The Bourne Deception

By: Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader

Narrated by: Jeremy Davidson

Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

After Bourne is ambushed and nearly killed while in Indonesia, he fakes his death to take on a new identity and mission - to find out who is trying to assassinate him. In the process, Bourne begins to question who he really is and what he would become if he no longer carried the Bourne identity.

Across the globe, an American passenger airliner is shot down over Egypt - apparently by an Iranian missile - leaving the world wondering if it was an accident or an act of aggression. A massive global team lead by Soraya Moore is assembled to investigate the attack before the situation escalates. When Bourne's search for his would-be assassin intersects with Soraya's search for the group behind the airplane bombing, Bourne is thrust into a race to prevent a new world war. But it may already be too late.

Take another thrill ride with Jason Bourne.

©2009 Myn Pyn, LLC (P)2009 Myn Pyn, LLC (Cright); Hachette Audio (Pright)

Critic reviews

"Reading a Ludlum novel is like watching a James Bond film...slickly paced...all-consuming." (Entertainment Weekly)

"Don't ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day." (Chicago Sun Times)

"A hearty serving of meat and potatoes action adventure, just the sort of fare that both Ludlum's and Lustbader's fans relish." (Publishers Weekly on The Bourne Legacy)

Tedious

The author takes forever to finish each scene. It seems as if the words are written with the purpose of simply making the book longer.

Not the Worst Book Ever, But Surprisingly Close

Did not seem like a Bourne book at all. Too many moving parts (moving in too many unbelievable directions). The first book I have every come close to not finishing. I'm glad it's over.

Fantasy weapons and manga physics.

The story arc is reasonably interesting if stretched to its extreme limits. The pace is fine. The research is utterly lacking and any use of firearms or other weapons is pure Hollywood-esque fantasy. The weapons truly killed this one for me. Eric Van Lustbader should be ashamed and his editor(s) more so. Unfortunately, this is the fourth book in the series by Van Lustbader. The issues with firearms in the age of the internet are simply unacceptable.

EVL seems to have gotten all of his weapons knowledge from some unholy union between of 1950’s post-war propaganda films and the cartoon channel. Everyone in his first novel carried Lugers and switchblades, and semiautomatics were machine guns blowing people all over the place with “bursts” of fire. Now in this fourth novel, people are still being “blown backwards” by bullets, and small caliber bullets at that! Considering that the first novel was released in 2004, full decades after the near universal adoption of well researched tech of all kinds in the thriller genre, EVL’s first book should have been returned for proper research and the subsequent three properly written and edited so as to be published without any significant issue. Sadly that did not happen. The Lugers and switchblades are still around and still quite common. Further, Sig Sauer has apparently produced a semiautomatic unicorn-pistol chambered in .38 caliber, a revolver round, that carries its cartridges in some contraption that is variously both a magazine and a clip. Capacity is unclear.

If you like firearms and/or modern weapons and/or well researched and written techno-thrillers, either catch this one on sale or skip it altogether. The series story arcs are easy enough to catch up on in later books in the series, and you will save yourself a good deal of distraction and frustration.

Worst audio book ever recorded

The writer is a no talent hack THIS BOOK STINKS

Disappointed

I was looking forward to the next Bourne Novel and grabbed this one. Sorry I did! I miss Robert Ludlum. It seems like the entire novel is a series of fight scenes that are so long to the point of being boring. If the author would spend more time on Bourne's early history, as he did on Arkadin (was interesting) it would be more enjoyable. Hungry for more "GOOD BOURNE" but looks like the character has run out.

should have read the reviews

After suffering through this audiobook, I am again reminded of the value of customer reviews. Ludlum it is NOT.

Bourne Deception good title

The reader is the one deceived. Poor writing hard to follow. Don't waste your money.

A long, disappointing wait...

The Bourne Sanction, Lustabder's previous Bourne novel, is quite possibly the best audiobook I have ever heard. So, to be fair, coming up with something equally as a good as a follow-up would be nearly impossible. This audiobook was disappointing to me after such a long wait for it, not because the writing was bad or the plot too fantastic - but because this installment didn't keep pace with the other ones in the series. We learn a lot about other characters but very little about Bourne himself, which is odd considering he is the title character. We learn far more about Bourne's arch-nemesis, which is interesting enough, but when we finally arrive at the climatic confrontation between these two characters the meeting is, well...anticlimatic.

The production value of the book is good, though probably not worth two credits. The action scenes, though sparse in comparision to the Sanction, are well-written and well produced. Lustbader's writing is nearly on par with previous installments and he weaves the story well, even if it is a little hard to digest. And, as always, Davidson's narration of the book is utterly fantastic. This guy makes you identify with the characters simply by the voice he has created for each of them, so much so that you know who is speaking before the author identifies them.

In the end, though, I was expecting more and although I understand Lustbader is writing another Bourne novel, I wanted something of more substance with this book, especially an epic showdown between the two main characters which didn't really happen.

I think this is a worthwhile purchase if you want to see how some of the characters progress, although you will learn nothing really new about Bourne which is a shame. I enjoyed the listening experience, it was a decent purchase in my opinion, but for two credits and a legendary character, I was really hoping for more. Maybe with the next installment.

The Decline of the Identity

This book follows the previous and really does a dis-service to the legacy that the Identity created. Really sad to see this going this way. I will give the authors one more book to fix my perception, then i'll be done with the book set.

Painful, Cheszy not anything like Lundlum

don't waste your money