The Bourne Sanction

Poor Jason Bourne. Everything he touches turns to mud. In all of his hand-to-hand skirmishes, he meets one unexpected defeat after another. Well, that's an understatement. The man experiences absolute cascades of defeats. Nothing ever goes right for him. It's uncanny. He has his neck garroted so many times in this novel, I'm surprised he doesn't end up speaking with a squeak. Yet it seems that no matter how many times he's sent away unwanted, no matter how many times he's sent away unloved, like Richard Nixon and the pants suit, he always manages to return to haunt us. I'm afraid this Jason is losing his touch.
Now, a note about the author. Aside from the mis-use of words such as putsch and nebula, from time to time there's something a little off about his use of English. Some sections read as if they've been written...constructed is better...by someone unfamiliar with English. Maybe those were episodes when he wasn't channeling Ludlum too well. Or is it the other way around? At least Van Lustbader has shrugged off his spectacular over-use of the exclamation point. Or maybe the editor of this novel wasn't so blase about seeing one at the end of every, or every other sentence as was his habit in the past.

Fete of Death
On the whole, "The Bourne Sanction" is a well-paced action-packed thriller. Lustbader doesn't write like Robert Ludlum, who invented the character Jason Bourne, and doesn't intend to, as far as I can make out. Shot through with a hysterical paranoia that triggers the pile-driving action, Ludlum's Bourne novels run rings around Lustbader's. In fact, Lustbader seems to spend more time on describing the villain of the piece Arkadin than on describing Bourne.

In the plot department, again Lustbader can't keep stride with Ludlum, who was forever tossing inconceivable twist on inconceivable twist in his byzantine plots, ramping up the suspense as his books roared to their conclusions. The convoluted plot revolving around a plethora of Russian characters in "The Bourne Sanction" is all but impenetrable. Since I couldn't follow all of it, I wasn't surprised by many of its revelations. Still, there was enough action to keep me turning the pages.

I have reservations about any writer using another writer's character as his hero. It seems like a form of plagiarism, even if the original writer's estate permits it and is compensated for it.

If you skim the frequent flashback longueurs, this is a competent, enjoyable thriller for most of its massive length.

--Bryan Cassiday, author of "Fete of Death"

This is the third book written by Eric Van Lustbader about Jason Bourne. As I've commented before, this isn't the same Jason Bourne as Robert Ludlum wrote about. If you want that Jason Bourne, skip this book. It's also different from the wonderful ninja stories that Eric Van Lustbader is known for. So don't look for that either.

If you are interested in meeting and following a new Jason Bourne, read on. If you do decide to read The Bourne Sanction, I strongly suggest that you read The Bourne Betrayal first. The characters and the situation won't make much sense to you otherwise. I suspect that you will see this book as a one or two star effort.

As the book opens, there's a deadly secret being passed along to help foil a dangerous terrorist plan. The U.S. intelligence community is in great turmoil, and there are lots of people who want to grab the reins of power. Jason Bourne has resumed his David Webb persona and is teaching again. Events quickly conspire to intertwine those plot threads into a huge conflict that imperils even Jason Bourne.

Like The Bourne Betrayal, this book is too long. But it's only 150 pages too long, rather than 200 pages too long. That's progress.

The book's strength can be found in some of the action scenes and in the plot twists that are deeply embedded into the early Bourne stories. The book's weaknesses are that it moves too slowly, Bourne is barely present as a personality, and there's a little too much assuming that readers have read the last two stories.

I get the sense that Mr. Lustbader is beginning to get his sea legs under him in writing about Jason Bourne. I suspect the series will continue to get better from here. But what do I know? I'm just an optimist who is rooting for this series to work. I would miss the idea of Jason Bourne too much otherwise.

The Bourne series has been carried on too far. By this time, the series should have ended and been closed, allowing readers some time of reflecting upon the original Bourne books. Unfortunately, Lustbader keeps making more mediocre (sometimes even less than that) books that have a similar structure and Idea in all of them. Though I believe the series should have ended with original Ludlum trilogy, I can tolerate a book or two after that. But, this has gone on for too long and every time I pick up the next Bourne book in the series, i'm left with a disbelief of the action and plot within the book. For the most part, the original trilogy is believable, but the Lustbader take over leaves readers wondering: how many times does Bourne actually need to save the world? And, just how old is Bourne now? And perhaps even more intriguing, why did Bourne never reunite with his oldest son (also a master warrior) and even his younger children that he left in Canada with Marie's family? Bourne's character has come a long way since falling in love, protecting, and having kids with Marie. Overall, disappointment is poured throughout these pages.

You'll read many reviews of disappointed readers, largely Ludlum fans. However, this is an ok read. On the one hand its not vintage Ludlum - so the plot structure and detail is less substantive. Also, it lacks Ludlum's vocabulary and grammatical complexity.

However, Eric Van Lustbader is a gifted writer in that he's able to vividly conjure worlds for the reader that before reading may have no previous notion of. The places, the characters, the weather and timing of various things, serves to bring the reader on a voyage with the characters.

Of course, the reader must be forgiving, especially if he or she has experience in politics and how agencies work with one another. But if you can accept the stereotypes and simply put yourself into the picture as a casual observer the story can become compelling for you. I can imagine how challenging a read it would be for someone who demands reality in their super spy novels - but then they really wouldn't be fun to read.

I think you'll enjoy this novel if 1) you have a sense of humor, and can laugh off an impossible scenario or two 2) allow yourself to be taken on the journey.

Lastly, this is not a novel to be critical of. The Bourne Series is grown into mass popularity, and as such will be given a 7th grade readability quotient; future plots (including this one) will be aimed at middle American sensibilities. The result is fast food versus the classic Ludlum spy novel.

I had fun with the book. I hope you do too.

The latest Jason Bourne adventure finds him at loose ends as David Webb, linguistics professor at Georgetown University, missing the adrenaline surges of his past exploits. So he quits to embark on another episode, this time involving a Muslim conspiracy to attack a target in the United States.

Meanwhile, there are conspiracies in Washington involving the Defense Department aiming to take over the Counter Intelligence Agency. As each of the two plots progress with the customary twists and turns, Jason, of course, withstands more physical attacks than anyone else can stand. Not to mention dishing it out as well.

Written with the accustomed panache of the previous novels in the series, "Sanction" has its ups and downs. It also is fairly long and hardly a light read, but it is recommended.

lustbader owes me $[...], which is what i paid for this time waster. i should have know better; no real writer would do a cover of another writer except for money and lustbader has never had an ear for dialog.

i simply could not read past page 33.

the problem with lustbader's books (as well as ludlum and most other bestsellers) is unnatural and self-conscious dialog. one begins to read each sentence for the really bad dialog. at that point it's over; you can't go more than a page before throwing the book into the trash.

open the bourne sanction anywhere and read a sentence of dialog. here's a random exchange: "where did you learn to answer questions without revealing a thing?" the answer: "if i'm bad, i learned it at my mother's breast." the whole book is like this. (i consider that first sentence, "where did you learn..." worse than the second sentence of dialog.)

here's what got me on page 32: "my anodyne is going back to work full-bore. yours is obviously here, in a new life."

"anodyne?" "going" rather than "getting?" "full-bore?" "obviously?"

don't waste your money on this hack, you will do better wasting your time on tv, which is free.

Ambrose Bierce wrote the best review for books like "The Bourne Sanction" when he said, "The covers are too far apart."

Fonzie demonstrated how a popular series like "Happy Days" can die in his "Jump the Shark" episode. This book should have been titled "Bourne Jumps the Shark."

The plot is overly complicated, the characters are implausible, and the overall premise is laughable. For instance, why is it so hard for the evil US government officials (a cliche in itself) to find and kill Bourne? When the book begins, he's right there under their nose in Washington working as a linguistics professor.

Reading fiction requires a "willing suspension of disbelief" and some books require more than others. This book requires too much.

I enjoyed this book but there were periods I thought the author spent too much time on characters lives that weren't relevant to the movement of the story. It seemed to drag the pacing of the story down.

Eric Van Lustbader did a great job of bringing seemingly different events together for the big climax at the end. The fight scenes were exciting. Though I liked the dialogue, you have to keep in mind the story is like a summer movie and Jason Bourne in a way is a comic bookish superman. But if you enjoyed the movies, as I did, this is something readers should expect from the character.

The Friday House
Lost Hours
Xiii

Still reeling from the death of Martin, Moira Trevor asks her friend Jason Bourne who is David Webb in his office at Georgetown University. Jason explains David is a widower and a father of two children who live in Canada with their maternal grandparents as he wants them as far away from the BOURNE LEGACY as possible. He tells Moira that he returned to the teaching position as head of Comparative Linguistics Department, a role his late wife Marie loved for him, Moira's anodyne is go back to field work, which is why she has come to visit him. Her employer NextGen Energy Solutions fears a terrorist attack at the Long Beach port.

However, not too long after returning to his Professor Webb persona, Bourne is bored with normalcy. He informs his academic mentor Professor Dominic Specter only to see two thugs grab the man; Bourne rescues him. Specter explains his father died fighting the Eastern Brotherhood, Muslims who claim since WWII to want to fit in peacefully with the West, but who are terrorist known as the Black Legion. He asks Bourne to kill leader Semion Icoupov who has started a terrorist plot to devastate America that has begun the countdown with the murder of an associate Pyotr by Leonid Arkadin.

This is an exciting entry in the Bourne saga as the action starts from the moment Webb meets Specter for coffee and never slows down until the final Treadstone-Conklin coda. The story line is fast-paced though the European connection with WW II roots seems a bit over the Alps. Still no one will care as the Bourne adrenalin flows with he doing what he does best battling bad guys to prevent a terrorist attack; unable to wait for High Noon with an assassin sent to murder him.

Harriet Klausner

At this point, Jason Bourne is an institution in the thriller genre, second only to James Bond. Part of this is due to the popularity of the film franchise, but the bedrock reason is that Bourne has benefited from having some of the best writers in the business continuing the tradition of the character established by the late Robert Ludlum. The newest book in this bestselling series, written by Eric Van Lustbader, is a thrill-a-minute work.

THE BOURNE SANCTION begins with the return of Bourne to his alter ego, linguistics professor David Webb, within the peaceful confines of Georgetown University. While acquiring the quiet and solace that he sought, Bourne soon realizes that this is not what he really wants. Dominic Specter, his mentor at Georgetown and one of the few people aware of his dual identity, gives him the opportunity to explore what one might call his more active side.

Specter asks Bourne to aid in the investigation of the murder of a former student by a previously unknown Muslim extremist sect. The young man's slaying, it turns out, was not random, as he was in possession not only of information concerning the group and its activities but also of its plans to carry out a terrorist attack on United States soil. U.S. Central Intelligence is aware of this organization, known as the Black Legion, and newly installed director Veronica Hart is coming to grips with her position even as members of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Pentagon plot to stage what is in effect a palace coup, usurping the duties of Central Intelligence.

One of the lynchpins of their plan is to perform a deed that no one has been able to do previously: assassinate rogue Central Intelligence agent Jason Bourne. Even as he is pursuing the Black Legion, which has ties that date back to Hitler's notorious SS troopers, Bourne himself is targeted by NSA assassins who have the wherewithal of their agency's intelligence apparatus to pit against him. Bourne doesn't have many allies, and even fewer whom he can trust completely. As he races against time after an invisible enemy and a totally unexpected adversary, Bourne finds that his existence, as well as that of the nation's, hangs in the balance to an extent he has never experienced before.

Lustbader's focus here is primarily on action as opposed to plot. There are a couple of moments where the entire concept of the book threatens to collapse under the weight of its own storyline. Lustbader, however, remains one of the best at creating believable and extremely dangerous villains who are the equal, and then some, of his protagonists, and placing his characters in hair-raising situations while shaking and stirring everything up. He does this to fabulous effect in THE BOURNE SANCTION, giving the reader enough carnage and mayhem to fill three books and to satisfy even the most jaded fan of action/adventure fiction.

Lustbader's cinematic vision is once again on display as he sends Bourne on a chaotic chase that leads from Washington to Moscow and back again, dogged by pursuers even as he himself pursues. This is one novel that will keep you reading long into the night.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Van Lustbader has admirably picked up the mantle of telling Bourne's story from his creator, Robert Ludlum. After the first few pages you will be so engrossed in the action and so preoccupied with following the complex twisted action that you will find yourself chasing the same false trails that Ludlum laid in the previous novels in the Bourne series-with the same delight.

Jason Bourne is back at Georgetown University as his alter-ego, David Webb. He's trying to settle back into academic life and put Bourne's escapades and violent nature behind him. Then Professor Specter, Webb's (and Bourne's) mentor at the university, provides Bourne with both counsel and a plea for help.

A former student of his has been assassinated by a centuries-old Islamic terrorist group that has no apparent ties to the present. Thought defunct for more than 200 years, the Black Legion seems to be hatching a plot that will bring terrorism within the borders of the U.S again-in spades.

And what's going on in the CIA and NSA isn't helping keep the world (or even the U.S.) safe for democracy. Veronica Hart is the new director of CIA. Several of her closest advisors secretly believe she shouldn't be. Neither does the secretary of defense and key people within NSA. So a conspiracy develops to discredit Hart and bring the best assets of CIA under the wing of NSA and the Department of Defense.

Only Bourne, considered by all to be unstable and damaged goods, can solve the various problems, but he'll get no official help from anyone-and there are plenty of key players that want him dead yesterday. And that just may happen. The Black Legion has an assassin that is as bent, twisted, and effective as Bourne and is determined to eliminate him. All of this requires Bourne to rely on informal assets and secret friendships that he's developed over the years to unravel the various conspiracies and keep himself alive until he can eliminate his nemesis.

Armchair Interviews says: Exciting, scary and of course, well done.

This was a very difficult read - typos, grammatical errors, etc.

I found the story line to be okay (at best) and was at least mildly entertained...but towards the end I was in disbelief at the number of resolutions to plots that came about by coincidental meetings, events, and even a child in Munich (with a British Accent) saying, "...right as rain" - Literally this saved the day! Lame...After the first couple coincidences that resolved tension or a dangerous situation I began to be skeptical that the book would end in any kind of dynamic way...I was right!

Lustbader seemingly tried to put too many plot twists and "interesting" side stories into a book that he was not prepared to write out to any good conclusion...it felt like he was writing and all of a sudden realized that he needed to wrap things up so he had Bourne pull out his lucky rabbits foot to tie all of the loose ends up in a hurry...

Don't waste your time on this book! Very, Very, Very disappointing

Use the audiobook version and very well done! I was having hard time T the beginning because it was again related to Middle East but the more it goes better the plot and characters were so it end very well with a lot of actions! Nice book!

Since Mr. Van Lustbader isn't trying to re-invent the wheel here (and let's face it: he'd be stupid to even try), he has taken on quite a daunting task of picking up where Ludlum left off with his most beloved character: Jason Bourne/David Webb. The Bourne Legacy was actually pretty good--as long as you weren't Hell Bent on directly comparing it to the Ludlum-written Bourne novels. The Bourne Betrayal slipped a bit, but was still fun to read...but with The Bourne Sanction, we have the best of the post-Ludlum Bourne novels to date.

We ALL miss Ludlum...no question about it, but if you have read some of the novels that have come out PRETENDING to be written BY Ludlum since his death, you KNOW what a tragic mistake it can be to pretend that years after his demise, Ludlum was pumping out thrillers seemingly left-and-right. Not that all of them were bad, mind you--in fact, a few were downright fantastic-even compared directly with some of Ludlums best work...unfortunately, a few suffered with writing that was sub-par at best. Then there are those who pick up the baton from a great author, whether it be officially sanctioned by the estate of the dead writer or not, and attempt to pen a continuation of novels featuring the same characters and themes and more likely than not, the end result is an abysmal failure (just read the Dune prequels by Kevin J. Anderson and Frank Herberts son if you need a good example). With Eric Van Lustbader, we have a different situation altogether it would seem. Eric wisely decided to take the character of Jason Bourne/David Webb and write a thriller on HIS terms, not even trying to copy Ludlum's style in the least. In this, I must say, Eric made the right choice.

These three Bourne books have been injected with new--and different life and more than a few ounces of spilled blood. I found myself enjoying these stories quite a bit, and for a brief--albeit VERY brief time--almost forgot about Robert Ludlum. The Bourne Sanction is well written with great established characters as well as fantastic new one's, most of which are downright horrible--but in a GOOD way (if that makes any sense). While I personally haven't read anything else by Mr. Van Lustbader, after 3 well-done Bourne novels, I must admit that I am searching out his other books in earnest. Honestly, I can't think of a better compliment than that. Just remember that these post-Ludlum Bourne novels aren't TRYING to pretend to BE Ludlum books, do that and I believe you will have a wonderful journey ahead of you. Good luck!

Picked this up at the airport for something to read on a long overseas flight. Got through the first 200 pages OK, but the story became so drawn out I started getting bored.

After several attempts to resume reading, I finally began skimming. I skipped the drawn out descriptions and side stories just to stay interested in the main story. This went well for about 100 pages.

Finally, I got about 2/3rds of the way through the book, I just couldn't stand it anymore. The slow moving story and seemingly endless setups finally got the best of me and I gave up.

I'm a fan of the movies, but have never read a Bourne novel. So I excitedly picked this up not even realizing that it wasn't written by Ludlum.

I guess I'll give the Bourne Identity a shot next time.

Let me preface my review with my Ludlum/Lustbader history. I travel quite a bit for work, and as with most of my reading I picked up the Bourne Identity in the airport. I found the Bourne character and story to be well written and compelling, and quickly devoured the remaining two books in the trilogy.

I am also a huge fan of Lustbader's Nicholas Linnear books. I read The Ninja and the following books in high school and loved them.

When I saw that Lustbader had been tapped to continue the Bourne series, I instantly snapped up a copy. The first two books fell well below my expectations, and I mentally struck the series from my 'must-read' list. This weekend I was again in the airport and saw the Bourne Sanction. I started reading the first few pages and was pleasantly surprised. No glaring inconsistencies, no magical coincidences. Some very entertaining writing. So I purchased the book and boarded my plane. Thirty pages later, I regretted my decision. 150 pages after that I was convinced Lustbader's main objective in writing the book was to personally insult me. The plot devices used in the book are so egregious they actually made me feel slightly nauseous. Unfortunately, I am rarely able to stop reading a book once I start it. And so, I was forced to finish this one. Along the way, I promised myself two things: never read another Lustbader novel, and write a review to hopefully help someone avoid the agony to which I was being subjected.

In this book, as with the other Lustbader Bournes, Jason Bourne is the beneficiary of coincidental events so improbable it appears he is an incompetent who must rely on luck in order to survive. In fact, Bourne is so lucky that he should consider getting out of the spy business and playing poker. There is no doubt based on the events of this book that he would be dealt a Royal Flush on every hand and win the WSOP every year!

Our antagonist, who goes by the name Arkadin, is another world class assassin who also seems to get by more chance than by any innate skill. Supposedly, he is the equal of Bourne, yet leads such a low profile life no one has ever heard of him. Surprising then, when early in the book he uses his real name when introducing himself to another character.

By the finale of the book, the happenstance which allows the ending is so ridiculously improbable, I was convinced no one had ever read a draft of the book before it was published. The last chapter alone, which relies on a coincidence of incalculable odds made this reader want to vomit.

Never again my friends, never again.

P.S. I purposely did not describe events from the actual story in the event someone who reads this review might still feel the need to read the book. If that is the case with you, I can only suggest, DON'T DO IT!

P.P.S. Usually when I get done with a book, I will leave it somewhere with a sticky note on it that says, 'Free Book'. I threw this one away. If someone had picked it up and read it, I didn't want to get tracked down by my fingerprints and charged with crimes against humanity for leaving it lying around.

I was hooked very quickly, the beginning of the book had all the makings of a great Bourne novel. Unfortunately, I felt I was let down.
I found the story lacked the finesse that Robert Ludlum used in writing the Bourne stories or any of his novels. I believe that Ludlum could have written this novel and used every place and scenario that Lustbader used, but would have done it without the "shock" language, minimal as it was, and with a more subtle writing style that would not have needed all the explicit details presented when male characters were interacting with female characters, if you know what I mean.
I'm certainly not a prude, but the Ludlum style of writing let the imagination work more freely, just like Bourne does. If you like Bourne, read the book. I'll read the next one, too. But if the next one disappoints as much as this one did, then that will be the last one for me.

To agree with a few previous reviewers, I thought this title was pretty mediocre compared to the earlier Bourne books, and others I've read in the genre. The plot was a bit confusing at times, but I expect some of that in an action-thriller. My main problem was that the character of Jason Bourne was incredibly shallow! Much more time was spent developing the character of his nemesis in the book.

There were definitely a few grammatical errors and typos. Something else that annoyed me: Lustbader seems to be in love with the word "preternatural" and used it every time he could throw it in there. Why use a little-known word so often when a simpler one would suffice? Also, his knowledge of weaponry, spycraft, etc seems very sketchy-- an "HK 1911 .45" handgun is something that doesn't exist, for example. The action scenes and fighting scenes were confusing and difficult to understand as a reader. If you've ever read someone like Clancy, this will sound to you like it's been written by an 8th grader... Lustbader is much, much better at describing beautiful scenery and vistas than he is at describing action and espionage.

My other problem with the book was more subjective. If you're like me, you may get tired in this day and age of things that smack of anti-Americanism. In this book, the NSA is depicted as wholly evil, and the only military man (the general) is a ridiculous caricature of every negative military stereotype you've ever heard. I realize that there need to be villains, but I found it a bit silly. The subject of waterboarding is raised, and it's treated as the most horrible, inhumane thing that's ever been seen on earth. However, numerous people are shot, stabbed, tortured and maimed in far more damaging and invasive ways without a second mention.

While I personally enjoyed this book immensely, I too found it a tad annoying that Lustbader strayed so far from the original Bourne storyline and created quite a few glaring inconsistencies. OVERLOOKING that issue however and taking this book at face value without any consideration for its predecessors, I found it immersive and captivating.

I stopped reading this after the 1st 150 pages. While the premise and overall plot were acceptable, the details of the story and especially the action sequences really left a lot to be desired. Too much suspension of disbelief was required, as I continually found that the main characters were doing and saying things that just didn't make sense. Too many details were entirely non-plausible.

Forget the nonsensical plot, characters dying for no good reason. Forget that the women characters are drawn to seething psychopaths -- again for no reason you can discover. Forget that most of the fighting could have been averted by a couple of phone calls to the local police. Forget that the big secret turns on the architectural plans to one of the most familiar buildings in the U.S. You'll notice first that the writing is horrible. Just horrible.

This is probably the silliest book I've ever read. I realize you must suspend your notions of reality when reading spy thrillers but for The Bourne Sanction you better turn off your brain. A middle schooler could put together a better story line. Utterly ridiculous. Try author Vince Flynn instead.Term Limits Can I get my money back?

In the sixth novel of the Jason Bourne franchise - the third penned by Eric Van Lustbader - the hunter becomes the hunted in this high-risk and shadowy game of international intrigue, terrorism and murder.

Lustbader is firmly putting his style in the series through a meticulous build-up, though having the signature action scenes and misinformation campaigns which makes Bourne a heroic, though vastly misunderstood character as he pursues the truth through layers of deceit.

From the dank High Security Prison Colony 13 in Russia to the phantoms who dictate policy in Washington, D.C., Bourne initially must untangle the mystery of the death (suicide?) of a former Georgetown University student, whose work as a terrorist hunter was known by the wrong people at a highly-volatile time in the covert wars.

By weaving the plot in and out of current headlines - and developing new sets of evil characters, Van Lustbader is keeping the plot fresh and packed with nuances mostly missing in typical action thrillers.

I write very few reviews on the store but felt compelled to for this book because it was so surprisingly bad! As others have already mentioned there are plenty of grammatical errors and the author has an annoying habit of picking a new word and seeing how many times he can use it in a chapter. The story was even less plausible than in other Jason Bourne books. My advice is to skip this book and read something else.

Van Lustbader did a terrible job writing this book. Setting up the drama, creating the fight scenes, establishing characters are all things that Ludlum would be embarrassed of. This will be the last Bourne book I read as long as Van Lustbader continues to write. Do yourself a favor and read the first 50 pages and the last 25, everything in the middle was terrible.

The author makes subtle hints at his leftist idealism and uses unnecessary bad language to weave the continuing saga of Jason Bourne. Bourne finds himself in the middle of a plot between the CIA and the NSA, two Russian mobs, two terrorist organizations and more.

The author makes subtle hints at his leftist idealism and uses unnecessary bad language to weave the continuing saga of Jason Bourne. Bourne finds himself in the middle of a plot between the CIA and the NSA, two Russian mobs, two terrorist organizations and more.

I completely enjoyed Mr. Van Lustbader's latest offering in the ongoing Jason Bourne saga. In this novel, Bourne is pitted against a particularly ruthless killer named Arkadin, whom I hope to see more of in the future. In all, the story is very fast-paced and entertaining, even if it seems to get a little complicated in parts. But the author does an excellent job of tying it all together. The action sequences are fascinating, specifically, the fight scenes. Jason Bourne is definitely not someone you want to pick a fight with. Thank you, Mr. Van Lustbader, for picking up where Mr. Ludlum left off and continuing the adventures of this fascinating character. I know some loyal Ludlum fans have been dissatisfied with the new Bourne novels; mostly, I think, because they can't see anyone else writing these stories but Robert Ludlum. But I think we have a very satisfying passing of the torch, and I think Mr. Van Lustbader has adopted Mr. Ludlum's favorite son quite nicely.

Finally Van Lustbader has written a serious page turner. This is the first Bourne novel I have read in years that I actually had a hard time putting it down and was sorry it ended. There were a few (very few) places in the story that were a bit far fetched but the author himself told us at the first that he took some liberties in order to help the story flow, which was okay. This book could have passed as an early Ludlum work. Warning though, don't start it unless you have some time to get well into it, otherwise it will drive you crazy. I fortunately had to travel for about 30 hrs on some flights and was able to bite into about half of it before stopping.

Kind of anticlimactic at some points some points were very oh ya thats right and easy to spot. Ending sounded like a bad "to be continued" DIfferent writting styles are great but the book was too long to get to some parts.

Jason Bourne has returned to the university life as David Webb. He
encounters Moira Trevor who is attempting to hire Bourne as chief of
security at NextGen Energy Solutions a major port at Long Beach. She is
being investigated by the CI.In the meantime Professor Spector asks Jason
Bourne to investigate the death of a former student Pyotr Zilber. Spector
tells Bourne about the existance of a group called the Black Legion. This was a former Nazi group who operated during World War II. This group is now an Islamic terrorist group. The head of the Black Legion is Semion
Icoupov.There is a ne head of CI named Veronica Hart. She is fighting off
attempts to overthrow her. There is an element within CI who wants to hunt down Jason Bourne and assassinate him. Bourne also has to contend with a deadly assassin named Leonid Arkadin. All of this makes for an action packed book.

I implore the Ludlum estate to please stop this post Ludlum "Bourne" garbage. It is an absolute shame what they have done with one of Ludlum's greatest characters. Sorry if I'm being too harsh but poor Robert Ludlum must be spinning in his grave over this.

Jason Bourne is one of the great fictional characters created by a great author-Robert Ludlum-albeit he did have a few bombs. This latest Bourne book is well below the Ludlum standards-and I have read every one. This book struggles to find a decent story line, when it does it is so contrived it is pathetic.
Save your money wait until it comes out in paper back and by the $2.00 used edition.