Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal

By: Eric Van Lustbader

Narrated by: Jeremy Davidson

Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Already devastated by loss, Bourne is shattered by a report that his last friend in the world, Martin Lindros has gone missing. A CI deputy director, Lindros was in Ethiopia tracking suspicious shipments of yellowcake uranium and atomic bomb weaponry. His last lifeline to humanity, Bourne will not let Lindros go. Despite his hatred for CI, Bourne sets out to rescue his friend and finish the job: dismantling a terrorist network determined to build nuclear armaments by cutting off their source of money.

But Bourne doesn't realize that these men, Islamic supremacists, are leaders of an incredibly dangerous, technologically savvy group with ties from Africa, across the Middle East, and into Eastern Europe and Russia. They have predicted Bourne's every move, and are counting on his unwitting help in their plans to destroy America.

©2007 Myn Pyn, LLC (P)2007 Hachette Audio

More Unrealistic than Hollywood.

The author has obviously never ridden a motorcycle, shot a gun or been in a cave. The makers of the Bourne movies knew more about how the real world works than the author. The author night want to look up the difference between semi and fully automatic at a minimum. The performance was terrible with all the sound effects. how in the world did such a terrible author get so famous? if you want good, books look up Tom Wood's Victor books.

Most disappointing Bourne book yet.

I have no quibble with the author taking the story in a direction that eschews major past characters and features of the novels that were not part of the movies. However, the characterization was so disappointing. I wasn’t left caring about any of the characters, even Bourne, who though ruthless has alway been a moral, self sacrificing character.

Worse, the implausible uses of technology were too extreme to suspend disbelief. Several such reveals left me wanting to close the book for good.

I finished the book in hopes that the next one will be better. I love the genre. The Bourne character is such a wealth of opportunity for an author and a story. I was greatly disappointed with this use of that resource.

This was my last Bourne book

I have listened to a lot of these types of books from different authors. I generally like the first few Bourne books but I stopped listening to this one with about 10 hours left and will never buy another one. The story took a turn that is far beyond believable even for these types of books. I assume it would only annoy me more if I kept listening.

Also, the narrator is good but I do not like the sound effects that randomly surface in the Audible version of the book.

The Buyer is Betrayed

Cartoonish,Stupid Plot.Should be a kids internet game,not a novel.The Bourne Identity was bad enough.I hope no movie is made of this,more a waste of money.I had to try to get through it three times and gave up.

I tried not to give up on it, but it is awful!

What disappointed you about Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal?

I read the previous release by Eric Van Lustaber, and it was enjoyable, so I thought that this one would be similar. This was easily the worst pick in my Audible experience. I typically enjoy Baldacci, Connelly, Grisham, and Clancy, and my next purchase will be back in this group. The Bourne books/movies have been very enjoyable, but The Bourne Betrayal is just too far out there to enjoy. I kept going, "C'mon, really, now he has ice skates built into his shoes!", and other similar exasperations, based on the ridiculousness of the escapades. He can never die or get hurt, which makes this more like a Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon, rather than a suspense novel.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something by Baldacci or Grisham.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jeremy Davidson?

It would not be my preference.

What character would you cut from Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal?

The CIA director

Disappointing

I remember 2 summers ago I read the first 3 books - I just could not get enough. I was hoping to feel the same about this one but not even close. This is writing a book knowing suckers like me won't be able to resist because they miss Jason so much and want to catch up with an old friend.

Not like Ludlum

'I found this book difficult to get into. I finally finished it but I was disappointed in it. The plot seemed to have too many subplots and it was hard to keep track of them all.

yuk...

What is CI? Cadre? Cohort? Don't know what happened with this book, not very good...

Sounds Affects

Who thought dropping sound affects in a book was a good idea? If Ludlum's idea he's an idiot. If it was his producers idea, then Ludlum is still an idiot for agreeing to the idea. Who wants to hear background music and explosions throughout a book. Book 4 was decent and didn't have any sound affects. Why they thought this one needed it is suspect that the story is not all that great.

They finally killed Bourne, to me.

Ridiculous plot.
Ridiculous narration:
Badguys sound like Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
Southern/Black accents were utterly offensive
Old Man voice sounds like Igor Stravinsky (Fletch)