Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code: A Covert-One Novel

Robert Ludlum has been my faovorite author for as long as I can remember....now that he is gone, and has written the outline for these books, I didn't think I would like them, but I was wrong, I like them all....I will be standing in line to get all of these books!

For over thirty years Robert Ludlum has entertained readers with a string of international thrillers. Who can forget the spellbinding The Bourne Identity or The Scarletti Inheritance? Now his Covert-One series is enthralling a new generation as well as veteran fans. Dan Leslie gives an excellent reading to the latest suspense propelled yarn. The scene is Shanghai where anything can happen and much does. Why is cargo being loaded onto a dockside ship under cover of night? Perhaps the photographer who is capturing the event knows, but he won't tell as he is murdered and his camera demolished. Segue to a conversation between Covert-One director Fred Klein and the President. Klein reports that there is word out that a Chinese ship may be carrying a large supply of chemicals. Will these chemicals be used to build biological weapons, and by whom? Klein is told to bring the White House proof of this potentially deadly cargo. Dispatched to Taiwan is Covert-One agent Jon Smith. His orders are to get the ship's actual cargo list from another agent. More easily said than done: the second agent is killed, and Smith barely escapes. In true Ludlum form there are more shockers to come, one involves the President's family. Few can come close to this author's crackling dialogue and gasp inducing scenes. Sophisticated mystery lovers, give a listen. - Gail Cooke

Ms. Lynds has surpassed herself once again! Altman Code with its return of solid characters is a page turner that will keep you reading well into the night! The genre is Ludlum but the intensity is Lynds! The issues are more than timely, the ending superior!!! And for those unfamiliar with weapons, the AK-74 is the newer model of the AK-47.Ms. Lynds is a stand alone author on her own and ALWAYS provides her readers with excellent material for a read that can only be described as 'The Best'!Read this book, you won't be disappointed!

This is the first thriller in a long time that actually thrilled me. I just read some of the negative reviews on this site, which is why I'm even bothering to write. Ordinarily I assume a book this terrific needs no one to point out the obvious.In the first place, there are several Kalashnikov rifles today. The old one -- the AK-47 is the one most people are familiar with. A newer, updated version is the AK-74. Ms. Lynds (and Mr. Ludlum, if he had input) got it right. Both versions exist. She assigned the weapon correctly on the basis of which character would tend to have access to which rifle. I was amused by the outraged critic here who claimed the book was so bad that even the proofreader couldn't catch Ms. Lynds's "mistake" in using an AK-74. Check it out. The AK-74 not only exists, it's a great weapon.If Ludlum didn't plot this book, then Lynds must've, and -- dare I say it? -- she's better, more heart-stopping, more imaginative, and more adventurous than he was except in his earliest years. His first 6 books were among the top ever written in the field. The Altman Code is in that class. For instance, very little is really known about the inner workings of the Chinese government -- how decisions are made at the very top, even WHERE they are made. Lynds takes us inside for the sort of intimate details that make you feel you're right there, living it. Did you know that most of China's highest officials live and work in an exclusive enclave next to Tianamen Square called Zhongnanhai? Did you know that it's so secret that there's nowhere in Beijing that's allowed to be built high enough to look over Zhongnanhai's walls? I'd never heard of any of that, and when I finally found some sources that knew enough to talk about it, Lynds had gotten it all absolutely correct. That impressed me.BTW, this is the sort of unusual and difficult-to-know thing that made Ludlum stand out in the early days. You don't see him doing it now in his new single byline books.The operation of the Chinese secret service was fascinating. Also the new Chinese business class that is in an odd war with the government while at the same working hand-in-glove with it. Then there was the political maneuvering within the government's highest echelon -- the Standing Committee (they're the ones in Zhongnanhai). Byzantine! Reminded me of the Kremlin in the old Cold War days. Maybe worse. Great, great stuff. Loved it.The story is based on an incident I remember from the early '90s -- the U.S. government had evidence a Chinese ship called the Yinhe was carrying chemicals to make weapons. The US Navy chased that ship for some 20 days, and when we finally forced it to stop on the high seas and boarded it, there was nothing but farm tools and other innocent cargo. It was a huge international incident, a big black eye for us. But no one who knew anything believed it was all that innocent. There had to have been chemicals at one time. In the Altman Code, we get a much more realistic result.

This book was wonderful! Timely with its issues, keeps you locked to the page, rich with information and characters - you move through this book at a frenetic pace, devouring page after page until the end - an oh what an ending! From the cover, it looks like this was written by Gayle alone based on the series with Ludlum and to be honest, I think she's outdone the master! This one will keep you turning the pages until well in the morning. Bravo Gayle! On another fantastic read.