Robert Ludlum - The Bourne Supremacy

Pros: Jason Bourne returns; more into the background of how he came to be...
Cons: Don't assume watching The Bourne Identity totally prepares you for this...

A few weeks ago I was walking through our local superstore when I came upon the book aisle. I was bored with the slough of books I had been reading, mostly centered around leadership and management for work. I decided to get a book out of my normal ...

Pros: Well written, very addictive, with a fantastic story
Cons: Perhaps a little over descriptive in places

I seem to have redeveloped the reading bug just recently. It had been a while since I sat down and actually concentrated on reading something. After seeing the Bourne Supremacy in the cinema a few weeks ago I decided to buy the book as it was only £3.73 ...

Pros: Galloping prose, suspense, excellent sense of places, human relationships.
Cons: Overy concerned with dichotomy between ordinary life and that of special operatives.

Axiomatic in western literature from the beginning is the antithesis between requirements of state and requirements of human decency. The Bourne Supremacy places the cruel revival of the legend Jason Bourne squarely in that context. David Webb never ...

Pros: It's the sequel to Ludlum's masterpeice.
Cons: When you've finished this book, you know you are two thirds of the way through.

After finishing the Bourne Identity, I was itching to get back to the library to pick up the second ...

Pros: Quick paced thrill a minute
Cons: slowest of the series

The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum is a thrilling follow-up to The Bourne Identity. I am completely against giving away plot lines but Ludlum is the master of the spy-novel action series. The Bourne Supremacy picks up exactly where the first novel...

Pros: Picturing Matt Damon's face while reading, and several clever escape twists.
Cons: The story should create tension. Random and numerous italicized words are a gimmicky cop out.

Although the actual plot and characters are engaging, the constant and excessive use of italicized words was not only distracting but eventually irritating. As if the story weren't thrilling enough, a programmed killer, the best of the best sent out against his will to find another programmed killer, a man trained in all the same techniques, forced to re-enter this lifestyle to save his beloved kidnapped wife...It seems that the author found it necessary to try and further heighten the suspense by having the characters stress pretty much every other word. Plainly unnecessary, ultimately aggravating. Should another Bourne novel ever be written, I will be sure to flip through the pages before I buy it. I see an italicized word, I'll save my money.

Pros: Lots of action
Cons: Details to the nth degree

True to Robert Ludlum's style, this book has many, many real nail-biting episodes. If you saw the movie, I'd still read the the book if I were you. The two have almost nothing in common. The bulk of the book takes place in Hong Kong. David Webb's aka. Jason Bourne's wife has been kidnapped and he is determined to return her safely to him. There is a Jason Bourne imposter, as in the movie, but that's where the similarity ends.

Also true to his style, it sometimes gets difficult to read through all of the details. But the action is frequent and very exiting. There were times I was amazed that so many people could be killed or rendered unconscious in as little as two pages of text by one individual. In general worth reading when you have time to concentrate.