ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BOURNE BETRAYAL
Eric Van Lustbader
Grand Central Publishing
Thriller
ISBN-10: 0446580376
ISBN-13: 9780446580373

• Read an Excerpt

It is a wonder that THE BOURNE BETRAYAL doesn't just explode on the bookshelves; I would submit that it is theoretically impossible for your standard bookbinding to keep the story presented therein contained. The second of Eric Van Lustbader’s interpretations of Jason Bourne, Robert Ludlum’s classic creation, has enough twists, turns, explosions, fights, deaths, and double and triple crosses to fill four or five books.

THE BOURNE BETRAYAL begins where Lustbader’s THE BOURNE LEGACY ends, and it would behoove readers to have at least a passing familiarity with the previous novel before attempting to dive into this new work. Bourne, still reeling from personal losses, attempts a radical new course of therapy to regain his memory and excise the mysterious flashbacks he is experiencing. While he is undergoing treatment, Martin Lindros, Bourne’s Central Intelligence handler and his only friend, goes missing while on a mission in which the fate of the country hangs in the balance. CI reluctantly recruits Bourne to find Lindros, a task he jumps into even while insisting that it be done his way.

Bourne locates Lindros quickly enough, though little does he know that he has begun to set in motion a plot that will culminate in revenge against himself, CI and the United States. He has no idea how high or how deep the possibility of betrayal goes, even as he struggles with his own demons from the past and doggedly continues on a pursuit that will carry him to the outer reaches of his limits. Never before has Bourne encountered so much danger or sustained so many physical and mental injuries as he does in THE BOURNE BETRAYAL.

Lustbader is an excellent storyteller and is not afraid to keep the twists and turns coming in this sequel. He is also quite ready and able to tinker with the Bourne mythos, and it is safe to say that future Bourne novels (if we are fortunate enough to see them) will be somewhat different in several particulars from what has gone before. This is an explosive addition to a series with an unrivaled heritage and storied pedigree.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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