Robert Ludlum's The Lazarus Vendetta

A Covert One Novel

By: Patrick Larkin

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

For the past three decades, Robert Ludlum's best-selling novels have been enjoyed by hundreds of millions worldwide and have set the standard against which all other thrillers are measured. His Covert-One series has been among his most beloved creations and now comes the latest thrilling novel in the series.

The Lazarus Movement, the dominant force in the eco-conscious, "anti-technology" protest movement, has sent rumblings down the halls of the world's intelligence agencies. Led by a mysterious, never-seen figure known only as Lazarus, this increasingly prominent group is believed by some to be preparing a bold strike.

When an attack on a nanotechnology research facility leaves thousands dead, protesters and scientists alike, from what appears to be a cloud of inadvertently released but gruesomely deadly nanobots, pandemonium reigns. Lt. Col. Jon Smith is activated by Covert-One to find and uncover the truth about Lazarus where all others have failed. As Smith slowly uncovers the deadly underpinnings of the group, he soon learns that the Lazarus Movement is only the very tip of the iceberg in a deadly scheme that threatens billions of lives and will forever change the nature of the world itself.

©2004 Myn Pyn, LLC (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"A Robert Ludlum novel is like watching a James Bond film...slickly paced...all-consuming." (Entertainment Weekly)
"Hand-to-hand action, intriguing science, and plot speed will keep most techno-thriller readers nailed to their seats." (Publishers Weekly)

Disappointing and beyond belief.

It is not often that I want to fast-forward whilst listening, but I certainbly did with this. The plot is beyond belief. Details of the size of ammunition and far too many descriptions of the results of coming in contact with it are boring. A very disappointing publication.

The Lazarus Vendetta

I have just about every Robert Ludlum book you can buy. I normally love the Covert One series, even with other writers. However, between the ridiculous plot line to the horrible reading by Scott Brick, I can't even bear to finish this one. I know others have said they like the narrator but he is absolutely awful. It sounds like he should be reading a "How to" manual or selling me a used car. Bad, bad, bad....don't waste your money.

Definitely not Ludlum!

So maybe Robert Ludlum did create the story concept, but he must be turning in his grave over the final story. Too much of the Ludlum careful attention to detail is just plain missing. For example, a car driving on an English motorway pulls out to the left to pass another car? Maybe this sounds too picky, but Ludlum didn't leave that type of error in the final product.
It should be entitled "Patrick Larkin's The Lazarus Vendetta." Then those of us who remember Ludlum's legacy would not have wasted our money.
The only true Ludlumesque quality was the title - it followed the Ludlum formula, "The [Proper Noun] [Common Noun]." But that's it.
I listened until the very end, out of stubbornness more than interest. It never improved.
As for narration, Scott Brick is one of the narrators I generally like, so he may have saved the tale a bit. He still has his annoying inflection with questions and accents, but overall, he does a good job.

Left a bad taste.

Ludlum is one of the writers whose books I buy without worry. After attempting to read "Robert Ludlum's The Lazarus Vendetta," I won't do that again. Even though I was aware that Ludlum had several books 'in the can' when he died, I had expected that they would, at a minimum, be more or less true to Ludlum's qualitative standards. I was wrong.

I am reminded of a quote by Daniel Webster (quite possibly apocryphal). While attending a formal dinner his female dinner partner is reputed to have turned to him and said, "Sir, you smell." Webster replied. "Madam you are wrong; I stink, you smell."

Either one works for The Lazarus Vendetta.