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The marketplace speaks. Robert Ludlum's most popular character was arguably Jason
Bourne, the deadly CIA agent with the fragmented identity. All three of the Bourne
novels --- THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY and THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
--- were among Ludlum's most popular, and have achieved a new spike in popularity
thanks to the film adaptation of THE BOURNE IDENTITY. In an effort to give the
people --- and, yes, probably the film studios --- what they want, the Ludlum
estate has commissioned Eric Van Lustbader to create a new Bourne novel. The result
is a good, though not perfect, fit that should please fans both old and new.
Lustbader wastes absolutely no time in getting to the explosions and karate
that the readers of this genre expect --- nay, demand! --- and there is enough
duplicity and backstabbing in THE BOURNE LEGACY to fill three novels in any other
genre, with the possible exception of your average Chick Lit book. THE BOURNE
LEGACY begins with a political assassination in war-torn Grozny; the action then
abruptly cuts to Washington, D.C. and David Webb, who has submerged his Jason
Bourne persona and is living a quiet, domestic existence as a Georgetown University
academic with a wife and children. This idyllic existence is abruptly shattered
when an assassination attempt is made upon Webb. Things go from bad to worse when
he is framed for a double murder almost immediately thereafter.
Webb's Bourne persona begins to take charge almost out of necessity as he finds
himself hunted not only by his former CIA colleagues but also by a mysterious
assassin named Khan, whose talents and abilities appear to be the equal of Bourne's
own. Khan also has a mysterious link to Webb's past, a link that affects both
men, and what they do, throughout THE BOURNE LEGACY. At the same time Khan and
Bourne are being manipulated by Stepan Spalko, a shadowy, powerful figure who
to the world at large is head of Humanistas, Ltd., which ostensibly assists poor
and developing nations but actually sees the world as a chessboard that it is
playing toward its own ends. Spalko intends to disrupt a world security summit
in Reykjavik, and Khan, Bourne and a missing scientist are merely the implements
he plans to use for a cataclysmic display of power.
Lustbader is not afraid to toy with the Bourne mythos, playing within the boundaries
of what has gone before while shaking things up a bit --- quite a bit, actually
--- and he certainly lays the foundation to keep Bourne going for the long haul
while staking a credible claim to be the man to do it. There are some rough edges
though that will hopefully improve should the series continue. For one, Khan's
ability to trail Bourne is almost too good to be true in spots. Bourne's abilities
to escape from tight jams also become formulaic after a while, and the rope from
which I suspend my disbelief while reading thrillers of this nature was almost
frayed beyond repair by the time I reached the conclusion.
It appears, however, that Lustbader's primary focus with THE BOURNE LEGACY
is to shake things up, and if that is the case, he has succeeded admirably. There
is a "holy shoot with the 'o' dotted" moment about every 75 pages or so, as Lustbader
rearranges the building blocks of Bourne's life, and there are a couple of killer
conclusions that are nothing short of terrific. Regardless of your familiarity,
or lack thereof, with Lustbader's previous work, THE BOURNE LEGACY is worthy reading.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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