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A review by canada_matt
The Bourne Ascendancy by Eric Van Lustbader
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.