The Janson Directive

Initially published one year after the death of Robert Ludlum, the nearly finished manuscript to this action-packed novel of government deception and cover-up was reportedly completed by his editor. If not for his legendary Jason Bourne character, the main character in this novel - Paul Janson - could have been the Ludlum franchise in movies and successful book sequels. And it is more than eliminating the first "n" in the last name for the misunderstood hero to be like Jason, as there are a number of close parallels; he is a Vietnam veteran who survived the sadistic manipulations of a commander, worked in a government covert agency that ultimately will try to eliminate him and is haunted by scenes from his past, including the murder of his pregnant wife by a terrorist organization. The hunt for Janson is started when an "off-the-books" rescue attempt of a billionaire philanthropist goes terribly wrong, which leads to friends becoming enemies in a fast-paced game of searching for answers in the shadows between fact and disinformation. Meticulous details and patented Ludlum plot twists make this novel more than a summertime read. This recent reissue clearly shows that Ludlum was moving in a direction to produce another seminal hero in the thriller genre.

I can't believe how great this book is, it's even better than his last living works like Apocalypse and Scorpio. Although elements of the story are very timely, I can only guess this was slightly modified from a rough draft Ludlum created back at the peak of his brilliance with the Bourne books, Parsifal, Icarus, Aquitaine. Outstanding book, furious page-turner.

"Ludlum's best since his masterpiece The Bourne Identity"- Kirkus Reviews. The Janson Directive is a covert one novel. The hero in this novel, Paul Janson is the most unlikely hero, a super assassin. He is a successful entrepreneur and former agent of the United States Covert Ops. A representative from the Liberty Foundation contacts Janson and asks him to rescue the founder of the Liberty Foundation. The founder of the Liberty Foundation is Peter Novak a billionaire and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Novak is kidnapped by the same terrorist group responsible for Janson's wife's death. Janson agrees to rescue Peter Novak who was personally responsible for saving Janson's life many years ago. Janson finds out that Novak's execution is scheduled to be in a three days. So with only days to work he assembles an elite team of covert operatives from around the world to rescue Novak. Against incredible and overwhelming odds they rescue Novak from an almost impenetrable fortress. On the verge of success a terrible tragedy occurs killing Janson's protégé and Novak. Janson then goes on a quest to find out who killed his friends and ruined his mission. He goes from city to city only to find people who try to kill him in every city. First Janson believes it must be operatives of the terrorist group seeking revenge for his part in the daring rescue of Novak. Janson soon learns from a would-be assassin that a "beyond salvage" is issued by Janson's former agency and he is targeted for death. His expert instincts kick in, making him an unstoppable opponent for his former agency. Janson uses every resource he has while running from assassins to unfoil the plot to kill him. The rest of the book has many twists and turns and is unpredictable. It is a page-turner, which you can't put down. The plot is amazing and keeps you hooked the whole time and the use of figurative words is amazing and gives you a clear picture of what is happing. I recommend this book to everyone who likes thrillers.

The Jansen Directive is the second novel published since Ludlum's death. (With each passing book, one is left to wonder if there are any more finished or nearly finished transcripts in the pipeline or even to what degree the last two works were ghost written, at least in part.) Having read almost all of Ludlum's work, the Jansen Directive certainly felt like "a Ludlum." This was a great book....very hard to put down. This book grabs the reader early and does not let go, leading on more than one occasion to fits of yawning in the morning because I had stayed up too late reading the night before. All in all, the Jansen Directive provides all of the action, suspense, frequent plot twists, and unexpected events that Ludlum aficionados have come to love in the conspiracy-thriller genre. This is clearly among Ludlum's best.

Suspense - Action - Intricate Plotting - Wonderful Intrigue - All the things which Robert Ludlum provided the reader in his most successful books are contained in THE JANSON DIRECTIVE. This is an action adventure thriller to rival the Jason Bourne trilogy, and fans will hope that a sequel for Paul Janson was also conceptualized before Ludlum's death.Paul Janson, a retired field operative from the covert agency Consular Ops is clandestinely recruited to attempt an exfiltration of Peter Novak, a billionaire and Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been kidnapped by nationalist rebels on the island kingdom of Anura and is to be executed in three days time. After being informed of the details of the mission by Marta Lang (head of Novak's philanthropy - the Liberty Foundation), when Lang thanked him for providing she and her associates with hope Janson remained silent but concluded that "perhaps false hope was better than none at all". And indeed, on the verge of apparent success a terrible tragedy occurs as Part One ends. For reasons totally unknown to Janson or the reader, a "beyond salvage" is then issued by Janson's former agency and he is targeted for death. The remaining eighty percent of the book involves unraveling the intertwined mysteries of the life of Peter Novak, the Vietnam wartime experiences of Paul Janson, the role of the secret ops of the U.S. government, the disappearance of Marta Lang, and the continuing role of the masterful Anuran rebel leader, the Caliph, who has also a fateful link with Janson's past.The intricate nature of the conspiracy as it unfolds rivals the best books of this nature that I have read, and the characters are well drawn, especialy Jessica Kincaid, the young sharpshooter of unbelievable ability (literally, her achievements were a bit too good) who is on the team chosen to pursue Janson, but also several of the bit characters as well including the Russian Grigori Berman. I was especially intrigued by Peter Novak, who Ludlum clearly seemed to model on George Soros in many details. However, Novak chooses to achieve his goals through an activist "directed democracy" rather than Soros' methodology of simply promoting "Open Society". Nevertheless, the existence of Soros as a real life model for the accumulation of such vast wealth makes Novak's character more believeable.As most of Ludlum's books, this displays deep cynicism regarding the actions of our government, and great understanding of the arrogance of power. I found Janson's contempt for "the best and the brighest" and his analysis of their faults truly refreshing. Several things argue against this being written (rather than plotted) by Ludlum. Most noticably, the contemporary idiom relative to his other books, as well as the more graphic and detailed violence. I was repulsed by a few of the descriptions of torture, as was undoubtedly the intent given their context. However, the fact Ludlum stepped out of character to write THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO and THE ROAD TO