally responsible for saving Janson's life many years ago. Janson finds out that Novak's execution is scheduled to be in a three days. So with only days to work he assembles an elite team of covert operatives from around the world to rescue Novak. Against incredible and overwhelming odds they rescue Novak from an almost impenetrable fortress. On the verge of success a terrible tragedy occurs killing Janson's protégé and Novak. Janson then goes on a quest to find out who killed his friends and ruined his mission. He goes from city to city only to find people who try to kill him in every city. First Janson believes it must be operatives of the terrorist group seeking revenge for his part in the daring rescue of Novak. Janson soon learns from a would-be assassin that a "beyond salvage" is issued by Janson's former agency and he is targeted for death. His expert instincts kick in, making him an unstoppable opponent for his former agency. Janson uses every resource he has while running from assassins to unfoil the plot to kill him. The rest of the book has many twists and turns and is unpredictable. It is a page-turner, which you can't put down. The plot is amazing and keeps you hooked the whole time and the use of figurative words is amazing and gives you a clear picture of what is happing. I recommend this book to everyone who likes thrillers.

This is the best thriller written by Ludlum since 1982's "The Parsifal Mossaic". He manages to grip the reader's interest from the start and, at last after so many years,manages to keep it up the rest of the way. The plot seems fresher and the twists make sense.
To me, he reached his peak with "The Bourne Identity", kept it with Parsifal, but began losing his magic since. Of all the books in the interim, "The Icarus Agenda" was first class Ludlum for the first third of the book, then went steadily downhill: the rest were all major dissapointments. Here he (or whomever!) went back to his former glory.
This is high praise from me, as I consider "The Bourne Identity" to be the greatest "thriller" I ever read.

See book description above.
I was rather apprehensive when I purchased this book, but in hindsight, it was the best purchase I've made in years (as far as novels go). As far as international thrillers go this is by far the best one that carries the Ludlum name. It is truly non-stop action, and along with that you get highly intelligent dialogue and story telling. It seems to be just a step above the normal Ludlum novel.
Keith Kahla was the senior editor that supposedly put this novel together. The publisher says about three quarters of the book was finished when Ludlum passed away.
A truly wonderful work of suspense. I wonder if there's a chance we might see Janson and Kincaid again. That I would surely like to see.
HIGHLY Recommended.

Absolutely fantastic! If Ludlum didn't finish this book while alive, it's still great. It is a fast paced and after about 50 pages, the book never lets up. Takes place all over Europe. It has everything that a Ludlum fan likes. I re-read the Sigma Protocol recently, and I though that was Ludlum's best. This is up there with that. I am glad that there is a Janson series too.

This was my first Robert Ludlum novel and probably not my last. I liked the characters Paul Janson and Jessica Kincaid and I hope there are more stories on their exciting lives. The rating of three that I gave this is all for the story line, action and suspense. I found myself skim reading a lot especially in the middle when Ludlum put to much description of the surroundings in as filler; this really slowed the action for awhile. This story really picks up at the end though with a lot of action and excitment.

If you like international intrique and world politics mixed with spies and terrorists,you'll like this one.

This book could have really been great!
Great storyline.
For the most part, well-developed characters.
But, the writing is NOT vintage Ludlum.
I do not have any insight into the history of this particular writing. However, I do know that the author of this story (or at least the final chapters) must have written steamy romance novels in a past life.
The protagonist, Paul Janson, is all man for 2/3's of this story. Then, without warning, he becomes a melodramatic sap. For instance, in a closing chapter, he rants and shouts at the remaining members of a secret US power-sect [a group that includes the President of the US] like a forsaken lover in a sappy love-novel.
There are hints of a slowly-weakening character change throughout the story. As I venture further into the plot I hope I'm proven wrong in my assessments .
Instead, I end up disappointed.
What of our Protagonist? Not only is Paul Janson weak; he's a raving, feminized fool. He stares down the bad guy in what should be a mind-shattering climactic explosion of student vs. mentor. Instead, Janson blanks out and goes shopping for yesterday's memories. It sunk to the point where I started to reach for a tissue to hand to the dear boy.
Sorry, but I don't like my spy-heroes sounding like refugees from a pulp love novel.
As stated earlier, Great story with nice plotting. Lukewarm character development of Paul Janson. This guy goes from ruthless protector of the USA to a whiny fool towards the latter stage of the story.
I couldn't wait to finish it.
**Want vintage Ludlum (with help from Gayle Linds)? Read 'The Paris Option'. Now, that's great writing in the Ludlum style!

As I was reading "The Janson Directive" I found that the plot was extremely interesting and soon got so involved with Mr. Ludlum's world of espionage and intrigue that I could hardly put the book down. Like many other fans of Mr. Ludlum his death marked a dark day for me. I considered him one of the premier writers of this century. While this book is far from being the author's best it is still an entertaining and action packed book with plenty of spins and surprises. Like all of his books the book is ten times better than the movie. Highly recommend.