The Bourne Betrayal is Eric Van Lusterbader's second novel in the continuation of the Jason Bourne series made immensely popular by Matt Damon's portrayal of this unique character in the three films released to date. Van Lusterbader does Robert Ludlum and Jason Bourne great justice with this work, and keeps you on the edge of your seat for all 700 pages (in paperback form). As with the Bourne books which preceed this, the action is fast paced, the plot twists are many, and Jason Bourne generally kicks butt.

This novel gives you more of an insight to the chameleon side of Bourne that is never developed as deeply through the film versions of the first books. The extent that he goes to change his appearance and totally become a perfect copy of another person is very well detailed, and you can tell that Van Lusterbader did his research when it comes to these aspects of the covert world. The plots of the seperate storylines were well woven together, and not too ridiculous in their intersections to take you out of the story. Too many authors today try to have complex storylines that meet up at "too perfect" a time, and take away from the path laid out to get you there, and the story they are trying to tell.

Without any spoilers, the plot centers around a terrorist group trying to build a weapon to unleash on the US, the lengths they go to infiltrate our government, and as always, Jason Bourne is there to take them on. The only critiscim that I had was a somewhat anti-climatic ending, but this doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the novel. Van Lusterbader does not try to wrap everything up in a tight little package for you at the end, and I think overall I appreciate him leaving out details that would be too ridiculous to tidy up in only a few pages, and a certain amount of unanswered questions is always good fodder for a series like this that continues on, even after it's creator has passed.

Eric Van Lusterbader does a great job in keeping Jason Bourne alive and exciting, and I look forward to reading the Bourne Sanction, his third novel in the series, that was just released. ( )

I am a huge fan of the Bourne movie series. I am glad I was not let down with this book, it is my first Bourne book. The story line was very creative and feeds the "I must have everything Bourne" symptoms of a true fan. ( )

it was a very good book. there is alot of explosions and fighting. At the very begining of the book two helicopters land on a summit of a mountain to search for nuclear componets one of the helicopters is carring martin lindros jason bournes last friend. shortly after they land a group of terristis attack them with machine guns, rocket proppelled grenades, and flamethrowers. And they take jasons friend. after that the old man at ci asks for jason bournes help to bring him home. it definetly has lots of fighting and espionage. and any jason bourne fans should definatly readit ( )

The Bourne Identity is one of my favorite books of all time. Thus, any book featuring Jason Bourne must be compared to that book and, unfortunately, none of the sequels (including Ludlum's original sequels) really comes close. That said, I did enjoy The Bourne Betrayal; however, I might have enjoyed it more if the main character wasn't Jason Bourne, but, rather, some random spy. A few of the leaps of logic were a bit much, but some of the plot complexity was certainly straight from the Robert Ludlum mold. Overall, an enjoyable enough way to pass a bit of time.

On a more personal note, I was thrilled when I saw Eric Van Lustbader's dedication to Adam Hall, author of the Quiller novels. Quiller is one of my favorite characters of all time and I've always said that Hall's Quiller books are the best espionage books that nobody has ever read. Over the course of the 19 Quiller novels (and 1 short story), we learn very, very little about Quiller (we don't even know his name). One thing that we do learn is that, upon his death, Quiller wants a dozen roses to be delivered to Moira. We have no idea who Moira is (mother, sister, daughter, ex-wife?) or why Quiller wants her to receive the flowers. But fans of the Quiller books grab on to these rare nuggets of insight into who Quiller is and what makes him tick. So, imagine my surprise and giddy glee when, late in The Bourne Betrayal a main character, shortly before dying, asks Jason Bourne to be sure to deliver a dozen roses to Moira. I can't think of any better way for Van Lustbader to tip his cap to Adam Hall. After reading that passage, it took me quite a while to wipe the goofy smile off of my face. ( )

When Jason Bourne’s only friend is kidnapped on a covert mission, he is asked to go retrieve him. Jason is swept into a whole conspiracy, between terrorists that are threatening to detonate a nuclear device, and assassins trying to kill him. Jason discovers that he was brainwashed, lied to, and deceived by the ones close to him. This book is not good for younger readers because of its fowl language, and graphic sections. This book is filled with mystery, and suspense. It’s non stop action, with a deep plot. I enjoyed this book, and recommend it for all older readers. ( )