Another gem (The Prometheus Deception - Robert Ludlum)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	The Prometheus Deception - Robert Ludlum
Date:	05/08/08 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great writing

Disadvantages: Lead hero is too superhuman to be effective

The Prometheus Deception was one of the last books to be penned by Robert Ludlum himself. It was one of the first of his novels I read, and is full of long descriptive passages and high intensity spy games. It was published in 2000, and at just over 600 pages long is about par for one of his books.

The Plot

Nick Bryson is literally the best. Working for the Directorate, he has spent his whole career working for the US on an ultra-secret level. His world is shattered when a job goes wrong and he ends up walking away, only to find that things are not all as they seem and he may not have been working for the US after all. Everything was so covert that Bryson has to use all his field skills to find out the truth and put his demons and his bosses to rest, once and for all. He will need all his skills and wits though, because they are coming after him with everything they have.

My Opinion

While this is a very well written spy thriller, as you would expect from Ludlum, the lead character in Nick Bryson is just TOO good. You would expect the hero in a decent spy thriller to be a bit of a cut above the rest, but this does take it a bit too far with his ability to seemingly do anything he wants any time he wants. It is in a similar ilk to Ludlum's Jason Bourne character, only Bourne had his weaknesses and they were exploited by Ludlum and we felt like we were reading about a human. Bryson seems superhuman and very very lucky.

That having been said, everything else about the book is very well done. The descriptive passages are as ever immensely knowledgable, particularly when describing places and details of the characters' surroundings and actions. The author knows what he is doing and that is why he is at the toip of the spy thriller profession. His sad death in 2001 meant that this would be the penultimate book published before his death, but many more have since been created based on his manuscripts and plot outlines, and hopefully they will continue to come.

The Prometheus Deception is available from amazon.co.uk for £4.54.

Summary: Ludlum's penultimate publishing before his death