The Janson Directive

Rating:
Summary: Same old, same old... You wish!
Review: There is nothing to say against Ludlum's storylines. The same pattern, however he always manages to turn it into something exciting and unpredictable. Not so this time. Taking off to a great start, he is painting the picture of a great Hungarian philantropist, who resembles the real life, well known financial tycoon G. S.
From there on however, any seasoned thriller reader can easily predict the turn of events. Even more, the writing is sloppy, commercial, and unmotivated. Where Ludlum used to paint a picture for all of his characters, making them unpredictable, he does only the minimum necessary to fulfil his page quota. His hero's picture is more ellaborate, but one would imagine, that R.L. can come up with some new character profiles.
Why do I give two stars? Well, I have seen worse than this: The Covert-One series.

Rating:
Summary: An average thriller....nothing more, nothing less.....
Review: Typical Ludlum....steroetype characters, expected unexpectedness, predictable unpredictability. Still a good fun read if you don't feel the need to think too hard.

There is a directly plagiarized line from the movie Pulp Fiction which just sounds incredibly out of place. It involves a pair of pliers and a blowtorch!

There are fewer "Dan Brown" type narrative errors than in most thrillers of this size, although a Corvette's bodywork is described as being made of steel at one point. Really?

It would make a good movie. I think that was the idea when it was written.

Rating:
Summary: A VeryGood Ludlum(like) Book!
Review: While it's probably not a surprise that Ludlum didn't write this book (at least not in its entirety), The Janson Directive is a fast-paced international thriller that -- in typical Ludlum fashion --will keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. It's very fast-paced and loaded with action and suspense. Further, based on writing style and characterization, "this" Ludlum often surpasses the "real" Ludlum. The Janson Directive is a big book (547 pages) and lots of fun to read (although I think it might have been even better if it been 50-100 pages shorter,which kept me from giving it a 5-star rating). Hopefully, there will be more books by "this" Ludlum. I think you'll find that once you start The Janson Directive you'll agree that your in for an exciting reading experience that will allow you to escape far from reality. Enjoy!