Robert Ludlum's (TM) the Bourne Betrayal

The name Jason Bourne has become synonymous with nonstop action--thanks to the novels by Ludlum and Van Lustbader and the movies starring Matt Damon. The latest in the series further pushes the tortured CIA spy to his breaking point. Jeremy Davidson conveys the mayhem that is the Bourne novel's trademark. His mastery of accents helps keep the many characters differentiated and propels the complicated plot. In this story Bourne puts aside his hatred for the CIA, which has repeatedly brainwashed and betrayed him, to rescue a fellow agent and friend. In the process, he stumbles onto a plot that could destroy America. You can just see Matt Damon saving the day. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

April 2, 2007
In Lustbader's workmanlike second novel to continue the saga of Robert Ludlum's amnesiac assassin and spy (after 2004's The Bourne Legacy
), Jason Bourne joins the war on terror. Troubled by visions of a woman dying in his arms, Bourne seeks psychiatric help, unaware that the doctor is an imposter who has tampered with the rogue agent's already messy and incomplete memories. That mental sabotage is part of a diabolical plan by Islamic terrorists to strike at Washington, D.C., led by Karim, a human chameleon who has fooled the CIA—and Bourne—into believing that he's actually deputy CIA director Martin Lindros. Aided by an attractive fellow agent who manages to overcome her distrust of Bourne, he races the clock to uncover the traitor within the intelligence community. Lustbader is less successful than Ludlum in dramatizing Bourne's inner torment—a feature that distinguished the character from many similar thriller heroes.