Customer Reviews

The Prometheus Deception

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

Wherever you keep your favorite works by Mr. Ludlum, "The Prometheus Deception" deserves equal space. It has been too long since there has been a Ludlum book that belonged with the best of what he has written. "The Hades Factor", was to some unknown degree his work, it was wretched, and even though I am an admirer who has read all his published works, that co-authored mess received a one star rating. A rating denoting a book that should have never left the realm of Hades.

This is top tier writing from Mr. Ludlum. To the extent there appears to be familiarity, it usually is due to the number of imitators that have tried to emulate the real masters of this genre like John Le Carre, and Mr. Ludlum. The imitators are usually one hit mediocrities whose borrowing from the real craftsmen may put a nick or two to a work, but after 30 years and 22 novels, Mr. Ludlum stands, if not alone, then certainly with very few peers.

This work will bring veteran readers back to the days of the original "Matarese" and "Bourne" books, in terms of their complexity, their cadence, and quality. This book is not perfect, but in spite of those readers whose constant refrain of, "it could have been better"; this is escapist fiction at its best. And while many readers, myself included, can romanticize the memories of the first book or two we read by Mr. Ludlum, if you actually do go back, like many memories they are selective. A subsequent book rarely compares to the thrill of finding a new Author and enjoying that first read. "Prometheus", for first time Ludlum readers, will remain a favorite, as the original "Matarese" has for me.

Mr. Ludlum has managed to reinvent some of the relationships from the Cold War in this construct of deceit, this nesting of lies within one another, just as Matryoshka Dolls hold an uncertain number within, with each getting smaller, until the final number is known. It is the same, as there are more deceptions than the one named on the cover, and some are not really deceptions at all. Does double deception equal truth? You can decide for yourself as Ludlum skips around to the familiar haunts of, Geneva, Brussels, Moscow, Washington, and a dozen others. This time the events are as well done as his original early works. Mr. Ludlum has clearly learned about the newest technologic exotica, how it works, and how it can be used. This is not generic phrase dropping he really knows the material.

The book is not perfect; please note Mr. Ludlum, video cameras do not use "film", never have, and never will. The book also builds on situations and people that are non-fiction, but to tell his story realistically, to spin the tale with substitute players it would have been just as obvious who the real world counterparts are, would not have been credible, and would have detracted from the book.

Not every idea is new, but how many new books are truly absolutely original? The difference is that Mr. Ludlum can write, so everything old and badly written, is new again, and a pleasure to read.

If you have never read this writer's work, this is a great place to start. If you are a veteran, you will love it, and if "The Hades Factor" is all you have known of Mr. Ludlum, throw it out, and forget it, that book had nothing of this man's talent within it.

And as an added bonus, this book shares the genetic makeup of "Matarese" and "Bourne". When you read the book you will understand, and be pleased.

Maybe because I do so much flying for work, I've read a lot of Ludlum, but "The Prometheus Deception" really blew me away. For one thing, I happen to work in the tech sector, and the book was really smart in the way it touched on that world. I guess Ludlum's been writing books for three decades, but it turns out he really keeps up, the way a reality-based novelist ought to. Tom Clancy, watch your back! For another thing, the plot is incredibly inventive: the story elements in the first forty pages alone would have sufficed for a dozen run-of-the-mill thrillers. And then it just doesn't stop. Nobody's going to confuse Ludlum with Henry James, or Graham Greene for that matter. The writing is strong and vivid, but this is more of an amusement park ride than a wallow in existential despair. "Brighton Rock" it ain't, and thank god for that. I did have some complaints: the hero, Nicholas Bryson, is actually too skillful - hell, he's practically invincible, to the point that plausibility is a bit strained. I miss the slight cluelessness of some of Ludlum's earlier protagonists, like Noel Holcroft or Joel Converse. But these are minor misgivings. Overall, this novel--which I started on a plane from Seattle to New York and finished on the back again -- left me with a great buzz. As a Ludlum fan, I also found it heartening to think that there might be more like this one to come. This summer I read "The Hades Factor," or the first half of it anyway. It was shockingly bad. And since "The Apocalypse Watch" and "Matarese Countdown" were sort of lame, I'd begun to worry that Ludlum had run out of steam. "The Prometheus Deception" put that worry to rest. The guy's back, and at the top of this game.

I haven't read all of Ludlum's novels, but quite a few and this one is certainly his best yet. I like the international intrigue in it as he takes us on a journey around the world where there are terrorist activities everywhere. Who's behind it all? Well that's a surprise. There's plenty of action and suspenseful scenarios. I also appreciated that this book is kept shorter than his previous works which makes this book a faster read. Another brand new book that I enjoyed a lot and it is strongly recommended as it is along the lines of Ludlum's new book, but it is faster paced is the international megathriller "The Consultant" by Alec Donzi.

This book begins much better than it ends. I'm a longtime Ludlum fan (I've read every book he's ever done), and for awhile, I really thought the Ludlum of old was back. I thought MATARESE COUNTDOWN and APOCALYPSE WATCH were just bad dreams I could forget.

Nope. This one isn't much better. Ludlum does a great job hooking you with the premise, but then proceeds to go nowhere with it. The much vaunted "high tech" angle is rarely reflected in the plotline, which I thought got duller and duller as it went. It was a real struggle for me to finish the last 40 pages or so, because I just didn't care anymore.

Overall, it reads like a lukewarm rehash of Ludlum's earlier (and much better) book AQUITAINE PROGRESSION. The problem as I see it, is that the Ludlum of today no longer connects the twists and turns to the story. Instead, the characters just stagger around from city to city, country to country, with little rhyme or reason to be found.

Sigh. I think I'll go back now and re-read BOURNE IDENTITY.

I'm a big fan of Ludlum's early work, and was expecting a great read from the Prometheus Deception. Unfortunately, this is possibly the worst novel I've ever read.

If it was possible to give no stars, I would have. This novel needed a ton of work before it was ready. Mr Ludlum was sick and dying at the time of writing, and it looks to me that he was unable to finish, but the publisher decided to just run with it anyways, relying on his name to sell it.

This book reads like a bad T.V. action movie script. There is a lot of action and danger, but the resolutions are completely unsatisfying.

What happened to the spycraft of Ludlum's earlier work? It was always interesting, for example, to see a character use street crossing methods and misdirection in order to confirm he is being tailed and take counter-measures. In Prometheus, our hero instead just correctly *intuits* that someone (or something) is wrong. His "field insticts" being the excuse offered for this disappointing cop-out.

In the two most critical scenes of the book, our hero is simply bailed out via deus ex machina, two miraculously well-timed appearances of a new ally(?) saving him from certain doom.

The combat is very uninspired, don't be expecting any subtleties of maneuver in Prometheus. The villains can't aim, and the hero always wins through thanks to a [cough]dramatic[cough] "I can't miss this next shot. I just can't!" moments.

Just like T.V. action, the bodies can pile up without the authorities responding in time to do anything more than mop up.
The bloodbath with the Spanish pilgrims is the worst example of this. The bad guys decide that nailing Bryson is more important than subtlety, and open fire on the huge crowd of pilgrims he is blending into. The police still haven't swarmed the area by the time he comes out after holing up for a bit in a nearby church. Yet more baddies are posted right on the street among the milling pilgrims for the next wave of the attack. And not a cop in sight,nothing at all stops them from again opening fire!?

The plot as a whole is even worse, skip this paragraph if you don't want to read spoilers. The synopsis? The dastardly Prometheus group brings super-spy Bryson out of retirement in order to hunt *themselves* down and play havoc with *their own* operation, all while having Bryson under satellite surveillance and watching him do it. Just for laughs, they throw some obstacles his way. It must have been just for laughs, at least, because there is no other reason I can why they would not have just told their minions where to go get him instead of having them grope around in the dark.

I'm not joking, that's the plot. It looks like Ludlum decided where the twists of his stories would come in during his first draft, planning to backwards rationalise a conspiracy that would justify it later on, and incorporating the finished whole into the next draft. But he was ill and didn't get that far, so the plot in Prometheus makes absolutely no sense.

The writing as a whole was very low quality. As well as the above items, there are blatant faults with the characterisation, dialogue, etc. The writer's voice does not sound at all like Ludlum. It looks like they brought someone else in to fill it up when Ludlum could no longer continue. OTOH, it could just be that his illness had eroded his powers to the point where Ludlum the author had already passed away before Ludlum the man had.

Nobody's surprised that the professional reviewers all gave glowing praise with lots of superlatives, since their reviews of a big name take so many factors into account (with the book itself a minor one), but I WAS surprised that so many professional sounding reviewers here at Amazon heaped praise too.
One guy said that this was his favourite book ever??? Could sophisticated readers really have thought so highly of THIS book?

Curious, I clicked the review histories of some of these reviewers to see how they rated various other products. Hmm, all I can say is that *some* of the review histories made me realise that the publishers see Amazon.com reviews as yet another arena for marketing (and free!).

So keep in mind when considering this book that it may be rated (3 stars ATM) higher than it should be. I strongly recommend avoiding this cynical cash-grab, and advise you to look to Ludlum's fantastic earlier works instead.

As a truly loyal Ludlum fan, from his first books, I was mezmerized by his attention to detail and his building of logical plot development. I read quickly to finish his books, and then read again to enjoy the prose and that "well turned phrase".

I'm disappointed the Prometheus Deception fails on all counts. Too many holes; too many "fits 'n' starts". While many of his involve impossible situations or revolve around almost super-human abilities that win out the day, it was nevertheless, somehow, believable because of Ludlum's skill in weaving a full & rich tale.

The heros "magically" escape every death-dealing situation with an abundance of weaponry without any thought to the "how", "when", and least of all - the "probability". Unfortunately these lapses are all too obvious and glaring; enough so that it prevents the reader from a continuous building of enjoyment and anticipation.

What makes this so personally dis-satisfying is remembering how so very much I enjoyed Ludlum's previous works, and how much I looked forward to "feeding the need" to relish a great "read".

Robert Ludlum used to be the big name in spy adventure novels. To a large extent, he still is. When you pick up a Ludlum book, you know what you will get: a fast and entertaining read with a Cold War good vs. evil mentality. With his international intrigue, superspy characters and constant action, his writing is closer to a James Bond movie than even Ian Fleming's books.

The problem with Ludlum is the same thing as his strength: you know what you're going to get. There are characters dying immediately after revealing a single clue and other characters appearing at the magic moment to save the day. The protagonist, Nick Bryson, is so talented both physically and mentally, it limits the sense of danger he faces...he is no ordinary guy.

This one probably rates just above three stars; I'd give it three-and-a-half if I could. Certainly, I will continue to read Ludlum (I've read all but his collaborations); his books are never a waste of time but are always fun diversions.

I,ve read almost all of his books. Clive Cusler, Morrell, Clancy, Wilbur Smith and Ludlum are for me in the same clan. This book is one that I enjoy getting back to every night and I am expecting to finish it during the weekend. If you liked The Matarase Circle, from Ludlum or The Scarlatti Inheritance you're not making a mistake with this one.

Prometheus Deception, like most of Ludlum's books, is very fast paced with little break in the action. It is full of twists and turns, with the unexpected occurring every now and then. However, the book seems like a desperate attempt at coming up with a plot and then trying to make the whole story somewhat sensible (needless to say, Ludlum fails miserably). There are instances when you're left wondering whether the sequence of events or the events themselves even make sense. Yes, we are living in a world of increased government surveillance, but I'm sure Ludlum, being the espoinage maestro that he is, could come up with a better plot than this.

The author can write is a huge understatement, the man has style. His descriptions of events, places, & persons can make the reader feel like he/she is there experiencing{breathing, smelling, & seeing it}, what he is reading. He deserves 3 stars just for that. Good action, but not in the over the top James Bond genre, more like the "Saint or Secret agent man." The novel opens in Tunisia, Abu & the technician are up to no good. Their plans are foiled & the former thinks the latter has betrayed him? The technician soon reappears as Nicholas Bryson an American undercover agent working for the directorate, an anti-terrorist group. He then is demoted & sent to Woodbridge College in Pennsylvania to lecture under the name Jonas Barrett. His life soon falls apart, his parents are killed in a car accident & his wife leaves him.


Some five years pass & his adventures start again, we go from a huge international munitions area on a ship to the most bizarre scenarios the author could dream up. The reader is not introduced to the Prometheus connection until roughly the last part of the book. Now the negatives, Ludlum at times bogs the reader down with too much detailed info which distracts & becomes predictable in revealing the plot. The ending was also oddly short, making me wish he had spent more time on it rather than all the minutia. Nonetheless, it is a good action packed, adrenaline novel.