Bookshelf
| The Bourne Betrayal, Eric Van Lustbader |
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The Bourne Betrayal, by Eric Van Lustbader *** (Note: Robert Ludlum got me through veterinary school. I read all of his novels during that time as a way to free myself from the overload of scientific information bombarding me every day. I consider him to be, by far, the best in the spy novel genre. I enjoy his writing so much that I'm considering re-reading all of his books. Just keep that in mind if I ever get to rambling about Ludlum). Since Robert Ludlum's death a few years ago, his novels and characters have had a renaissance of sorts. These situations can often have both good and bad aspects ...exactly what has played out in Ludlum's case. The good side of the equation has been the movies. Bourne Identity and Supremacy were both excellent (if a little loosely-based) and Matt Damon makes a really good Jason Bourne. I'm anxiously awaiting the 3rd movie. The bad parts are the late-life collaborations and the folks taking over for Ludlum in the "Covert-One" series. These were really devoid of the soul of his previous efforts and not that enjoyable. The Ludlum family has recently decided to sell the rights to the Jason Bourne character in an attempt, I'm sure, to cash in on the popularity garnered from the recent movie successes. At least they chose a competent writer to hand the reins to. Eric Van Lustbader, a very successful novelist in his own right, picks up the Bourne character where Ludlum left off and does a pretty good job of telling a story. Where his prose is not nearly as enjoyable as Ludlum's, he tries to make up for it with well-researched forays into Islamic culture and thought and rich descriptions of exotic locales such as Odessa and Istanbul. He does understand that Bourne is, at heart, an action hero and wastes no time throwing him into what is really a good chase story. I enjoyed this book much more than Lustbader's previous effort, The Bourne Legacy. Though he'll never approach Ludlum's style, grace or "page-turning/keep you awake to 3 am" ability, he puts foward a solid effort that I breezed through in just a few days. By choosing Lustbader, the Ludlum family could have done a lot worse.
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 September 2008 11:11 |