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kstumpf's review
5.0
Eric Van Lustbader has done it. He has taken Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne and made Jason his own...FINALLY. I love the new direction that Bourne has gone.
The Bourne Retribution and Bourne Ascendancy are not the Bourne Trilogy. BUT, that is OK. After the uncomfortable transition of the Bourne character during the middle Bourne books (Deception, Objective, Dominion, Imperative) Mr. Van Lustbader has realized that the Bourne books will go where he takes them and I am glad he is taking them where he is.
I still get the Ludlum character development and plot twists/angles but Retribution and Ascendency have been written in a way that no longer seems as if the author is writing in someone else's shadow.
I cannot wait for the next installment.
The Bourne Retribution and Bourne Ascendancy are not the Bourne Trilogy. BUT, that is OK. After the uncomfortable transition of the Bourne character during the middle Bourne books (Deception, Objective, Dominion, Imperative) Mr. Van Lustbader has realized that the Bourne books will go where he takes them and I am glad he is taking them where he is.
I still get the Ludlum character development and plot twists/angles but Retribution and Ascendency have been written in a way that no longer seems as if the author is writing in someone else's shadow.
I cannot wait for the next installment.
jaxboiler's review against another edition
4.0
A decent book in the Bourne Series. It kept me entertained during my road trip north to pick up my daughter from college. The action was pretty good and the flow was pretty good also.
speesh's review
5.0
I could be wrong, but I think this just might be the best Bourne, at least since Ludlum, erm…’didn’t achieve his wellness potential' shall we say. It’s one of the few, maybe Ludlum’s own first three apart, that I’d certainly read again. Of course, some of the surprise would be missing, knowing what happens, but maybe a second reading would help me appreciate even more, the mastery of (especially) the final phase this book. There’s no way I can give it less than 5 stars. It deserves more, but there you go, them’s the rules.
The action takes place largely in the Middle East and the middle eastern area. Bourne has actually been there a while. After finishing up the last story, he has been replacing his funds, by hiring himself out as what is referred to here, as a ‘Blacksmith.’ I’ve never heard of this before, but the book assures us that it is someone who hires themselves out to impersonate people in places where that other person would really rather, for whatever reason, not be. And he's done really rather nicely, money-wise, thank you very much. So, that is why he finds himself at a top-secret meeting in Doha, impersonating a Syrian minister. He's also passing on what he has learned at this meeting, to the current love of his life, Sarah, who just so happens to work for and be the daughter of, the head of Mossad. An unfortunate combination, should the Arab leaders who surround him find out, obviously. As the book starts and as Bourne, finds ‘himself’ in the middle of a hail of bullets, you can see the attraction of using a ‘blacksmith’ if maybe not quite see the attraction of being one.
The plot from then one, is…well, it’s complicated. But in essence, Bourne’s old Treadstone colleague Soroya Moore and her husband and child, are kidnapped by Bourne’s (latest) enemy, the terrorist leader, ‘El Ghadan.’ EG, uses Soroya and family, to blackmail Bourne into taking on the task of killing the President of the USA at a forthcoming conference in Singapore. There’s a lot, lot more involved of course. Old enemies and relationships surface, other people have other agendas and Bourne has to try and pick his way through. He doesn’t seem to have a plan, but the genius of his plan is, that he doesn’t seem to have one.
What Bourne really doesn’t have, is trust. That’s what is lacking on both sides. The US Administration, or the ‘dirty’ part of it anyway, who set up a ‘Bourne,’ don’t trust him now he’s not under their control. Don’t trust what they themselves have created. They clearly never expected him to become sentient. And Bourne, after 11 books filled with the US administration trying to kill him, doesn’t trust them. Still, Bourne doesn’t really trust anyone. He’s learned the hard way. He doesn’t trust some, intentionally and because those he has trusted, even if they haven’t subsequently let him down, have more often than not died as a result of contact with and trust from, him. He’s learned not to trust anyone, to spare them from the dangers he faces. “Bitterness squeezed Bourne’s heart. It was a fact, hard but true, that everyone who had ever mattered to him had been either exposed to mortal danger or killed.” In essence, what causes the doubts, regret and any uncertainty, in the post-Treadstone Bourne.
The problem with making these sort of thrillers so up-to-date, is that they’re consequently so quickly out-of-date. However, being set in the Middle East, or having that main plot revolving around their hatred for each other down there - it isn’t going to risk being dated any time soon. ‘Not in your lifetime,’ as Chief Justice Earl Warren once said about something else. EvL though, is probably if not bang up to date on US thinking about the Middle East, at least anticipating, based on past history/fuck ups, future policy - should the lunatics take over the asylum at the next US Election. Think p189 and some in the back corridors of the US administration are thinking ‘intervention in Syria’ “We’re all but out of Iraq and we’ll soon be leaving Afghanistan. We have six hundred and fifty Billion Dollars’ worth of high-tech weaponry at our disposal. It’s high time we used it against a target that truly must be crushed.” Can’t argue with that. Maybe Syria have the WMD?
If I had to criticise one tiny little thing, it would be the name the International Terrorist El Ghadan has chosen for his terrorist group. When translated into English, it is ’The Tomorrow Brigade.’ That is a bit weak, I think. Maybe they should have stuck with referring to it as (whatever is) the Arabic version. Might sound a bit more menacing, a little less, well…like a group of ’hippies.’
But what made the book, what made all the previous pieces fit, was the end. The end third maybe. Multi-layered, complex, surprising, shocking, fitting, satisfying. Thought-provoking. Worth the admission price, for me. I never saw it coming (but then, neither did Bourne, to be fair to me). Why? I’m not Arabic. I didn’t see it coming, but I see how he did it. I was lulled, due to my being European, into thinking ‘this, then this, then that.’ I was wrong. EvL was 100% right. Wow! Cannot WAIT for the next one! Isn’t that how it should be?
And yes, I did spot that the two US women just so happen to share EvL’s taste in TV shows and music.
The action takes place largely in the Middle East and the middle eastern area. Bourne has actually been there a while. After finishing up the last story, he has been replacing his funds, by hiring himself out as what is referred to here, as a ‘Blacksmith.’ I’ve never heard of this before, but the book assures us that it is someone who hires themselves out to impersonate people in places where that other person would really rather, for whatever reason, not be. And he's done really rather nicely, money-wise, thank you very much. So, that is why he finds himself at a top-secret meeting in Doha, impersonating a Syrian minister. He's also passing on what he has learned at this meeting, to the current love of his life, Sarah, who just so happens to work for and be the daughter of, the head of Mossad. An unfortunate combination, should the Arab leaders who surround him find out, obviously. As the book starts and as Bourne, finds ‘himself’ in the middle of a hail of bullets, you can see the attraction of using a ‘blacksmith’ if maybe not quite see the attraction of being one.
The plot from then one, is…well, it’s complicated. But in essence, Bourne’s old Treadstone colleague Soroya Moore and her husband and child, are kidnapped by Bourne’s (latest) enemy, the terrorist leader, ‘El Ghadan.’ EG, uses Soroya and family, to blackmail Bourne into taking on the task of killing the President of the USA at a forthcoming conference in Singapore. There’s a lot, lot more involved of course. Old enemies and relationships surface, other people have other agendas and Bourne has to try and pick his way through. He doesn’t seem to have a plan, but the genius of his plan is, that he doesn’t seem to have one.
What Bourne really doesn’t have, is trust. That’s what is lacking on both sides. The US Administration, or the ‘dirty’ part of it anyway, who set up a ‘Bourne,’ don’t trust him now he’s not under their control. Don’t trust what they themselves have created. They clearly never expected him to become sentient. And Bourne, after 11 books filled with the US administration trying to kill him, doesn’t trust them. Still, Bourne doesn’t really trust anyone. He’s learned the hard way. He doesn’t trust some, intentionally and because those he has trusted, even if they haven’t subsequently let him down, have more often than not died as a result of contact with and trust from, him. He’s learned not to trust anyone, to spare them from the dangers he faces. “Bitterness squeezed Bourne’s heart. It was a fact, hard but true, that everyone who had ever mattered to him had been either exposed to mortal danger or killed.” In essence, what causes the doubts, regret and any uncertainty, in the post-Treadstone Bourne.
The problem with making these sort of thrillers so up-to-date, is that they’re consequently so quickly out-of-date. However, being set in the Middle East, or having that main plot revolving around their hatred for each other down there - it isn’t going to risk being dated any time soon. ‘Not in your lifetime,’ as Chief Justice Earl Warren once said about something else. EvL though, is probably if not bang up to date on US thinking about the Middle East, at least anticipating, based on past history/fuck ups, future policy - should the lunatics take over the asylum at the next US Election. Think p189 and some in the back corridors of the US administration are thinking ‘intervention in Syria’ “We’re all but out of Iraq and we’ll soon be leaving Afghanistan. We have six hundred and fifty Billion Dollars’ worth of high-tech weaponry at our disposal. It’s high time we used it against a target that truly must be crushed.” Can’t argue with that. Maybe Syria have the WMD?
If I had to criticise one tiny little thing, it would be the name the International Terrorist El Ghadan has chosen for his terrorist group. When translated into English, it is ’The Tomorrow Brigade.’ That is a bit weak, I think. Maybe they should have stuck with referring to it as (whatever is) the Arabic version. Might sound a bit more menacing, a little less, well…like a group of ’hippies.’
But what made the book, what made all the previous pieces fit, was the end. The end third maybe. Multi-layered, complex, surprising, shocking, fitting, satisfying. Thought-provoking. Worth the admission price, for me. I never saw it coming (but then, neither did Bourne, to be fair to me). Why? I’m not Arabic. I didn’t see it coming, but I see how he did it. I was lulled, due to my being European, into thinking ‘this, then this, then that.’ I was wrong. EvL was 100% right. Wow! Cannot WAIT for the next one! Isn’t that how it should be?
And yes, I did spot that the two US women just so happen to share EvL’s taste in TV shows and music.
flashahahhh's review against another edition
3.0
A decent enough read as a standalone but disappointing for a Bourne novel. The plot is a little thin, not enough action and Bourne himself doing very little throughout. And what's with the whole Camilla learning to ride a horse storyline? It adds so little and leads to not much more. This is the first Bourne novel I've rated less than 4 stars. I hope this is just a blip in Lustbader's Bourne-rein, otherwise we may need a new writer to take on Ludlum's franchise.
canada_matt's review against another edition
3.0
Van Lustbader injects Bourne into new and highly challenging mission; to impersonate a government minister at a summit in Qatar. When armed gunmen storm the room, the bodies pile up, leaving Bourne as the only survivor. It is only when the terrorist El Ghadan has Bourne taken into custody that the larger plot can be seen, where Bourne was the target all along. El Ghadan has a woman and her young child in his custody and intends on using the elusive Bourne to do his bidding, or more people die. While the President of the US is brokering a key peace deal, El Ghadan is set to use Bourne to derail the process and kill POTUS at the same time. Bourne is torn between a long-time friend and the leader of the Free World. Whom will he save and what happens to the person left in El Ghadan's crosshairs? Van Lustbader has spun quite the web in this thriller, but still has not clued in to the issues with continuity after being handed the reins of the Bourne project by the Ludlum Estate.
For the second book in a row, van Lustbader has a grip on what makes a good thriller and keeps the reader attentive from beginning to end with a plot that does not let up. This differs greatly from some of the earlier instalments of the series, where Bourne began to sag like heated lettuce. Having tackled the entire series in the past few years, I saw some of the bruises in the character arc that are lost on those who simply tune in annually for the newest book in the series. Piecing together these arc blips, I find myself more critical that the average reader, perhaps. I will not rehash the issue I chipped away at in some of the previous novels and that received much ink/web time in the review of the Bourne Retribution, but they cannot be swept under the table for convenience's sake.
Good novel, Mr. van Lustbader, so for that a 'kudos' is owed to you. However, I continue to struggle with the larger series flaws since you have taken over.
For the second book in a row, van Lustbader has a grip on what makes a good thriller and keeps the reader attentive from beginning to end with a plot that does not let up. This differs greatly from some of the earlier instalments of the series, where Bourne began to sag like heated lettuce. Having tackled the entire series in the past few years, I saw some of the bruises in the character arc that are lost on those who simply tune in annually for the newest book in the series. Piecing together these arc blips, I find myself more critical that the average reader, perhaps. I will not rehash the issue I chipped away at in some of the previous novels and that received much ink/web time in the review of the Bourne Retribution, but they cannot be swept under the table for convenience's sake.
Good novel, Mr. van Lustbader, so for that a 'kudos' is owed to you. However, I continue to struggle with the larger series flaws since you have taken over.
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
3.0
It's an okay book. I just have no interest in it. Plot wise I feel it is a better action movie than book. Honestly I got so bored I put the book down permanently by chapter 4. If you like actiony "shoot these people in the face"style books you'll probably like this. I don't.
andydcaf2d's review against another edition
4.0
Eric is doing a really great job capturing the essence of Ludlum's Bourne.
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