Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code

A Covert-One Novel

By: Robert Ludlum, Gayle Lynds

Narrated by: Don Leslie

The thrilling fourth volume in the bestselling Covert-One series

On the dark waterside docks of Shanghai, a photographer is recording cargo being secretly loaded when he's brutally killed and his camera destroyed. Two weeks later, on the dangerous high seas, the U.S. Navy covertly tracks a Chinese cargo ship rumored to carry tons of chemicals for Saddam Hussein to create new biological weapons. The president cannot let the ship reach Iraq. At the same time, he doesn't want the navy to attack and board it either, because decades of negotiations with China have at long last yielded a landmark human rights agreement that China is willing to sign. Fighting to keep the agreement on track, the president orders the head of Covert-One to find proof of what the Chinese ship is ferrying. Under cover of a medical conference, operative Col. Jon Smith is sent to Taiwan to rendezvous with another agent who has acquired the ship's true manifest. But the second agent is murdered, the proof is destroyed, and Smith is left only with a verbal message--the president's biological father is still alive, held prisoner by the Chinese for fifty years. Racing against the clock, Smith uncovers the truth about the ship, a truth that probes the deepest secrets of the Chinese ruling party and reveals a terrifying cabal whose diabolical plan thrusts the world to the very brink of war.

©2003 Myn Pyn, LLC; (P)2003 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC.

Critic reviews

<p>“Ludlum is light years beyond his literary competition in piling plot twist upon plot twist, until the mesmerized reader is held captive...[He] dominates the field in strong, tightly plotted, adventure-drenched thrillers. Ludlum pulls out all the stops and dazzles his readers.” —<i>Chicago Tribune</i><br><br>“Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six pack of thriller writers combined.” —<i>The New York Times</i><br><br>“Reading a Ludlum novel is like watching a James Bond film.” —<i>Entertainment Weekly</i><br><br>“Welcome to Robert Ludlum's world...fast pacing, tight plotting, international intrigue.” —<i>The Plain Dealer</i><br><br>“Robert Ludlum is the master of gripping, fast-moving intrigue. He is unsurpassed at weaving a tapestry of stunningly diverse figures, then assembling them in a sequence so gripping that the reader's attention never wavers.” —<i>The Daily Oklahoman</i><br><br>“Don't ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.” —<i>Chicago Sun-Times</i><br><br>“If a Pulitzer Prize were awarded for escapist fiction, Robert Ludlum undoubtedly would have won it. Ten times over.” —<i>Mobile Register</i><br><br>“An exciting medical-military thriller that moves at a rapid pace to its climax...an exciting new series.” —<i>Midwest Book Review</i><br><br>“A pop hit...that should bounce right up the bestseller lists.” —<i>Kirkus Reviews</i><br><br>“Gripping...robust writing and a breakneck pace.” —<i>Boston Herald</i></p>

Great book

Gripping and descriptive. makes you feel part of the story as only Robert Ludlam can. cant wait for the next book.