The Robert Ludlum Value Collection

By: Robert Ludlum

Narrated by: Darren McGavin

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Bourne Identity: He is a man with an unknown past and an uncertain future. A man dragged from the sea riddled with bullets, his face altered by plastic surgery - a man bearing the dubious identity of Jason Bourne. Now he is running for his life, the target of professional assassins, at the center of a maddening deadly puzzle. Who is Jason Bourne? To answer that question, he must find the secret buried deep in his own past. And the only one who can help him is a beautiful stranger - the woman who once would do anything to escape him.

The Bourne Supremecy: The Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China is brutally slain in a Kowloon cabaret, and all the clues point to the legendary assassin, Jason Bourne. But Bourne never existed! The name was created as a cover for ace agent David Webb on his search for the notorious killer Carlos. Now someone else has resurrected the Bourne identity, and Webb is forced to use his murderous skills to stop him. Because once again, like a nightmare relived, the woman he loves is suddenly torn from his life. To find her, to trap his own imposter, Webb must launch a desperate odyssey into the killing fields of international espionage.

The Bourne Ultimatum: Thirteen years have passed since David Webb was last forced to assume the alias of the assassin Jason Bourne. Thirteen blissfully peaceful years: time enough to raise a family with his wife Marie, time enough to begin to put the violence and betrayal of the past behind him. Now with one phone call Webb is thrust back into the madness. His greatest enemy, Carlos, is hunting again - determined to stalk and eliminate the one man whose reputation as an assassin approaches his own, a determination that promises pain and death for David Webb and those who mean the world to him.

©2005 Robert Ludlum (P)2005 Random House Audio

What a disappointment

What would have made The Robert Ludlum Value Collection better?

Not being abridged. NO MUSIC which was a distraction. Narrator is overly dramatic or underwhelmingly boring.

Any additional comments?

Big disappointment. Hadn't notice it was abridged. I thought it was all three novels packaged. REALLY disappointed. The background music is AWFUL.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Rape

If the heard this version, I would think he felt his books had been raped. I've read all 3 books earlier in Norwegian, unless til translater has written extra story into that version, the so caled Value Collection has no value at all.

Don't buy this version, buy the real stuff.

8 of 12 people found this review helpful

the music is annoying and distracting.

the stock music that is in employed takes away from any real tension the book could build in an attempt to help match the high octane nature of the movie, leaving what should be an intelligent and deadly character conceptualized by the production of a child.

What a waste of credit

If I hadn't watched and been a fan of the Bourne Series, I'd never watch the movies after listening to this over dramatic, incoherent and confusing book narration. I know Robert Ludlum is an excellent writer, this is not his doing.

Since I have listened to the entire collection (the three books), I can't really ask for my credit. This was a waste of credit. I kept hoping that the narration and the story would get better, but it doesn't.

The stupid background music, the unabridged nature of the storyline, the over dramatic style of the storyteller. This guy makes Bourne look like an idiot, not the super-slick, cool and confident killer that he is. the story is too confusing, too many characters, too many disconnects.


Please take this garbage (this three-pack collection) off the shelves and refund the customers' their money. I'd recommend listening to the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney. Now that is a book you cannot put down once you start reading.

Ruined by the music.

The music completely ruins this version of an otherwise awesome book. I am returning this book in chapter 2 because that is how long I lasted trying to ignore the terrible background music. Completely distracting.

The Tourne Review

Tourne. Get it? Torn? Tourne? Sorry, I'll stop...

Anyway, I'm torn on my review for this. And to be fair, this review is premature, as I haven't finished this specific trilogy collection (I've only just started the first part). But I have read all three physical novels before, and I've listened to two other audio recordings. The first was a series of audiobooks that I came across that had to be from the early 80s (the narration began with "Books on Tape"). That first narration was cold and impersonal, the tone of which more befitting a documentary than a thriller series. The next was Scott Brick's unabridged narration of the original trilogy. I enjoyed that set (Scott Brick is a brilliant narrator), though it still wasn't exactly what I wanted. There were times when the mood seemed too depressing for the given setting. I wanted more action, a faster pace, more enthusiasm in the narrator's tone.

Which brings us to this recording. What is up with the cheesy background music? It is just painful. Seriously. Leave. It. Out. The narrator does okay (at least he has so far), though I'm not fully buying his voice as the voice of the characters. And perhaps it's the cheesy music that's ruining it for me. If the music was left out, I really think this would be a far more enjoyable recording, abridged though it is (I typically despise abridged novels, but I was able to download this entire series for 1 credit, so I decided to give it a go).

I'll continue to listen, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Ludlum knew how to write espionage thrillers and was brilliant at combining intelligence with action, throwing in the occasional twist for good measure. They really should incorporate Carlos the Jackyl into the movies--that might be what the franchise needs to get it back going again.

Oh, and if you only know Bourne from the movies (which are among my favorite movies ever churned out by Hollywood, by the by), clear your mind and get ready for something entirely new. This is not Matt Damon's Bourne. Damon's Bourne is perfect for the big screen, but Ludlum's Bourne is downright spectacular on the page.