The Bourne Supremacy

Rating:
Summary: A powerful trip into the darker side of life...
Review: Robert Ludlum displays some of his best writing in this novel. Riddled with action and mystery, this novel provides an in depth trip into the world of Jason Bourne. While it benefits the reader greatly to have previously read The Bourne Identity, even a first time Ludlum reader will find themselves permanently attached to the pages of this book. If you particularly like this read, invest your time in The Matarese Circle, the remainder of the Bourne Trilogy (of course), Trevayne and Apocalypse Watch. Robert Ludlum is the most inspiring and tremendously intelligent writers of his time. I have personally found unlimited hours of entertainment in his books (I owe all of his books and have read each at least five times). Once you sample even one page of Mr. Ludlum's writings....you're hooked for life!

Rating:
Summary: The Bourne Identity is more likely to have my 10 rating
Review: Just like Ludlum once said in one of his novels, there was no a yellow skinned Chinese who could become a successful assassin in the western world, how come a white guy, not matter how good he was, i.e., no matter how good his make-up skills were, how he could survive in a 1-billion-yellow-skinned evironment, and even become a very active assassin? If this premise failed to establish well, then, this whole book was a totally absurd hypothesis, and of course, not worthy at all

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Summary: the legacy lives on!
Review: It is great to see this Bourne series getting all this attention, and I can't wait for the movie! Ludlum was the father of the modern thriller (at least in my opinion). this is the middle book of the Bourne Series about a deadly assassian created by the US goverenment, from the mild manner David Webb. While not as good as the "Bourne Identity" it is still a must read for all thriller fans, and hopefully a new generation of fans will get to enjoy this fine trilogy! Also check out "The Bourne Identity and Ultimatum" and I agree with an earlier reviewer "A Tourist in the Yucatan" is a thriller that carries on in the Ludlum tradition!

Rating:
Summary: good writing but why sooooo long?!
Review: ludlum's writing is good but reading pleasure spoiled by length of this novel - got bored after some 300 pages

Rating:
Summary: I think this was better than 'Identity'
Review: Although that is difficult to say since I liked the first one so well. Again, Ludlum puts a great character in a great location, and makes the scenery and peoples come alive. The ultimate archenemy is created in the 2nd Bourne, and the 'real' Bourne takes him out with precision and exciting suspense. But the book doesn't end there; it keeps going for another excellent 100 or so pages. I really liked this, and the character development once again was excellent. Definitely a 5.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it, read it, love it.
Review: This book is the best book I have ever read!! woo! It actually deserves more way than 5 stars because it's so awesome!!!! In my opinion, it's more interesting and easier to understand than The Bourne Identity. Even I understand it! :) The book is emotional, and by the end, if not before, you find yourself proud of Bourne. The only thing is, the first part of the book is a bit boring, but once you get past it, the story is amazing. I just finished it for the second time, and I plan to re-read it again soon. I adore this book! You will too!

Rating:
Summary: Watch the movie but don't bother with the book.
Review: If you are reading this review then perhaps you have read The Bourne Identity and are now contemplating the sequel? Don't bother. Just like a movie sequel, this book was written for no other reason then to crank out something to please fans and hopefully make a quick buck on the coat tails of an initial success.

The Bourne Identity was a fantastic read and held my interest from page one to page last. This book wanders, has a week plot, is hard to follow, is missing pieces of the story which I guess we are supposed to assume but which only make it confusing, and overall lacks the sophistication of the first novel.

If you're a Ludlum junkie then you're going to read this book regardless, but if you're like me and first became aware of Jason Bourne after the movies came out and your simple looking for a fun, gripping spy novel, then please take my advice and skip this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good but a letdown from the first book
Review: Let me preface what I write by saying, that with all the negative things I have to say about this book, there are only negatives as compared ot The Bourne Identity. The book as compared to a lot of other political thrillers on the market is superior to most of them.

After reading the excellent Bourne Identity, I was greatly disappointed with this work. Where the first book was fast-moving, easy to follow, and frought with tension throughout, this book was extremely complicated to follow and lacked the tension of the chase that was evident throughout the first book.

In this one there is a plot by some higher-ups in the government to prevent a war from breaking out in China. They feel that the only person capable of preventing the war is Jason Bourne. Unfortunately, Jason has reverted back to his David Webb personna. Therefore they hatch a plot to kidnap Webb's wife and force him back to his "Bourne" identity to carry out the mission for them. Unfortunately for them, when he becomes Bourne, he is a determined killing machine who could come back at the ones who created him.

Ludlum supplies a level of detail that few writers can match, and some of his Jason Bourne strategies are excellent for anyone that might get in a tight spot (look around enough and you will find something you can use, for example).

Rating:
Summary: Keep it Simple
Review: First of all, the movie (which one of the great action movies of this decade) has nothing in common with the book.

The book finds Jason Bourne being who he really is -- namely, David Webb. He is happy, and life is wonderful. But just when he thinks he is out, they pull him right back in. In Hong Kong, about a decade before the transfer of the colony, a man pretending to be Jason Bourne is doing some really bad things to some really important people. At the center is a plot by a "Messianic" Taiwanese leader to throw all of the Far East and eventually the world into the brink of annihilation. Mayhem ensues.

This book was quite a letdown from Identity. That doesn't make it a bad book; it makes it a poor sequel. It is interesting how someone like Bourne could be a victim of split personality and when the book stays with his frame of mind it soars. Alex, a man who tried to kill Bourne in the first book, is also represented well.

The setup is well done. Something happens to Marie in the beginning of the book to force David Webb to become Jason Bourne. As long as Jason/David is trying make sure she is safe, the book is as engrossing as the original. However, once the lesser villain is captured and dealt with the book goes downhill. The greater villain (the one behind the scenes) is not at all interesting because he is one dimensional.

The problem with spy thrillers is that when they get to big, they become uninteresting. When spy stories are personal, they are much better. This was the brilliance of The Bourne Identity and the weakness of The Bourne Supremacy.

Rating:
Summary: the supreme supemacy
Review: The Bourne Supremacy is a thrilling novel full of political insecurity, betrayal and a plot that keeps you on the edge of whatever surface you're sitting on when you read it.

David Webb is a professor at a small university in Maine. He's a man with a past he wants to forget. Despite a calm appearance Webb is man constantly haunted by memories of his participation in a government program called Treadstone 72 where he was Jason Bourne one of the deadliest and most efficient assassins on earth. However one day Webb is visited by a government official who says that several important people were murdered during a secret meeting in Kowloon, the new island branch of Hong Kong the British colony. The killer left the signature of Jason Bourne at the sight of the massacre, someone trying to continue the legend of the famous assassin. The government official says that Bourne is in great danger and that he will have a team of guards posted around the university. After a short time the guards disappear along with Webb's wife, so David sets off for the Hong Kong in search of his wife and gets wrapped up into a plot, the failure of which would result in war throughout the Far East.

If you're interested in reading this book don't be discouraged by the mediocre movie the book is completely different!