Rating: 
Summary: Vintage Ludlum
Review: No one will ever confuse Robert Ludlum with great literature. But, hey, that's ok. That's not his lot in life. Not everyone wants a thought provoking read or a novel with a message. For those of us who prefer cheesburgers to filet mignon, for those who thought "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was the best picture ever made, this is a novel for you. End-to end, non-stop action. No real time to stop and think.A homeless man in Boston, an army major in California, and a teenager in Atlanta all succumb to a mysterious virus. The controller of a vast pharmaceutical corporation discovers a virus in the jungles of Peru that has no antedote except for an antibody that appears in monkey blood. So, he releases the virus on an unsuspecting world and, basically, blackmails humanity for the cure. Enter Ludlum and Lynd's soon-to-be Covert One team. Sounds exciting? You bet it is. Sure Ludlum has a lot of cartoon characters. For instance, our hero says to the villan "You're not a fool, just a ghoul." Bullets miss people's throats "...by the thickness of a hair" but when they hit they "...stab like searing ice" (?) Still, remember, this is make believe. This is escapism. So for those of us who want no moral, no message, no hidden meaning, let's grab that cheeseburger, put our feet up, put our minds in neutral, and enjoy the ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Ludlum's downward spiral, nearly complete
Review: After reading this weak entry, I'm convinced that it could not be of Ludlum's own. In his final days, He had simply regressed into a literary prostitute, lending his name to lesser authors, capitalizing on the very readers who once sat rivited to his past works, making him rich and famous. This weak story line cannibalized key words, phrases, and other medical jargon from "The Hot Zone" written by Richard Preston. The story line is utterly unbelievable, as are many of these so-called action scenes. Not to discourage the would-be readers..... If you think an autistic computer genius who is capable of,"zooming into never-never land, and be so out of control he's dangerous to himself and others, without his meds.".....or meeting a reclusive ex-SAS intelligence officer who has a "full-grown mountain lion that "sprang from a tree crouched and snarling, awaiting his masters' call to pounce."..... No I'm not exaggerating, these are quotes, and you should see the scene where the main character, the autistic, and the mountain version of "Crocodile Dundee" escape 14 armed assasins, two SUV's, and a helicopter, while driving an RV through a mountain ravine, taking shortcuts through narrow gorges and onto a busy interstate. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention this RV is fully equipped with the latest sattelite tracking equipment, and a super computer. My advice is if you want to waste some of your life, take a nap, but do not help line the pockets of an ex- writer who is exploiting his loyal readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Hades Factor-Awesome World Thriller
Review: This book was awesome. THe fast pace definitley keep me turning those pages. The topic of a deadly world virus is one that may come to affect our world in the future. THis is what i think keeps people into reading this book. I give it 5/5 stars definitley give it a try!
Rating: 
Summary: stereotyped but suspenseful
Review: Robert Ludlum's "The Hades Factor" is both stereotyped as well as filled with espionage and (Of course) a storyline which tells of a manaical buisnessman who holds the world at ransom. The world is held at ransom, the masterminds behind the 'evil' plot are untracable. Untracable to everyone apart from Lt. Col Dr. Jonathan Smith, who has his own personal argument to settle. Nevertheless, it is a suspenseful, if often used plot, and the speed and energy in which the storyline is delivered is authentic 'Ludlum'
Rating:
Summary: The Hades Factor
Review: I am a fan of Robert Ludlum. This book, indeed, was one of the most powerful plots that I have read. I just couln't put the book down. I recommend Hades Factor to any and all to keep you at the edge of your seat.
Rating:
Summary: Marty is a Hoot!
Review: I liked this book. Even though there was a lot of medical/research jargon in there that I didn't completely understand, that was fine. But I loved how up-to-date it was. The technology Marty used, the medical/research stuff, everything was current. The way the characters interacted was great--I never really knew who to trust and who not to trust--which only added to my pleasure of the book. As for Marty--I hope he shows up again. I love how the author was willing to just let fancy take his course when Marty was off his meds. I knew that his condition was serious, but to see Marty interact with society was hilarious. He always managed to be friends with the most unlikely people. Anyway, a good book. I hope you enjoy it---take it to the beach and let your imagination go.
Rating: 
Summary: Did Robert Ludlum Really Write This?
Review: I have been reading Ludlum for the better part of 25 years. I've read virtually all of his novels. I even suffered through the film version of "The Osterman Weekend". However, while reading "The Hades Factor", I couldn't help but wonder how much, if any, of this mess was written Ludlum and how much was actually written by Gayle Lynds who is listed as co-author. According to this book, the world is divided into three groups. Group one is made up of an apparently large number of people who would participate in the murder of millions if it would make them rich. Their method of mayhem is the random release of a deadly virus. Since they have no real way of controlling the means of spreading the virus, it means that any of their family or friends could be infected. The second group is even larger. It is made up of people who are so stupid, they probably deserve to be infected. They are incapable of seeing any relationship between the sudden spread of an unknown virus and group one who will make billions through the use of a "miracle cure" that they just coincidentally happen to have. The third group is a handful of people who are the heroes of the story. They include a doctor who happens to also be an army commando, a British spy who is sort of a senior citizen version of James Bond, and two characters who are mandatory for this type of book, a beautiful CIA agent and a computer geek. Talk about clichés. The doctor is named Jon Smith. I guess the originality in there was dropping the "h" from his first name. For those of you who don't know, Ludlum has had heart problems the past few years and has had surgery. Perhaps it has taken something out of him. Perhaps his medical bills have caused him to license out his name to Ms. Lynds. I noted that there is another installment of the adventures of Dr. Smith coming out soon that lists a different co-author. Perhaps Ludlum has decided that he should be more careful about who cashes in on his readership.
Rating:
Summary: Ludlum Lite
Review: Lite as in co-billing and lesser quality, not fewer pages. A pretty standard Ludlum international global conspiracy of evil plot, without any memorable characteristics. Read it if you're bored, I guess, but this is really the pop fiction equivalent of an insipid t.v. sit-com.
Rating:
Summary: Terribly predictable
Review: If you've read a lot of action-thriller novels, you'll easily be able to spot the plot developments in this one: villain creats virus in order to sell cure. Hero's girl gets virus and dies. Hero stops villain and saves world. YAWN!!! This is so by-the-numbers, I was able to skip from the end of chapter 11 to the start of chapter 45 and not miss anything of real significance. There are much better killer-virus novels out there, so don't waste your time or money on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Medical Mystery and Espionage all in One
Review: I bought this book because I enjoy medical thrillers, end-of-the-world types of stories, that have some intrique and not always predictable. The Hades Factor filled this role nicely. Although I prefer more medical information this book had enough medical information in it to keep a person interested but not so much, or so technical that it would overwhelm anyone who is not into medical thrillers. The virus really was secondary to the search to find out how it came about, why, and how to stop it.
| 
