Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal

By: Eric Van Lustbader

Narrated by: Jeremy Davidson

Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Already devastated by loss, Bourne is shattered by a report that his last friend in the world, Martin Lindros has gone missing. A CI deputy director, Lindros was in Ethiopia tracking suspicious shipments of yellowcake uranium and atomic bomb weaponry. His last lifeline to humanity, Bourne will not let Lindros go. Despite his hatred for CI, Bourne sets out to rescue his friend and finish the job: dismantling a terrorist network determined to build nuclear armaments by cutting off their source of money.

But Bourne doesn't realize that these men, Islamic supremacists, are leaders of an incredibly dangerous, technologically savvy group with ties from Africa, across the Middle East, and into Eastern Europe and Russia. They have predicted Bourne's every move, and are counting on his unwitting help in their plans to destroy America.

©2007 Myn Pyn, LLC (P)2007 Hachette Audio

Bourne sticks it to the feds.

Where does Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best I have listened to in my library so far.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is of course Bourne. Since he is always a target for death by the united states government, it is nice to see him stick it to them, When he saves central intelligence from being destroyed, he doesn't want the credit from the people he never trusted.

What about Jeremy Davidson’s performance did you like?

His reading gives you a new perspective on the novel. He does this by providing a middle eastern, and British accent when they are called for.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My only reaction was laughter at the central intelligence director when he has to depend on Bourne, treats him like an agent, and then puts a sanction on him.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend all of the books in the series.

Great Disappointment

Having listened to each of the previous Ludlum books available, I was eager to "read" the latest, even before reading a listener review. After slogging through the first 3 hours (which is all I could bear), all I can say is "What a huge disappointment on all fronts". The reader is no Scott Brick and the constant background sound effects are annoying. My guess is that the effects were inserted to try to distract the listener from the poor quality of the story and its telling. What happened to Ludlum's legacy?????

Lame

I enjoy thriller/mystery stories and am willing to allow the author some license to make his hero somewhat superhuman. Having abilities and knowledge that are extraordinary but Lustbader made Bourne beyond belief. At one point he even hotwires an elevator - do they teach that at spy school? And yet he is amazingly stupid. Even when Bourne had beat the enemy he continues to put himself and the world at peril for no reason other than to have another impossible fight scene. The pitfalls were so predictable and lame that it got tiring to listen too. I was beginning to hope Bourne would get killed and put me out of my misery.

Most disappointing Bourne book yet.

I have no quibble with the author taking the story in a direction that eschews major past characters and features of the novels that were not part of the movies. However, the characterization was so disappointing. I wasn’t left caring about any of the characters, even Bourne, who though ruthless has alway been a moral, self sacrificing character.

Worse, the implausible uses of technology were too extreme to suspend disbelief. Several such reveals left me wanting to close the book for good.

I finished the book in hopes that the next one will be better. I love the genre. The Bourne character is such a wealth of opportunity for an author and a story. I was greatly disappointed with this use of that resource.

Disappointing

I was hoping for the intrigue and clever plot from past Bourne adventures, but Jason Bourne has reverted to a comic book style character in very familiar story lines. Jason is still the lethal, lone-wolf super spy. He is fluent in a multitude of unusual languages and has countless expert skills that would take a dozen lifetimes to acquire. He withstands relentless near death beatings, from which he is able to recover with minor medical care and and an enourmous effort of will. Jason must contend with an evil and clever foe, double agents, an intelligence comunity that does not appreciate his talents, and a government bogged down in inertia. Jason must save the United States from calamity using only his boundless ingenuity and the help of a very few and clever friends, but the clock is ticking ... While I do not want to give away the plot, this reminded me of the old James Bond novels and movies. I know this is a common plot, but I had hoped for something more original.

An example of when 0 stars would be appropriate.

A brutal waste of time and money. Absolutely unbelievable at times and so far away from the original Bourne concept that it should be illegal to say it is part of the series.

Erzatz Ludlum

I bought this hurriedly thinking is was a real Ludlum book. While I was entertained, the plot was even more unbelieveable than usual - more Bond than Bourne - and while Ludlum is not the world best writer (he's pretty good) this book borrowed the character but not much more. Don't bother with Jaw's III in other words

Dissapointed

I was really dissapointed with this book. The character that purports to be Jason Bourne/David Webb is not the same character I have enjoyed in the original Bourne trilogy books. The Bourne in this book is not nearly as resourceful or intelligent as the Bourne I am accustomed to in the original books. I also found this book to be very predictable and not nearly as intriguing as I had hoped. The characters were not well developed and I really didn't care all that much about any of them. Consequently, when the characters died, I really didn't care. Lastly, I felt like the author's use of profanity was excessive and gratuitous.

Disappointing

I remember 2 summers ago I read the first 3 books - I just could not get enough. I was hoping to feel the same about this one but not even close. This is writing a book knowing suckers like me won't be able to resist because they miss Jason so much and want to catch up with an old friend.

Hard to follow.

I loved the Bourne movies, but this audible was hard to follow. I had to keep going back over some of the recording to stay focused. It was like having three or four books in one. That style is not bad,but I had a very hard time following them. After a few weeks I gave it up.