Beyond Judgment

June 3, 2013
Robert Ludlum fans will find many Jason Bourne–like plot elements in Bard’s third thriller featuring Jake Bronson (after The Enemy of My Enemy), but none of Ludlum’s gifts at plotting and pacing. In chapter one, a man with no memory of his past, who has recently woken from a coma to be told his name is Lorenzo Ferrari, finds himself at an outdoor cafe on the Tuscan coast in conversation with a beautiful woman, evidently an American tourist. Several men who clearly mean him ill approach, but thanks to the heart Ferrari received from a 17-year-old female athlete, he has the endurance to elude his attackers. The author soon reveals that Ferrari is actually Bronson, who will tangle with a villain out of a James Bond film, complete with a white cat. Will Bronson be able to save humanity? In addition to stock action scenes, readers should be prepared for some clichéd prose (“Her alluring curves and inviting smile had inspired him”). Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group.