Customer Reviews

The Bourne Supremacy (Bourne Trilogy, Book 2)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you've read more than a couple of Ludlum's books, you're probably thinking the same thing I am. After the 3rd or 4th one, you start to lose track of which betrayed and desperate agent is running from which evil and corrupted government agency. They sorta run together, don't they? It's Ludlum's formula and it has obviously served him very well.

"The Bourne Supremacy" is a different kettle of fish, though. There's no mistaking this one with anything else Ludlum, or anyone else, has written. This book kicks some serious posterior.

There were times in the middle of it that my head was spinning. What the heck was going on? If the action wasn't so insanely great, I might have bailed. But the action, my God, the action... Andy McNab is the only other writer that I'm aware of who can write action as well, but even his pales in comparison.

The plot eventually makes itself clear, and it's pretty cool when it does. And have I mentioned the action? There are so many absolutely great scenes that I'm not even going to bother listing them. Trust me, it's good stuff.

OK, so the scene on the grounds of the Embassy house is drawn out a bit too long, and some of the dialog in that same scene is a little silly, but that's nitpicky. This is BY FAR the best Ludlum has ever done, and it's in my Top 5 of all time. READ THIS BOOK!

Ludlum had a heck of a lot to live up to when he decided to bring Jason Bourne back into action. I mean, it is pretty hard to top a book as thrilling and fun as "The Bourne Identity". Unfortunatly, I have to say that I feel he fell short of living up to all he created.
This book was good. I will say that much. I would not pass it by if you have read the first in the series, but Ludlum seemed to drag on way to much making a lot of the book a little dull. The beginning grabs you, and wont let go for a good 200 pages, but then things get slow, and I actually found myself wanting to stop reading. That is not like me at all. It is also the reason this book took me almost 3 months to read, between giving it a break for faster paced novels and me rather sleeping than staying up to read it.
After struggling through the middle 200 pages, I got hooked again, and ended up reading the rest of the book in a matter of days. I could not put it down.
So, I guess I can say that it is not a total flop, and I am still planning on reading the third in the Bourne series, but I only gave it three stars because of the slow middle.
You should at least pick this book up and read it for the awesome beginning and ending 200 pages.

This is the second book of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne trilogy, and it tears David Webb out of his new-found peaceful life with his wife in a quiet little town in Maine. Again the government needs his help as Jason Bourne or Delta, the man from Medusa and Threadstone 71. Knowing that he will not volunteer his help after all that CIA and State Department have done to him, a story is rigged and his wife is kidnapped. Webb snaps and in the desired effect is on his way to Asia to track a Bourne-impostor who is killing highly-placed officials in Kowloon and Hong Kong. Things run off the wire when Bourne's wife escapes her custody and finds help at the Canadian consulate from an old friend.
While the whole story is as action-packed and twisted as the first installment of the Bourne trilogy, it is a little bit harder to get into at the beginning and seems overall a bit more constured. Ludlum is a master of complicated scenarios and he moves about his many locations and characters with ease and skill. He storylines are well-drawn and compelling, but in direct comparison the book is no match to its pre-decessor.

The plot is decently entertaining, but the dialogue is absurd. No one speaks like this. Additionally, Ludlum feels the need to drive his points home about 1,000 too many times. The reader understands that Webb has an internal conflict about when to be Webb and when to be Bourne. We get it and don't need to relive that conflict over and over and over and over and... you get my point.

Ludlum also makes dialogue very difficult to follow (e.g., which character is speaking once the conversation gets going)... very frustrating. The attempted rape on Marie copied from the Bourne Identity bothered me. Is it her lot in life to almost get raped in every book? The capture of the impostor assassin was aggravating. The real Bourne tells the fake Bourne "if you try anything, I'll kill you" about 50 times within one chapter. After the tenth time, I figure idle threats begin to lose their luster.

I actually enjoyed tossing this book in the trash after completing 475 pages. I was almost 200 pages from the end and couldn't care less how it ended. There is a reason why the movie doesn't follow the storyline from the book. It's a bad book.

Its always been the case that when a sequel is released to a very successful movie, or a book or anything of that sort, it generally turns out to be a dud compared to the first part.

How about this for a change? A sequel to a highly successful book turns out to be just as exciting and even more intriguing than its predecessor. Well folks, thats Robert Ludlum for you. Only a writer like him can dish out something extraordinary like this.

The Bourne Supremacy is a treat for all Jason Bourne fans. Its packed with loads of action, great plot and some interesting new characters. The caption on the back cover says, This time Bourne must reign supreme, and he does in style.

I felt the plot of using Bourne this time to track down another Assasin who's supposed to be his clone, was quite well handled and pretty much flawless. Those who missed Carlos in this book, don't worry, he's waiting in the Bourne Ultimatum.

All in all, a fantastic book, brilliant read!

What ever happens to Carlos? I could not enjoy the book after realizing the tale of Carlos would be left untold. The book has an almost lame, drawn out plot,and lacks the bite and surprises that made The Bourne Identity one of the best books I have ever read. I think Ludlum should have left good enough alone and not writen a sequel. It doesn't even seem like Jason Bourne is in this book because all the mysteries that made the first book great are solved and that aspect of a Jason Bourne story can never be replaced.

As other reviews have been equally and accurately critical, I'll be brief:

- The dialog is almost always silly.
- The schizophrenic inner rantings of Bourne become tiresome after the third chapter.
+ The action is fairly well scripted, if a little beyond belief.
+ Ludlum manages to form a fairly intriguing premise for bringing Bourne back from the "dead".
- Readers of his first book will likely be dissapointed by the follow-up but then who hasn't been (Indiana Jone & the Temple of Doom?).
- Considering the genre, this book ranks among.....well it ranks among the genre, what can I say?

There, you've been forwarned.

This is the second in Robert Ludlum's Bourne trilogy. The first two hundred pages are truly riveting as Bourne is brought back into action by the kidnapping of his wife. Bourne is reunited with Conklin, who had tried to kill him in the first book, and heads to Hong Kong, where his wife is being held and several political murders have occurred. The killer is an imposter of Jason Bourne who leaves notes and clues implicating the real Jason Bourne.

In the second part of the book, things get so complicated that one needs to get out a scorecard. The action is non-stop, with each chapter ending on a note of true suspense. Some of the sub-plots appear to go nowhere, and when you get to the last chapter, you discover that they really dont go anywhere, other than to add some color to the transformation of Webb back into the Medusan Bourne. A minor character from the first book reappears and becomes Jason Bourne's true compatriot and ally.

Ultimately, it becomes clear that the kidnapping was a contrived plot to get Bourne to take on a series of assignments he would have refused. Unfortunately, the Jackal never really shows himself in China and we all must wait another ten years for Ludlum's third installment, where the Jackal returns for his final showndown with Bourne. The political intrigue surrounding the anti-Bourne murders are very good, unusual for Ludlum, and a rich 20th century Chinese history lesson. Old rivalries between the KMT and the Communists, including a Chinese version of the Manchurian candidate, nearly lead to a world war over the future of the Hong Kong colony.

This is another great book from Robert Ludlum. The legendary assasin Jason Bourne reenters the world stage again by way of amultiple killings in the Far East. David Webb is thrust back into the picture after his wife is kidnapped. He becomes Jason Bourne in order to rescue. He discovers a plot for the Koumintang to reenter power in China thus plunging the world into war. Jason Bourne must defeat several villains in order to finally prevail. The leader of the forces of evil is a man named Sheng who is a powerful official in the government of China.This book has a grand finale that makes this a very readable book. As it has been pointed out in other reviews this book is very hard to put down. This is further proof that Ludlum is one of the best.

The magic of the Bourne trilogy is Bourne himself (or Webb, or Delta, or Cain, whoever). He is a character ever immortalized by Ludlum, and may be Ludlum's greatest creation. Though, it is true that for all that Bourne is made out to be he does from time to time fail to live up to his near superhero status. But then he goes and takes care of business as only he can and we forgive him for not putting two and two together.

This story is certainly worth your time, as long as you can accept one glaring plot flaw. Essentially the plot is circular and brings the story back to where it began, having made no ground other than to get Bourne into a chair so he can listen to a dooms day conspiracy that only he can thwart. I felt I had nearly wasted my time when I realized this. That said, the plot moved along at Ludlum pace after that and I soon got over my disappointment.

Bottom line, if you love action, conspiracies, and classic Bourne, then read this book. And it's a must if you just have to know what happened during Madusa.