Scorpio Illusion [Paperback]

Robert Ludlum (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Bantam, 1994. (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553568388
• ISBN-13: 978-0553568387
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,345,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After a successful career in the theatre, Robert Ludlum launched his career as a best-selling writer with THE SCARLATTI INHERITANCE in 1971, the first of twenty-two consecutive international bestsellers. Robert sadly passed away in March 2001.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One more of Ludlum thrillers, December 21, 2001

By 

Siddhanti R B (New Delhi, India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scorpio Illusion (Mass Market Paperback)

Another best seller from Ludlum, the author of 29 books that have sold over 210 million copies worldwide is an interesting, enjoyable book.

Ludlum is a master storyteller specializing in intrigue, suspense, and action thrillers full of conspiracies, violence and fast pace, movement, energy and action. Scorpio Illusion has all of these. The basic story line is fairly simple and thin;

Amaya Bajaratt, a western women married to an Arab revolutionary is also an accomplished terrorist. After the death of her husband in an encounter with Israeli commandos, she embarks on a mission of revenge.
An unnamed terrorist organization having taken up a contract sponsored by "scorpios", assigns the mission of assassinating the American President to this woman terrorist. When she starts putting her action plan together western intelligence agencies start smelling the rat which makes them alive to the developing conspiracy.

They manage to recruit Tyrell Hawthorne, an ex-naval intelligence officer with impeccable accomplishments to his credit, who had quit the job after mysterious death of his wife under suspicious circumstances. Hawthorne single handedly (mostly) manages to unravel the mystery, trace the plot and the links, thwart the plan,kill the terrorist and save the world from chaos which were engineered by scorpios, the secret organization.The whole fun is in reading about how he manages all this!

The basic story has no suspense as such since the identity of the assassin, as well as the target and the persuer are well known in the first chapter itself, and the outcome too is fairly predictable, but still the author manages to get the reader glued to the book with fast paced action, multiple layers of intrigue, and interesting situations over a vast backdrop and wider canvass of characters. The scenes cover a huge landscape ranging from Palestine to Europe, Caribbean, and US.

Credibility has never been a forte of Ludlum. His every book has a powerful,super secret,underground organization with unlimited tentacles,unlimited resources, reach, and power...only to be exposed and ultimately destroyed by one man, the hero!. This book has Scorpios as the secret organisation which Hawthorne manages to defeat and destroy.

Since Ludlum uses this sub-plot of a super-powerful, secret organisation wanting to control the world in every book of his, obvious question that comes to my mind is whether Ludlum really believes in it, or he has adopted it as a surefire successful formula, like the "lost & found" formula patented by Hindi fillums!

Anyway, Ludlum books are a fun to read, and this book too is an enjoyable thriller of vintage Ludlum variety, but does not leave a lasting impression as his Bourne series, Parsifal series, and Acquitaine progression did.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Ludlum is falling deeper into his own cliches..., November 14, 2000

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Scorpio Illusion (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a fanatical follower of Robert Ludlum. There was at one time I believe that NOBODY on the face of God's green earth who could compete with his sheer creative power to write a thriller of epic size. Sad to say however, as in all things, a good thing can't always last forever. Now that isn't to say that 'The Scorpio Illusion' wouldn't stand up to just about any OTHER spy/thriller out there, it's just that after so many years, Ludlum seems to be re-telling the same story in a different setting here. I can't put my finger on it, but suffice it to say there was something oddly familiar at the heart of this book that reminded me of at least two other Ludlum stories. With that said, Ludlum STILL manages to keep the pace flowing at amazing speed and kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. For MY money, the all-time greatest spy/thriller novels came from Ludlum in the 70's and 80's. But if you are a Ludlum fan, pick this one up anyway, it's still really good.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars [Review and Reflections] The Scorpio Illusion "Morta toda Autoridad" Do you know who is working against you? Who can you trust?, September 13, 2005

By 

Charitha Naidu Kyanam "Greenhorn" (Mclean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scorpio Illusion (Mass Market Paperback)

Robert Ludlum's The Scorpio Illusion - A fast paced story of a woman obssessed with "Death to all authority", a very reluctant navy commander willing to help for a price, a secret organization helping with ulterior motives of its own. Amaya Bajaratt, the most notorious of terrorists out of the Baaka Valley, swore "Death to all Authority" as revenge for her lost childhood and her husband's death and she is known for accomplishing the impossible. Now intelligence agencies across four countries need to co-ordinate their efforts to find and stop her while time flies and people die... and they don't even have a picture of the woman. Commander Tyrell Hawthorne, one of the best there was, left the world of undercover and with the efforts of British and French Intelligence he is recruited to help. With the top ranks infilterated by "The Scorpions", Amaya is helped through different situations and assisted towards her goal -- none other than killing the President of United States of America. As the clock ticks towards D-day and people co-ordinating start dying, its a battle between brains and brawn.. leading to a nail biting conclusion. Robert Ludlum keeps you coming back for more.