3.74 AVERAGE


To be honest, i expected something close to the movie. However, the book was much much better. Enough action mixed with political-spy thriller and many twists. What i didn't like were the phrases that the author kept repeating, to the point that made the reader get tired or even bored. The romance was there too, but, fortunately, it wasn't too much as to spoil the main idea. Quite enjoyable.

The characters in this book are what really sold me. Interesting, complex, and well-developed. While this isn't my favourite series, and it is outside my usual genre, it was still a good book.
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Great book! Can't wait to read the next one in the series!

A vert different story than the movie. You can't get the sense of action in the fight scenes like you do in the movie, but you still get the urgency and the craziness with the drama. Very enjoyable, though I wonder where the next in the series takes it.

I have thoughts about this book. I'm in two minds, overall.

I loved the premise of this book. A man who lost his memory and landed up in a nondescript pier in a busy, upbeat city with nothing but a few flashes of who he was. He is repaired, technically, by the doctor in the area (who is a drunkard, very minor detail). He has to find out who he is because that's how he'll find out why he's hunted by very lethal killers.

It's a very exploration-based plot and a lot can be done with the line of the story. And there is a lot that is done by the author.

The plot, overall, is well developed. A good story is laid out pretty well with a logical end in sight, and the end is pretty justified. The start of the story ties off pretty well with the end. However, the pacing of this book is just off. It's very fast-paced in the end with many features by the antagonist. In the beginning, it feels like the plot really has to pave its way to the turning point.

A lot of the dialogue is incomprehensible as it is heavily technical in nature with not much explanation for laymen. Everyone in the book just seems to know what the other person is saying and I felt like I was the only one who couldn't understand, at some points. (I suggest reading the Wikipedia plot after the entire book for plot areas you don't understand.)

The love interest is rather poorly developed. It is written well in the end, but it is introduced very randomly, out of nowhere, and her importance in the plot wasn't highlighted. In the end her character is redeemed and the relevance is large, but she literally comes out of left field. It grew fairly well, though.

Overall, I would recommend this book because the premise is really good, the story really unique. I would also like to give the subsequent books a chance and not judge this one too harshly by putting it in perspective after reading the rest of the series.

Ludlum is no Fleming in terms of spy-thriller writing (too many exclamations marks and doesn’t have the Bond-author’s knack for conjuring an image), but the plot is compelling and keeps you hooked. Nothing like the film.

Well I saw the movie first. It has been a while since I last saw the movie and I'm pretty sure that I still don't remember what was in the movie because it's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. This could be considered a good thing unless you want one to be like the other. This book for the most part was a very good book. The only things that really kept me from giving 4 stars is:

1. There were a lot of slow parts where I began to lose interest and wanted to quickly move on.

2. There were two parts that were a bit too graphic for me however brief

3. There was a lot of the use of "God" and "Christ"

Other than that it was a great book!

coreyrichards1998's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 8%

Not interested 

well-written action spy novel after 007