The Ambler Warning

A Novel

By: Robert Ludlum

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

"Welcome to Robert Ludlum's world...fast pacing, tight plotting, international intrigue." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

In Robert Ludlum's The Ambler Warning, an agent breaks out of a top security institution where the government has kept him drugged for years only to discover that he's not the person he thinks he is.

On Parrish Island, a restricted island off the coast of Virginia, there is a little known and never visited psychiatric facility. There, far from prying eyes, the government stores former intelligence employees whose psychiatric state make them a danger to their own government, people whose ramblings might endanger ongoing operations or prove dangerously inconvenient.

One of these employees, former Consular Operations agent Hal Ambler, is kept heavily medicated and closely watched. But there's one difference between Hal and the other patients - Hal isn't crazy. With the help of a sympathetic nurse, Hal manages to first clear his mind of the drug-induced haze and then pulls off a daring escape. Free, he's out to discover who stashed him there and why - but the world he returns to isn't the one he remembers.

Friends and longtime associates don't remember him, there are no official records of Hal Ambler, and when he first sees himself in the mirror, the face that looks back at him is not the one he knows as his own.

©2005 Myn Pyn, LLC (P)2005 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"Ludlum packs more suspense into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combined." (The New York Times)

The Ambler Warning

The story is great, but I strongly suggest the short version of this book. The author rambles on about many situations that do not add anything to the story. I can see how they can take this 16 hour book and shorten it to 7 hours. I found my mind wandering many times while listening to it.

RoughStart

Having been an avid Ludlum fan for decades, this book was a bit of a disappointment. Almost 5 hours in I was ready to give up... but it finally turned around enough to keep my interest for the remainder. If you are not a true Ludlum fan and one with a lot of patience, I wouldn't suggest this one!

If you love Ludlum, don't buy this!

Would you try another book from Robert Ludlum and/or Scott Sowers?

I am a long-time Ludlum fan. I didn't realize this one was ghosted after Ludlum's death, or I would have sought reviews before buying it. I would try any REAL Ludlum novel without hesitation. But if I knew who wrote this one, I'd be sure to avoid them.

The narrator was ok; not great, but not bad.

What was most disappointing about Robert Ludlum???s story?

The story. Horribly flawed. So many things made no sense.

What aspect of Scott Sowers???s performance would you have changed?

I'd have him look up words of whose pronunciation he is unsure.

You didn???t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The first quarter was almost Ludlum, but it went downhill from there. People did things that make no sense. Emotion narration is endless. Attempts at cute humor are horrific.

Tragic!

In the tradition of Ludlumese style, plot and execution, this latest book could have been more fun and enjoyable to hear had it not been for a choice of the narrator whose effeminate voice and poor elocution was a grave sacrilege to Mr. Ludlum and the eloquence of the previous narrators Erik Bergmann, Patrick Larkin and most specially Paul Michael. Mr. Sowers spared me from taking Ambien. I had difficulty discriminating the characters since there was not much difference in the decibels of their corresponding voices. It was monotonous.

Don't worry. I continue to be mistified by Mr. Ludlum's style and poetic flair despite my utter disappointment with Mr. Sowers. I just hope that for our sake, you reinstate Mr. Paul Michael. The way he narrated the Tristan Betrayal, Sigma Protocol and Janson Directive still reverberate in my mind

Spend your money elsewhere

Spend your money elsewhere, this is a ghost written book in the Ludlum name and the writer must have been paid by the word. Huge long rambling passages read by a marginal reader. The books pace is slow and plodding and more importantly the characters are not well developed as they shift and change in how they act, think, and behave frequently. The plot is predictable after the first few chapters and the twist at the ending doesn't even come as a surprise. There is nothing to challenge the reader in this novel what so ever. If this had not been written as part of the "Ludlum" franchise it would be taking up space in trash can of an editor. Perhaps if you could find an abridged version of this novel it might decrease the suffering enough to at least be palatable.

predictable

Boring and predictable - terrible narrator!! I couldn't even finish the book. I expected better!

Long...

Very long & predictable.