3.5 stars but rounded up I’ve always been a big fan of Robert Ludlum’s books. The Jason Bourne books were amongst my favourites. So I was really excited to find out that I had won this book in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. Sadly, Robert Ludlum passed away a few years ago, but someone is still writing the Jason Bourne series. Eric Van Lustbader has taken over this franchise and seems to have succeeded in doing so. The book is written in Robert Ludlum’s style. My expectations of a Robert Ludlum were met. Reading the book felt like I was watching one of the Bourne movies, complete with *swoon* Matt Damon and the Bourne movie soundtrack.If you have never read a Robert Ludlum book, it can be a little confusing. There are many exotic locations all over the world and a huge cast of characters. The plot skips from Bangalore to Russia, Bali, London, Mexico, Morocco, and the United States. Jason Bourne and those that plot to abduct/assassinate him travel a lot. The plot reminded me of “Lord of the Rings.” Everyone is searching for a ring, a ring with special symbols engraved on it. This ring is the key to a computer that has some information about a very spectacular treasure. There are further references to “Lord of the Rings” when Jason visits a small British town, he remarks to himself that the place was missing Hobbits and Orcs and that the place was straight out of a Tolkien novel.As mentioned above, the cast of characters is vast and you practically need a scorecard to keep up. There are all sorts of conspiracies and power struggles and the resurrection of the Treadstone program. Nothing is as it should be. I liked how Jason Bourne was portrayed in this book. Jason still has not recovered all of his memory and the bits that come to him add to confuse him. A memorable quote ”A man with no memory isn’t difficult to lie to. In fact, Bourne reflected, it was probably fun to lie to an amnesiac and watch his reactions.” The bad guys are exceptionally heinous. There is lots of violence and some particularly nasty torture. There was an incredibly nasty scene involving a shark and another with battery acid.The Bourne Objective is a fun book to read. There is a lot of action, suspense, and explosions. Suspend belief and enjoy!
