Review—Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Objective
Eric Van Lustbader wrote the novel Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Objective. Grand Central Publishing published the book May 2010; the novel has 437 pages.
From Washington D.C. to London, Russia, and Morocco, international intrigue abounds. The world of Jason Bourne is filled with gaps in his memory and people in his life that confuse and incite flashes of his past. He has had many names in his life as an agent and since his memory loss, he comes across people who knew him before, this presents new challenges. Leonid Arkadin is his polar opposite and a man who has had similar training, yet has taken a very different pathway. Over time, they have each tried to terminate the other and continue with similar goals. A secret society, the Severus Domna, is searching for items in their possession that hold the key to the mythical process of turning lead into gold. Such a process could lead to wars of great proportions. This society will manipulate different players into situations that involve both the American government and leaders of other countries.
Tracy dies in Jason’s arms leading him back into Arkadin’s orbit and the societies orchestrated plans. He brings danger and mayhem into the lives of Tracy’s family. Other players from his past are working towards finding him and his nemesis and this leads them into the world of drug lords and Russian agents. Past lovers are instructed to bring Bourne and Arkadin to the home of the Severus Domna. However, along the way to this meeting, death and betrayal is the norm and Bourne is just trying to survive to integrate his past with his present, while following new directions from the few he still trusts.
Many Bourne novels have been written, some by Robert Ludlum and others by Eric Van Lustbader. This novel, though it tied up some past issues, was slow reading. The emotions Bourne has shown in the past regarding the frustrations of his memory loss in dealing with new people was limited though there were many characters from previous books. The biggest part of the problem with this book is there were too many players and plans in play leading to the conclusion. It was often confusing and disjointed. I have enjoyed the Bourne series and will read others, this one just missed the mark.
