Customer Reviews

Robert Ludlum's (TM) The Bourne Objective (Jason Bourne Novels)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

a waste of time. endless conversations by a host of characters you soon lose interest in. of no interest to folks looking for exciting writing. this was phoned in.

I liked the original 3 Bourne Novels. Liked, not loved. Bourne could get a bit whiny about Marie at times. Nevertheless, the original 3 Bourne Novels would get solid 4 star ratings from me.
The last batch of Bourne Novels Suck.
if I am counting them right, there are 5 novels written by Eric and each one is worse than the previous one.
I remember reading a review where they reviewer said it was terrible and that Eric goes on and on about the Nemsis and not Bourne. I thought i would give Eric one last try with the Bourne Objective.

He failed and should be shot. From one novel to the next Bourne is a different person. He no longer ages, he falls in love with women after knowing them for a day or three, yet forgets about his dead wives, he lost son and the children he abandoned.

Bourne in Erics books is terrible. I tried, really tried to like this Bourne and i cant. I hate the Bourne that Eric is writing about and will not buy another book by this author.

Instead I have taken to the Gabriel Alon series by Daniel da Silva. I find those a good enough replacement for the Bourne i was looking for.

Eric, do us all a favour and let Bourne die with dignity. Your novels have a character named Bourne in them, who gets some mention while focusing on several other characters who are boring.
Stop writing Bourne. Do something else, go kill some other series.

It would seem those who have picked up and attempted to read the further exploits of Jason Bourne written by Eric Van Lustbader generally fall within two groups...those who seem to enjoy them, and those who compare them way TOO much to the incomparable Robert Ludlum. I admit, I fell into that category myself back when the first Post Ludlum Bourne novel was released (the Bourne Legacy). I had a difficult time separating the writing of the original 3 books with that of the new...that is until I began to see it a bit differently. I decided to judge the book based on not having read Ludlums earlier works, and upon that little epiphany, my enjoyment actually improved exponentially.

Many have chimed in on the 4th Lustbader Bourne novel being not quite up to par (at least with his other books) and while I can accept that, the Bourne Objective was an entirely different Bourne book--especially compared with #4. The storyline was a bit familiar with plots already established by the late, great Robert Ludlum, but I tried to focus on what I liked more than be picky. With that in mind, Bourne #5 became a roller coaster of suspense, and action. Death & mayhem were on virtually every other page, and finally the conspiracy came close to being what our dearly departed author may have come up with...or at least I'd like to THINK so.

For those who simply cannot separate Eric Van Lustbaders writing style from Ludlums, well, maybe you ought to just let this one pass, but if you can judge a book as though you had never read him before, I believe you just may enjoy this one--or at least a whole lot more than you will if you don't...I suppose it really depends on the person ultimately.

Will Lustbader EVER reach the status of Ludlum? My guess is no--not even close...few authors ever will if you want to be honest. In a way I like to compare these novels (loosely) to some of the many Star Wars books floating around (follow me here...), some capture the *essence* of Star Wars and the subtle character flaws as they were portrayed in film...and SOME just happen to be set in a galaxy far, far away and feature people with the names of Luke, Leia and Han--but that's about it. Some get it, some don't. While Lustbader writes quite differently than Ludlum, I still enjoyed HIS stories set in Roberts Universe. Based on that alone, I can recommend the Bourne Objective, otherwise, if you didn't like any of the others, I'd skip this one, too.

I have read each Ludlum book and have seen each Bourne movie at least three times. I am a true Ludlum Fan. I have read the Van Lustbader books on Bourne and have to say, I unfortunately try to compare the character in these books to Ludlums-it does not work. My recent excursion into Van Lustbader's The Bourne Objective, will be my last. I find his writing style inconsistant, tedious and he has taken my favorite character and has ruined him.

I am done with Bourne, unless of course, Ludlum had some gems locked away for future reading..

This book is so tedious to read it's rediculous! There seems to be 5 different story lines and non of them make any sense. Jason Bourne has been religated to a bit part in a story that he plays no major role in. Unlike Ludlum's Bourne, this one is boring, uninteresting and just plain lame. Time to letthe carrier die and go quitely into the past.

I did not like Vanlustbader's books and stopped buying them but decided that I would give him a try when he continued Ludlum's Jason Bourne. I wasn't altogether happy with the first one but decided to give him a second chance. I will not buy another. He has relegated Bourne to a lesser character and inserted his characters, of which there are too many. I have, in the past, stayed up all night reading a Ludlum novel but this book can easily be put down without a regret to get your sleep or your chores done!

I have only a few requirements for a spy novel.

The plot must be entertaining, the protagonists and their situation must be plausible, and the mundane details of their surroundings must be consistent. Supposedly set in our present day universe, this novel falls short on all counts.

Pellet-sized ultrasonic screamers that paralyze large rooms of people, files locked using "logarithms", burner cellphones a "local call" then one using a 10-digit number, laptop computers with ejectable drives and netbooks that can be massively upgraded by an agent in the field litter this inconclusive chapter of David Webb's life, conflict with reality, adding nothing except length to the book.

I tried to mentally gloss over these items when I found them, but they were numerous enough that they couldn't overcome the other problem - the quest for the ring's secret wasn't plausible. The story just wasn't that interesting.

Each time I encountered one of these errors or inconsistencies I had to double back to be sure that I hadn't misunderstood what I'd read, and then try to figure out what the author might have intended to say, and why it was in the story.

I never did. I think this is the work of an aging author and/or editor so out of touch with the basics of physics, communication and computer technology that they should change to working on historical novels or science fantasy.

The "Bourne" title got me to pick this book from the shelf, but I'll have to think twice before I invest my time reading another Van Lusterbader/Hachette novel.

There are so many good books to read! Don't waste time on this one. Van Lustbader jumps from one subplot to another in a very disjointed fashion and his uninteresting characters are too numerous to track. The editing was poor, as well. In a word - disappointing.

A longtime Bourne and Ludlum fan from "way back," I found this latest installment to be boring and a too-obvious ploy to keep me buying into the franchise. I'm done with the franchise. This is the last Bourne book I'll ever read. The story is contrived, boring, packed with mini-cliffhangers that are supposed to keep me turning the pages but merely made me want to close the book and walk away.

Another Lustbader opus featuring cast of thousands, none of which are interesting. I started this book three times and each time I fell asleep. If this series didn't have "Bourne" in the title, it never would have been published. It is slow, tedious, dull, uninteresting, and not worth the effort it takes to turn the page.