The Prometheus Deception (Mass Market Paperback)

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Amazon.com Review
The Prometheus Deception begins with a deep-cover operative, a beautiful cryptographer with a shadowy past, a government organization that's not what it seems, and an assignment that goes very, very wrong. Nicholas Bryson, a spy for a secret intelligence group known only as the Directorate, has his cover blown on a Tunisian operation and is retired to a new identity: Jonas Barrett, lecturer in Near Eastern history at a small liberal arts college. Five years later, the CIA corners Bryson/Barrett and tells him that his entire 15-year career in the Directorate was a fraud, that the organization was really an elaborate front for the GRU--Soviet military intelligence--and that his former boss, Ted Waller, was actually Gennady Rosovsky, a GRU muckety-muck. Even Bryson's beloved estranged wife, Elena, was actually a Romanian Securitate agent assigned to keep him in line. And now...

"Damn it!" Bryson shouted. "This makes no sense! How ignorant do you think I am? The goddamn GRU, the Russians--that's all in the past. Maybe you Cold War cowboys at Langley haven't yet heard the news--the war's over!"

"Yes," Dunne replied raspily, barely audible. "And for some baffling reason the Directorate is alive and well."

So far so good; after 22 thrillers in this vein, Robert Ludlum could probably have written this one in his sleep. Fortunately for his fans, he was not only awake at the wheel, but ready to race--on a track with more twists and bumps than a roller coaster in an earthquake. The CIA claims it needs Bryson to reinfiltrate the Directorate and help them bring it down, but when Bryson is cornered by an erstwhile Directorate acquaintance aboard a floating arms bazaar and rescued by a woman named Layla just before the ship blows up, he begins to realize how the years of retirement have dulled his formerly keen reaction time. While Bryson cautiously feels (and fights) his way from Virginia to Spain and back again, mistrustful of his new CIA colleagues even as he dodges murder attempts by his former Directorate henchmen, there are rumblings in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Congress. Several respected statesmen are raising a ruckus about widespread invasions of privacy, behind which stand a Seattle software billionaire and a mysterious nexus of power called Prometheus. But is Prometheus allied with the Directorate--or with a different group altogether? Filled with post-Cold War double-crosses, New Economy high jinks, and even a few Wall Street shenanigans thrown in for good measure, The Prometheus Deception is pure old-style Ludlum, repackaged for the new millennium. --Barrie Trinkle --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Ludlum goes full throttle in this frantically paced, if somewhat hollow, tale of one man's efforts to thwart the forces of world domination. That man is Nick Bryson, a retired operative for the Directorate, the most secretive of the world's many private intelligence agencies. Now working in the peaceful halls of academe, Bryson is stunned when the CIA informs him that the Directorate, to which he pledged his loyalty for nearly 20 years, was actually a Russian front. Worse yet, the organization seems to be stockpiling weapons for a secret assault on the West. When Bryson agrees to help the CIA bring down the Directorate, he's hurled into a series of hair-raising episodes that take him from one world capital to another. With assassins snapping at his heels, Bryson watches in horror as tragedy follows him wherever he goesAan anthrax outbreak in Vienna, a passenger train blown up outside Paris, a jetliner falling from the sky over New York City. Could these terrorist attacks be the work of the Directorate, Bryson wonders, or should they be attributed to the Prometheans, another shadowy intelligence outfit that seems to be the force behind a new international surveillance agency? Catapulting from one action sequence to the next and culminating in a spectacular finale in Seattle, the story is an exciting showcase for all the latest spy gadgetry, but it has little of the contemplative quality and social context of Ludlum's finer efforts. Ludlum's cautionary themeAthat technology will soon allow for surveillance on a scale that grossly infringes on personal privacyAgets lost in the barrage of flying bullets and explosions. Bryson himself is a dynamo and lots of fun to watch in action, but his almost superhuman endurance and intelligence seem more suited to that other heroic gentleman of adventure, Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt, than to a Ludlum hero. Major ad/promo. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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The patient was conveyed by a chartered jet to a private landing strip twenty miles northwest of Washington, D.C. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
tac vest, smart guns, sterile line, dispatch agent, service alley Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Harry Dunne, Ted Waller, Jacques Arnaud, Richard Lanchester, Meredith Waterman, Spanish Armada, White House, Anatoly Prishnikov, Gregson Manning, Rupert Vere, General Tsai, Gennady Rosovsky, Jan Vansina, Ang Wu, Wall Street, Jonas Barrett, Cold War, New York, Nicholas Bryson, United States, Aunt Felicia, Giles Hesketh-Haywood, Santiago de Compostela, Senator Cassidy, Yuri Tarnapolsky New!
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161 Reviews 5 star:  (35) 4 star:  (39) 3 star:  (28) 2 star:  (25) 1 star:  (34)           Average Customer Review 3.1 out of 5 stars (161 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   82 of 88 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Calliope Would Approve Of Mr. Ludlums Prometheus, November 2, 2000 By  taking a rest - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    This review is from: The Prometheus Deception (Hardcover) 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. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   52 of 56 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The best Ludlum in at least a decade, November 7, 2000 By  Kenneth Goldman (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews This review is from: The Prometheus Deception (Hardcover) 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. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   14 of 14 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Ludlum's best thriller so far!, October 31, 2000 By A Customer This review is from: The Prometheus Deception (Hardcover) 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. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 161 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Great from start to finish This is a book I enjoyed from start to finish. The action was pretty much non-stop. While some of the escapes from certain death were a little over the top, I don't mind that in... Read more Published 29 days ago by G. Henson 2.0 out of 5 stars The F-Bomb I admit that I am not a Ludlum expert. I read the Bourne series and thoroughly enjoyed them. Granted that was some time ago and my memory may me a little dusty. Read more Published 4 months ago by D. Bell 2.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly disappointing We got this as a book tape for a long trip. It actually started well and was intriguing. But it began to get sillier and sillier as it went on, with totally random plot twists,... Read more Published 9 months ago by Jim 2.0 out of 5 stars Deception For Sure Disappointing. My first try at Ludlum, after enjoying the Bourne movies. As in the films, the action moves along at a good clip, the protagonist constantly on the move, chasing... Read more Published 11 months ago by S. A. Cartwright 4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader A secret agent type is involved in a mostly successful operation against Hezbollah terrorists. He gets hurt, and has to recover back at his base. Read more Published 22 months ago by Blue Tyson 4.0 out of 5 stars All of Ludlum's trademark qualities on display Ludlum's thriller, The Prometheus Deception, involves a complex plot that literally affects the entire planet. Read more Published on July 15, 2007 by Henry W. Wagner 4.0 out of 5 stars A Fast Read for 509 Pages. 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... Read more Published on July 2, 2007 by Steve Guardala 4.0 out of 5 stars pretty good, quite an authentic ludlum don't know if this one got a ghost writer behind it, 'cause ludlum died long before this one was published. Read more Published on January 18, 2007 by JustAsecondLanguageReader 4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Kept Me Turning Pages The book has a lot of action and some really neat 'toys' that the characters get to play with, which for a closet geek like me, definitely left me intrigued. Read more Published on September 9, 2006 by Michelle L Devon (Michy)&trade 3.0 out of 5 stars Eerie Pre-9/11 Thriller Relevant Today Reading The Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum makes me think that if the United States Intelligence Agencies were run half as well as those in Ludlum's books, the terrorist... Read more Published on May 18, 2006 by Dindy Robinson Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 161 customer reviews...

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