The Janson Directive

Rating:
Summary: Not as polished as other Ludlum novels
Review: As a posthumous release, I was thrilled to have yet another Ludlum novel to curl up with and enjoy. But, although the plot and its development were quite good, I found some of the style elements of this book rather annoying. For example, the numerous paragraphs filled with questions to lead the reader on (What will he do?, Where to go now?). This shows a certain limitation in the writing style I don't remember seeing much in previous novels. Perhaps these were part of the 10% not written by the author himself...

Also disrupting were the excessive missing words, word order inversions and typos found in the edition I read (the hardcover first edition by St. Martin's Press). This made it look like a rush order to bring this book to the public, but it also shows a certain lack of concern for quality. I would recommend waiting for a second edition to be published if you are also bothered by such details.

However, the plot is interesting and I found myself immersed in Ludlum's world of espionage and intrigue once again. Although a small part of the story line is quite predictable, the author manages to through in enough spins to keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Way too long
Review: If I give 5 stars to the Bourne series, I would have to give this book 2 stars.
- Length: Way too long
- Detailes: too many irrelevant ones. I had to skip many paragraphs.
- Action packed: Not really. Atleast not compared to Bourne series.
- Ending: Huh?!
- Is it worth reading: not really
- So whats next: I think I will close the book on Ludlum after reading the new Bourne book. It seems that all of his works, carry the same story line. It gets boring after a while. So why am I either going to bother with the new Bourne book, even though it is not written by Ludlum? To just say that I have read all of Bourne books and plus the first 3 were awesome.

Rating:
Summary: ROBERT LUDLUM AT HIS BEST (undoubtedly with an assist)
Review: 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 OMAHA keep me from reaching a firm conclusion regarding the extent of his role in the preparation of this manuscript. But is is good enough so that the publisher should have informed its readers concerning whatever collaboration occurred in its preparation and provided appropriate credit, as this would not have detracted from its appeal.