The Bourne Supremacy

A Novel

By: Robert Ludlum

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 27 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

A killer with no face, no identity, and a name the world wanted to forget: Jason Bourne....

Reenter the shadowy world of Jason Bourne, an expert assassin still plagued by the splintered nightmares of his former life. This time the stakes are higher than ever. For someone else has taken on the Bourne identity, a ruthless killer who must be stopped or the world will pay a devastating price.

To succeed, the real Jason Bourne must maneuver through the dangerous labyrinth of international espionage, an exotic world filled with CIA plots, turncoat agents, and ever-shifting alliances, all the while hoping to find the truth behind his haunted memories and the answers to his own fragmented past. This time there are two Bournes...and one must die.

©1987 Robert Ludlum (P)2008 Random House

Critic reviews

"A killer of a thriller." ( USA Today)

Too much information

I should have stopped at the first book. It goes into meandering details of things that are not related or even avoided. I wanted to finish it but got really impatient after half way.

Never thought I could get enough of Scott Brick until now.

Ok, but the movies are better

I wanted to give this book 2.5 stars. I rounded up out of respect for the author.

It is rare that I think a movie is better than the book, but it's true here. I listened to the first book, The Bourne Identity, and felt the same way. I was disappointed, but thought maybe Ludlum was just figuring out where he wanted to go with the character, so I bought the second book with the same result. I was looking for a series to fill the void until the next book in the Mitch Rapp series is released - I'll keep looking. I thought the characters were too over the top and that it was too much of a love story. It got old really fast listening to Bourne talk to himself saying things like "Oh, God, Marie. My dearest love, Marie" and saying it in a way that made him sound like a high school student who just got dumped. I don't think this was the narrator's fault.

More action.

What did you love best about The Bourne Supremacy?

I loved the pace of the book. I found it great to listen to, because of all the action that took place.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character in this book is Bourne's handler, and friend, because he makes up for trying to kill Bourne by helping him get to China to find his wife.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene I loved is the one when Bourne almost succeeds in destroying the safe house in Victoria peak. I wish he could have roughed up the two officials that caused him trouble just a bit.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I really did. After I got this book from the library for the blind, I knew I just had to have my own copy.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend all the books in the series.

Nothing like the movie..in a good way

First of all, except for the title and names, this is not at all related to the movie. In this book Bourne is a schizo, emphasis on his two personalities much more represented. A duality of man type of concept. The book starts with a bang then has a slow intro to the stories being told which is kinda of boring but then the pace is picked up strong. A little on the predictable side but action scenes are not bad. A more accurate grade I can give the book is 2 stars for beginning chapters then 4 stars for the rest of the book. Scott Brick is top notch as always

so good

So good that it is near impossible to tear yourself away. Ludlum sets a high standard for fast-paced action and gripping story telling.

great story, bland narration

I love this story so much. it's so good and so detailed and compelling. the major issue I have is with Scott brick. he has a good voice and a unique one at that, but it is so monotoned and constantly the same throughout the story and characters. men, women, American, foreign... they're all pretty much the same with very minor variations.

again, he has a good voice, but it's lack of variety sometimes puts me to sleep. emphasis and stress and action scenes feel extremely forced. many times I don't even know which character is talking and don't feel the urgency of the situation.

it's a great story. you can get through it. it's not a horrible narration, but compared to others out there, it is a C at best

Great story

I don’t get it. The movie is entirely different from this book. The book story is much better than the movie. So why did they change it so drastically? Whoever made the decision to do so is nuts.
I guess that if I go back and listen to the series, I will discover that the books are all much better, and much different from the movies.

We are lucky that this is not one of those crappy abridged versions.

very different from the movie

very different from the movie but it was awesome because it was like a new Bourne movie.

Couldn’t finish it

I loved the narration.
The story line and the plot, not so much.
It dragged on and and on and with 11 plus hours I just gave up

Better than book #1

It's a bit longer than it needed to be, but was still very good. Do it.