Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Objective

The book was in almost perfect condition when received. No prblems what so ever, although it does seem to take a long time for shipping via USPS.

"And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD." -- 2 Chronicles 12:14 (NKJV) Jason Bourne (aka David Webb) still can't remember very much as the book opens, but flashbacks help direct his steps anyway. More evil characters than you can shake a stick at are aiming at using or stopping Bourne to accomplish some power- or wealth-enhancing ploy. The more interesting parts of the character development show contrasts between highly trained operatives Bourne and Arkady as the two circle one another. How will the potential for violence between them be resolved? The book connects deeply into earlier plots. I would discourage anyone from starting their reading of the post-Ludlum Bourne books with this one. I thought that the book's ending was one of the more satisfying ones in the New Bournes. The best parts of the book for me were the action sequences. Mr. Lustbader does those well. I could easily imagine them occurring in front of me, and the fine action descriptions helped bring the book to life for me. The book's biggest weakness is that many of the villains don't seem to be real. They feel more like paper targets in a target range waiting for someone to score bulls-eyes on them. Arkady is the exception. His history and menace come across quite effectively.

Robert Ludlum passed away in 2001, bringing an impressive and long-running literary career to an unfortunate end. None of his work had more impact than the Jason Bourne series; its three novels were all turned into successful films starring Matt Damon, and Ludlum was able to work as an executive producer on The Bourne Identity. Thankfully, in the same way that John Gardner and other authors have kept Ian Fleming's James Bond series alive, Eric Van Lustbader has continued the Bourne saga with five additional books thus far. THE BOURNE OBJECTIVE completes a three-novel arc revolving around the same mission. Following THE BOURNE SANCTION and THE BOURNE DECEPTION, it picks up the action after Bourne's witnessing of the murder of his friend/comrade, art dealer Tracy Atherton. It turns out that Tracy was much more than an art dealer, and her involvement in the world of international espionage put her in harm's way where even Bourne was unable to protect her. The person responsible for her death is Russian mercenary and spy Leonid Arkadin. What makes Arkadin particularly terrifying is the fact that, like Bourne himself, he was originally trained by Treadstone, an unsanctioned, covert group that churned out superspies who were also experts in detection and killing. What will happen when two equally skilled and trained operatives like Arkadin and Bourne finally come face to face with each other? The suspense of that eventual meeting keeps the reader hanging until nearly the last chapter of this fast-paced and exciting novel. Fans of the series realize that Bourne suffers from a debilitating case of amnesia whereby he is unable to fully recall past events easily and has a really bad "identity" crisis. Born David Webb, the operative known as Jason Bourne has utilized a number of different guises. Here, he is known by many as Adam Stone, who allegedly was also a professor at Oxford. He uses this identity to befriend Chrissie, Tracy's sister. By indicating that he was present when she was killed and promising to avenge her death, Chrissie has no choice but to aid Bourne in uncovering the secrets behind the strangely engraved ring that he carries. After meeting with another Oxford professor who is a friend of Chrissie's, Bourne is educated about the cryptic background of this mysterious ring. Once decoded, its message points towards an ominous and secret group known as Severus Domna, whose name is a blend of Old Persian and Latin and whose members are still active and very dangerous. Bourne was also purported to have come into the possession of a laptop that is to be utilized with the ring. The legend states that inserting the ring into the laptop will uncover certain secrets --- including the location of King Solomon's gold. Unfortunately, Bourne's recurring amnesia does not allow him to recall how he obtained the laptop or where it may be. Arkadin and members of other covert groups also are in search of this hot item. To further confuse matters, rumors o

It would seem those who have picked up and attempted to read the further exploits of Jason Bourne written by Eric Van Lustbader generally fall within two groups...those who seem to enjoy them, and those who compare them way TOO much to the incomparable Robert Ludlum. I admit, I fell into that category myself back when the first Post Ludlum Bourne novel was released (the Bourne Legacy). I had a difficult time separating the writing of the original 3 books with that of the new...that is until I began to see it a bit differently. I decided to judge the book based on not having read Ludlums earlier works, and upon that little epiphany, my enjoyment actually improved exponentially. Many have chimed in on the 4th Lustbader Bourne novel being not quite up to par (at least with his other books) and while I can accept that, the Bourne Objective was an entirely different Bourne book--especially compared with #4. The storyline was a bit familiar with plots already established by the late, great Robert Ludlum, but I tried to focus on what I liked more than be picky. With that in mind, Bourne #5 became a roller coaster of suspense, and action. Death & mayhem were on virtually every other page, and finally the conspiracy came close to being what our dearly departed author may have come up with...or at least I'd like to THINK so. For those who simply cannot separate Eric Van Lustbaders writing style from Ludlums, well, maybe you ought to just let this one pass, but if you can judge a book as though you had never read him before, I believe you just may enjoy this one--or at least a whole lot more than you will if you don't...I suppose it really depends on the person ultimately. Will Lustbader EVER reach the status of Ludlum? My guess is no--not even close...few authors ever will if you want to be honest. In a way I like to compare these novels (loosely) to some of the many Star Wars books floating around (follow me here...), some capture the *essence* of Star Wars and the subtle character flaws as they were portrayed in film...and SOME just happen to be set in a galaxy far, far away and feature people with the names of Luke, Leia and Han--but that's about it. Some get it, some don't. While Lustbader writes quite differently than Ludlum, I still enjoyed HIS stories set in Roberts Universe. Based on that alone, I can recommend the Bourne Objective, otherwise, if you didn't like any of the others, I'd skip this one, too.

I've always felt that the first 3 in this new series have been underrated..they are decent. I'd give them 3/5s. The last one was just far-fetched and barely had Bourne. This time, though...Lustbader has improved his writing skills. The action has more realism and is varied, and the character development is decent. Bourne has always been one of my favorite literary characters-and my favorite cinematic one, too. Lustbader has created a novel with genuine thrills and a pretty decent story- save for a few plot inconsistencies. Where the others(FORGET THE FOURTH) were decent, this one is alright. I was surprised to see how good this is. Give it a try-it's better than the rest of the new series. That's saying a bit...plus, solid thrillers are hard to come by. As for that 1-star review, it's for the pricing. Not the novel. As for the bad, there is some of it. The dialog gets cheesy and the plot isn't so great. Some of the writing techniques of Lustbader are weak-as in the unnecessary make out sequence between two women. Not only that, but too many preposterous things are going on. Still, overall, TBO isn't all that bad.