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New York Times bestselling author Eric Van Lustbader bring another pulse-pounding Jason Bourne thriller as Bourne's last friend in the world goes missing and Bourne will do another to bring him home.Already devastated by loss, Bourne is shattered by a report that his last friend in the world, Martin Lindros has gone missing. A CI deputy director, Lindros was in Ethiopia tracking suspicious shipments of yellowcake uranium and atomic bomb weaponry. His last lifeline to humanity, Bourne will show more not let Lindros go. Despite his hatred for CI, Bourne sets out to rescue his friend and finish the job: dismantling a terrorist network determined to build nuclear armaments by cutting off their source of money. But Bourne doesn't realize that these men, Islamic supremacists, are leaders of an incredibly dangerous, technologically savvy group with ties from Africa, across the Middle East, and into Eastern Europe and Russia. They have predicted Bourne's every move, and are counting on his unwitting help in their plans to destroy America.
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Am I ok in saying this is an excellent read? A thoroughly tip-top thriller? One of the very best?
Credibility...Meet window?
I hope not. I don't think so. In fact, I'm sure not. Because this one did exactly what it says on the tin and thrilled the whatsits off me. Why on earth do we read books, if not for pleasure? And reading this one is as pleasurable an experience as they come.
But first, a word of warning: Don't read the summary on the back. In my view, it gives away way too much of much too many important plot turns for my liking. I didn't read it myself, until I was coincidentally 3/4 of the way in and all the points mentioned had passed. I didn't read it myself as I bought this book, knowing full well what I was getting into (as show more surely do most people with anything Bourne-related?). So I was able to enjoy the swallowing of red herrings and denouements, hook, line and sinker (yeah, that works).
Really, this is as close to a 5 Star review as one of these things is ever going to get. I'm not going to try and tie myself up win knots trying to convey the plot. And you know what you're getting, writing-style-wise. There were only a couple of places where I had to partially suspend belief, with a whispered, as the Welsh say; 'there's lucky', under my breath.
Eric Van Lustbader is not Robert Ludlum (but then, who is?). He's certainly in the style of, and doing an admirable job in picking the baton up, keeping the flame alight, etc etc. No one can match Ludlum for economy and clout, but Eric comes very close. That's high praise, in my book. Though in trying to analyse the differences between the two, I became more convinced that the further the series has gone on, the more Eric's own style has come through. Almost to the point where I think they should drop the 'Robert Ludlum's...' on the cover. Obviously, the marketing department aren't going to do that, but there is no doubt here, that this is Eric Van Lustbader's Jason Bourne now. Bourne, born again.
Earlier in the series - and the films, which are more or less the first three books - the questions Jason Bourne was asking could pretty much be boiled down to "who am I?" I think he was really asking, or at least the questions should really be interpreted as "what is my name?" Nowadays, in these later books he's more struggling to find his personality. His question is now "what kind of person am I?" Or, "what kind of person was I?", as he's now Jason Bourne. Not who he was originally. Before he was Bourne. If you can say that.
And with all this 'Prism' and listening to phone calls, reading of emails and generally keeping an eye on all of us; the Bourne books and films are beginning to look like more like documentaries! show less
Credibility...Meet window?
I hope not. I don't think so. In fact, I'm sure not. Because this one did exactly what it says on the tin and thrilled the whatsits off me. Why on earth do we read books, if not for pleasure? And reading this one is as pleasurable an experience as they come.
But first, a word of warning: Don't read the summary on the back. In my view, it gives away way too much of much too many important plot turns for my liking. I didn't read it myself, until I was coincidentally 3/4 of the way in and all the points mentioned had passed. I didn't read it myself as I bought this book, knowing full well what I was getting into (as show more surely do most people with anything Bourne-related?). So I was able to enjoy the swallowing of red herrings and denouements, hook, line and sinker (yeah, that works).
Really, this is as close to a 5 Star review as one of these things is ever going to get. I'm not going to try and tie myself up win knots trying to convey the plot. And you know what you're getting, writing-style-wise. There were only a couple of places where I had to partially suspend belief, with a whispered, as the Welsh say; 'there's lucky', under my breath.
Eric Van Lustbader is not Robert Ludlum (but then, who is?). He's certainly in the style of, and doing an admirable job in picking the baton up, keeping the flame alight, etc etc. No one can match Ludlum for economy and clout, but Eric comes very close. That's high praise, in my book. Though in trying to analyse the differences between the two, I became more convinced that the further the series has gone on, the more Eric's own style has come through. Almost to the point where I think they should drop the 'Robert Ludlum's...' on the cover. Obviously, the marketing department aren't going to do that, but there is no doubt here, that this is Eric Van Lustbader's Jason Bourne now. Bourne, born again.
Earlier in the series - and the films, which are more or less the first three books - the questions Jason Bourne was asking could pretty much be boiled down to "who am I?" I think he was really asking, or at least the questions should really be interpreted as "what is my name?" Nowadays, in these later books he's more struggling to find his personality. His question is now "what kind of person am I?" Or, "what kind of person was I?", as he's now Jason Bourne. Not who he was originally. Before he was Bourne. If you can say that.
And with all this 'Prism' and listening to phone calls, reading of emails and generally keeping an eye on all of us; the Bourne books and films are beginning to look like more like documentaries! show less
Under Deputy Director Martin Lindros, Central Intelligence has been reforming itself to become more effective in combating terrorists. But not everyone is happy about that progress, including the terrorists. Based on a lead that suggests a risk of nuclear terror, Lindros returns to the field. Meanwhile everyone else wants to play politics to advance their own self interests. Jason Bourne is naturally concerned because Lindros is his only friendly ally.
Once again, Bourne must fight his own agency as well as these resourceful would-be terrorists. With more than enough action and the kind of breathless writing that makes the pages fly, this would be another winner, except that Van Lustbader too often strains credibility. It becomes hard to show more believe that Bourne, a man known for his "animal instincts honed on stone and steel," could make as many life-threatening blunders as he makes here. show less
Once again, Bourne must fight his own agency as well as these resourceful would-be terrorists. With more than enough action and the kind of breathless writing that makes the pages fly, this would be another winner, except that Van Lustbader too often strains credibility. It becomes hard to show more believe that Bourne, a man known for his "animal instincts honed on stone and steel," could make as many life-threatening blunders as he makes here. show less
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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
There has been at least one Bourne movie released, or possible more, so most people already understand what to expect from this series of books. This release is a not-too unfamiliar plot of Islamic terrorists attempting to punish the Americans by detonating a nuclear explosion in the Nation's Capitol. If you can suspend your mind's reality checker, you should be able to enjoy this book if terrorist thrillers are your thing.
Read it just because it was lying around on my husband's pile. It held my attention until the end but Van Lustbader isn't a really good writer.
Second reading / review: Now that the trilogy has found a place more in the back of my head and I do not put links to that Bourne -this Bourne all the time, this story is actually quite readable. In fact, for me the Bourne in this book looks more like the original than the character pictured in the Testament book.
I'll stick to my original rating though.
A very dazzling book. It got me thinking in the wrong direction many times.
Somehow I keep remembering that David Webb was in his 50's already in the last part of the Bourne-trilogy. For me that 'fact' makes it all the harder to beleive that Bourne / Webb is still able to function as an agent.
But maybe I am to picky, and should I just read it as a seperate novel, not a part of the show more Bourne sequence. In that case it is a good espionage thriller, because of the unexpected changes, the transformation of people into other people. A bit much to swallow for one book, I really had to keep track of things, had to go back in the book to see what was written earlier. show less
I'll stick to my original rating though.
A very dazzling book. It got me thinking in the wrong direction many times.
Somehow I keep remembering that David Webb was in his 50's already in the last part of the Bourne-trilogy. For me that 'fact' makes it all the harder to beleive that Bourne / Webb is still able to function as an agent.
But maybe I am to picky, and should I just read it as a seperate novel, not a part of the show more Bourne sequence. In that case it is a good espionage thriller, because of the unexpected changes, the transformation of people into other people. A bit much to swallow for one book, I really had to keep track of things, had to go back in the book to see what was written earlier. show less
This is the second of Van Lustbader's Bourne follow-ups. I approached this with caution, having not been particularly overwhelmed by the first one. It was very good though. Bourne's shattered memory provides a wealth of skeletons to emerge from his closet, much to his dismay. In this novel he is up against Islamic extremists (seemingly the default bad guy of any self-respecting thriller writer post-9/11) hell-bent on setting off a nuclear bomb in a large US city. Can Bourne plough through the fog that clouds his memory and use his borderline supernatural physical and mental strength to once again overcome his enemies?
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Džejson Born je već izgubio sve kada saznaje da je njegov jedini prijatelj na svetu, Martin Lindros – nestao. Lindros, zamenik direktora za specijalne operacije Centralne obaveštajne službe, nalazio se u Etiopiji i istraživao sumnjive isporuke uranijuma i oružja za masovno uništenje. Lindros je ostao poslednja veza sa onim što je Born nekada bio i on nije spreman da ga se tek tako show more odrekne. Zanemarivši svoju mržnju prema agenciji, Born kreće u pogibeljnu akciju spasavanja koja će ga dovesti u samo srce opasne terorističke mreže. Međutim, nije svestan toga da su ovi ljudi, radikalni islamisti, zapravo vođe neverovatno organizovane, tehnološki napredne grupe koja se proteže od Afrike, preko Bliskog istoka, pa sve do istočne Evrope i Rusije. Predvideli su svaki Bornov potez, a on će nesvesno postati pion u njihovim planovima da unište Ameriku. show less
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Author Information
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Eric Van Lustbader was born in Greenwich Village, New York City in 1946. He received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Columbia College in 1968. While still in college, he began work in the entertainment industry by creating his own music production company that included work with such bands as Cheap Trick, Mountain, and Blue Oyster Cult. He show more is a writer of both thriller and fantasy novels. He has written several series including The Pearl Saga Series, The Sunset Warrior Cycle, The China Maroc Series and The Nicholas Linnear/Ninja Cycle Series. He is also the co-author of the Jason Bourne series, starting with book 4, with Robert Ludlum. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal
- Original title
- The Bourne Betrayal
- Alternate titles
- Robert Ludlum's Het Bourne Verraad; Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal; Der Bourne Betrug (German) (German)
- Original publication date
- 2007
- People/Characters
- Jason Bourne; Martin Lindros; David Webb; Soraya Moore; Tyrone; Deron (show all 10); Geoffrey Washburn; Rob Batt; Bud Halliday; Luther LaValle
- Important places
- Middle East; Africa; Washington, D.C., USA
- Dedication
- In memory of Adam Hall (Elleston Trevor),
a literary mentor:
The roses are for you, too - First words
- The Chinook came beating up into a blood-red sky.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Bourne supposed that was the prefect eulogy, one that brought a kind of peace to all three of them.
- Original language*
- Engels
- Disambiguation notice
- "The Bourne Betrayal" is the same book as "Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal". In German it was published as "Der Bourne Betrug"; not to be confused with "Der Borowski-Betrug" which is the German title for "The Bourne Ident... (show all)ity".
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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