Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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ROBERT LUDLUM’S THE BOURNE LEGACY By Eric Van Lustbader
Three of Robert Ludlum’s novels featured the fascinating escape artist character of Jason Bourne. Unfortunately, I did not read one of them, although I’ve seen the blockbuster movies starring Matt Damon as the unstoppable former CIA agent. So – this is my first Bourne in print and it’s written with the permission of Robert Ludlum’s estate by Eric Van Lustbader. While I admit I can’t compare this one to the previous Bourne novels, I thought this was a great read and felt very true to character.
Remember how at the end of The Bourne Supremacy, Bourne learns that his real name is David Webb. In this new book, we meet David Webb the professor at Georgetown. This is a fast-paced read – duh! – with a tender ending sappy readers like me will appreciate. My only complaint is that the frantic fight and escape scenes are much easier and more entertaining to watch on the big screen than they are to read. Somewhere around half of the book sounds like this, “He put his foot beneath Kahn’s neck muscle and held him while he kicked his legs out from underneath him with his left foot. Just then, he received a dropping blow to the kidney and retaliated before . . .” Well – you get the picture – it can be dizzying after 400 pages.
I should tell you that many faithful Ludlum readers hate – I do mean hate – this book. They don’t feel like Lustbader is true to Ludlum or the Bourne character. I should defer to them because they have more experience with Ludlum, but I just can’t because I enjoyed the book. You know how sometimes seeing the movie first, or at least the actor playing the character, can ruin an otherwise good read? Well, picturing Matt Damon didn’t detract from my enjoyment one little bit. Au contraire.
I recommend (and hope the Ludlum faithful will forgive me) Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Legacy by Eric Van Lustbader. On the Book Beat for KSL Newsradio 1160, I’m Amanda Dickson.
