Rating: 
Summary: WHAT A SHOW
Review: Outstanding... Pace, story, characters, ideas... Good, good, good.
Rating: 
Summary: Bourne to Live
Review: Robert Ludlum completes the trilogy with this rambling adventure between his two arch-rivals Jason Bourne and Carlos the Jackal. Only one survives to fight another day. Bourne returns to active duty because his family is under attack. The influence of the Jackal extends to all intelligence services and governments. Following the formula, Bourne miraculously survives several close adventures with the Jackal, where he is clearly over-matched. Bourne and his rag-tag band of rejects, retirees, in-laws, and psychiatrists make many blunders before getting a line on the Jackal. Clearly, the thirteen years since the first Bourne adventure in Paris with the Jackal were not spent exclusively in commando and physical training. Also, this informal group seems to have trouble deciding who is in charge and how to proceed. Unbelievably the final showdown occurs in Moscow, which is clearly advantageous to the Jackal as he trained there many years ago. There is a side story going on as well, with a group of former army junior officers from Vietnam, now prominent in the US government, military, and business, forming a murky Carlyle Group type organization to buy companies and assets. They have made millions in the process and will stop at nothing to continue. Bourne's group stumbles onto this new Medusa network and uses it to force Carlos above ground. In reality, Carlos is still living in a Parisian prison, serving life sentences for 1970's era terrorist killings. He has enlisted the aid of the leftist President of his native Venezuela to promote his parole. Robert Ludlum is dead, but here things turn out differently.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much of a good thing
Review: The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy are two of my favorite novels. I have probably read each of them four or five times. I'd just as soon forget about Ultimatum, it doesn't have the hard core, kick butt Jason Bourne that we want to read about and it's a limp way for a story about a hero like Bourne to end. Go ahead and read it if you like Bourne, like I did, but it's definitely not in the same class as the first two. Bourne has lost his steam and edge and is just... can I say it? A fumbling broken old guy.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not Outstanding
Review: The Bourne Ultimatum pits Jason Bourne against his main nemesis, Carlos the Jackal. The scene that this book sets up feels very exciting as you pick up this book, especially with the thought of Bourne v/s Carlos. Well, the book is very good, not outstanding, but very well written. Its got plenty of action, and is much more fast paced than the previous two books. Some of the confrontations that Bourne has with Carlos are quite tense and exciting. There's also a sub-plot regarding the old Medusa that Bourne was a part of but the plots get entangled pretty soon, and its down to a massive game of cat and mouse played between two of the world's most feared assasins. Ludlum once again manages to keep the book engrossing throughout. His main character is almost 15 years older than what he was in the first part of the series. The ageing factor is handled well and reminds us that Jason Bourne is human after all. Once gets a nice peek into Carlos's life too, especially about the ways in which he works and how he's hell bent on killing the only man who has seen his face. Marie St Jaques's character is wonderful as always, together with Conklin and Mo, they make up the rest of the known cast. David Webb has had children as well, but sadly there's no interaction between Daddy and his kids. (thank god Ludlum writes Thrillers!) This is a good book, but the reason I said it wasn't outstanding, was due to one thing only. That was the climax. It was too weak, especially after three long books, Jason Bourne deserved something much more. Well perhaps, Carlos and Bourne have so many confrontations that Ludlum seemed too tired to make another one for the climax. All in all, this series of three books are all great in their own way and are clearly three of the best books Ludlum has ever written, and quite possibly three of the best thrillers ever. So be it, as JB always says.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible, a heart stopping read
Review: The final book in the Bourne Trilogy is a deffinate A+ from what i perceive as the master of suspense and spy novels. Impossible to put down and a deffinate cover to cover read as the deadliest assassins battle to the bitter end. Congratulations on three of the finest books i have ever had the priviledge of reading.
Rating:
Summary: Third in the series
Review: The final book in the famous Bourne trilogy is an explosive romp through the twists and thrills that characterize any Ludlum novel.
As unlikely as it sounds, shady assassin Carlos The Jackal is seeking a final showdown with Bourne and makes it clear by tracking and involving Bourne's (a.k.a. David Webb) associates and family. Forced to defend his wife and children, the chameleon Bourne takes on the challenge, which leads to bizarre and far-fetched plot twists which take place in the United States, Caribbean, France, Belgium and the USSR.
It is a savage thrill ride that is only marred by the inexplicable and irrational actions and mishaps of the adversaries and their foes and associates. Fasten your seatbelts and make sure the backup ammunition is close by!
Rating:
Summary: Too much of a good thing
Review: The first two (Identity, Legacy) are beautiful page-turners. However, in the third installment, the Jason Bourne vs. David Webb struggle becomes a dead horse. You can only carry that split so far in a plot line before the man either must end up in an insane asylum, or integrate the pieces and move on. While a desparately wanted the saga to continue, I would rather not have seen it end with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff...but not as good as the other 2 Bourne books...
Review: The idea that Carlos wants a final, no-holds-barred show-down with David Webb aka Jason Bourne was too irresistable to refuse. Ludlum has himself another winner with 'The Bourne Ultimatum'...however, with that said, I didn't think it was as good as either 'The Bourne Identity' OR 'The Bourne Supremacy'. Was it a wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am full-velocity thriller? You BET! For those who believe that 'Ultimatum' is the best of the 'Bourne' trilogy, I mean no disrespect, I just enjoyed the other two more (especially 'Supremacy'). I can't put my finger on it, but suffice it to say, I STILL came away from this one in awe of Ludlum's pure and natural skill to keep us enthralled at length (this is not a tiny novel). David Webb has got to be Ludlum's greatest character. Fully realized, with problems, and something many characters do NOT have in modern fiction: A Conscience (albeit a thin one when he assumes the Jason Bourne Identity...). This one took you on a mental trip to many places in the world, from America to Russia...all in the name of finally capturing Carlos the Jackal. The showdown really is a hum-dinger. Enjoy every moment of this one, I don't think Ludlum will be reprising the character ever again. Oh, and if you have yet to pick up one of these fantastic books, you are in for a real treat--a series of books that were written between the late 70's through the late 80's, and JUST as timely as when they first came out. Simply put, great stuff from a great author.
Rating:
Summary: Restored to Identity's level after a letdown in Supremacy
Review: There are times in the book when the reader could feel the story coming to a climatic end, except for the thick layer of the unread pages. David Webb, aka Jason Bourne, received a challenge from Carlos the Jackal through two of his closest associates, CIA retiree Alex Conklin who tried to kill Webb once, and Morris Panov the psychologist who tried to cure Webb of his demons. Now, at the age of fifty, married with two children, Webb decided to put an end to Carlos once and for all in order not to have to keep looking out for a shot in the dark. He knew that Carlos was also impatient, being older, ill and having little time to gain the level of recognition long denied. In the pursuit of their hunt, David Webb and Alex Conklin created a ghost from the legend of Medusa, only to find the ghost becoming real! Finding two major adversaries instead of one did not detract David's attention on Carlos, and he allowed the CIA to focus on the Medusa, only to find the Medusa zoning in on his family closer than he could have imagined. The hunt which started from the USA, carried on to the Caribbean, to Europe and finally, the Soviet Union where the Jackal had been trained. In this novel, more sides to David, Marie (his wife), Alex and Panov were revealed. Some are logical, having 13 years passed since the Bourne Identity, the characters have matured without losing their personalities. Others are annoying, such as David being so obsessed with his prey he wilfully ignored other dangers such as the Medusa. More interesting characters were introduced, but they were restricted largely to the first or the second half of the book. The good thing is secondary characters were not cardboard figures but with humanly plausible characteristics such as the Soviet's agents David had to work with. The annoying thing is many of them "disappeared" without proper accounting to their fate. The main question posed in the beginning of the book, who leaked the identities of Conklin and Panov to the Jackal, was not resolved and totally forgotten. The ending could have been satisfactory too if not for the last paragraph which left the readers in limbo.
Rating:
Summary: Man. I can only give it 5 stars
Review: This author is the reason "Spy Novel" is in our vocabularies to this day. This is the best spy novel written with exception to 2 others... The other 2 in this series which are on par with this 1.
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