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If you’ve been following the Jason Bourne saga, you’re probably just as eager as I was to read the next book in the series. But you’re in for a different kind of storyline with The Bourne Objective. No chasing terrorists in this one—but it’s still good. However, the story pretty much picks up where The Bourne Deception left off. And, once again, readers are taken on another hair-raising spin through the life of ex-Central Intelligence Agent Jason Bourne.
Still staggered over the death of Tracy Atherton, Bourne goes in search of answers. When he discovers that Tracy knew Noah Perlis and Holly Marie Moreau (a woman he watched Perlis push down a flight of stone steps in Bali), Jason wonders what they all had in common—and why, near the end, they turned on each other. His search brings him to Tracy’s sister, Chrissie, who he inadvertently puts in danger, simply because his trail led him to her.
On the run from the Severus Domna, Jason and Chrissie try to figure out why the group is after a rare ring with strange etchings on the inside—and what it has to do with a laptop that’s now in the hands of Arkadin.
With Central Intelligence once again under a new director, Soraya Moore finds herself kicked out on her butt. With no prospects on the horizon, she agrees to work for the reawakened Treadstone Project—a project that only produced two graduates before it was shut down the first time: Jason Bourne and Leonid Danilovich Arkadin. Moore’s assignment? Get close to Arkadin, gain his trust, and bring him to a clandestine meeting with Jason Bourne. Their objective? To see who is the better Treadstone graduate in an ultimate one-on-one battle. But then the most unexpected thing happens.
The Bourne Objective will lead you through a maze of plot twists and turns that seem to make no sense whatsoever—that is, until you start nearing the end of the book. I was almost certain that Lustbader had cooked himself up a stew of plots and subplots (and subplots on top of subplots) that would never come together in a tasty way. I should have had more faith—Eric Van Lustbader is a master. Not only does everything fall into place perfectly, but it also comes together with a most delightful and clever spin.
Bourne and Arkadin are equals in every way save one: Bourne has a soul, but Arkadin doesn’t. Bourne reaches out to those in trouble and puts himself in danger to keep someone else safe. Arkadin doesn’t care what collateral damage he leaves in his wake, just as long as he gets what he wants. As a result, reading the book is like watching God and the devil battling on Earth. And it’s so much fun to watch.
Perilous situations, secret societies, battles of will, and hold-your-breath action make The Bourne Objective a head rush you won’t want to miss. But I must caution you: those head rushes are sure to turn you into a Jason Bourne junkie like me.
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