Pamela M. (Pyan) reviewed on 3/25/2006 + 106 more book reviews

Ludlum's latest is a spy thriller that should keep even the most experienced readers guessing. Nick Bryson works for an ultrasecret intelligence organization; after making a mistake during a mission, he's put out to pasture. Later, he's brought back into the game by a different intelligence group, and he learns that everything he believed about his former bosses was a lie -- until, that is, he discovers that everything the second organization has told him is also a lie. Bryson winds up trying single-handedly to save the world from a shadowy terrorist group, while simultaneously trying to figure out which of the various "good guys" he should believe.

Ludlum relies heavily on action scenes to tell this extremely convoluted story: there's plenty of gunplay here, lots of exciting scenes featuring Nick captured, or nearly captured, or running from various bad guys. On the other hand, the scenes in which characters explain the inner workings of international espionage to each other often seem sluggish, full of backstory these professional spies should already know. Readers who have had trouble looking beyond Ludlum's typically thin characters and clunky dialogue will still have problems here, but they will find some compensation: the pace is fast, the action plentiful, and the story confusing enough to keep us turning the pages. For Ludlum's fans, of course, this one's a must-read.

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