The Sigma Protocol

Rating:
Summary: Fast Paced and Exciting
Review: Robert Ludlum sure knows how to spin a good yarn. The Sigma Protocol starts off quick and never lets up. The synopsis on the back cover barely goes into the masterfully crafted plot. However, the plot is similar to another Ludlum novel, The Matarese Countdown. In both, a young man unearths a conspiracy bent on world domination and trying to kill him as well as dissenting voices within the organization, Sigma. The young man, Ben Hartman is ably assisted by Anna Navarro in rooting out who the conspirators are. The plot takes us to many locations: Zurich, Vienna, Buenos Aires to name a few, all the while leading up to an exciting conclusion. I picked up the book to read on an airplane, and it was perfect. Not really a novel that makes you think, but who goes into reading a Robert Ludlum novel looking for insight anyway? The Sigma Protocol is gripping and will not disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of action...Lack of good editing
Review: My first Ludlum novel. I went to buy The Bourne Identity which was Out Of Stock at my bookstore so I decided to purchase The Sigma Protocol to get a taste of Ludlum's writing.

The Sigma Protocol started out fast and furious and was quite intriguing but about halfway through the book you get the sense that he's attempting to rush the story and the reader has problems keeping a mental timeline of what is occuring within the story. At one point (and probably the worst example) a government Justice Department investigator is in the U.S. discussing details of a case and within a few pages is suddenly in Austria staking out the proposed suspect when prior to this it took Ludlum an entire 2 chapters just to get the suspect (Ben Hartman) to a particular home within Austria where he was already residing. It's events like this that begin to overcome the storyline and frustrate the reader.

Finally, the editor did a very poor job of editing facts which support areas of the story. In one particular section Ben Hartman applies a headlock to an individual which "cuts the blood supply to the man's femoral artery" and renders the individual unconscious. Well, the only thing that is going to happen if you cut the blood supply off by blocking the femoral artery is that your leg will go to sleep since the artery is not located in the neck (as Ludlum leads you to belive). This happens every once in a while throughout the story.

Overall, if it's action and a fast-paced story you are interested in then this book will probably satisfy your appetite. Happy reading!

Rating:
Summary: Exciting classic Ludlum
Review: The late Robert Ludlum was the true master of the international thriller. Upon opening one of his weighty volumes, a reader was assured of being transported all over the world accompanied by one of his idealistic superheroes in the midst of a life and death struggle to save the human race. This posthumous work is no exception and in many ways represents the best of Ludlum.
Ben Hartman is on vacation in Zurich, Switzerland. As he leaves his hotel, an old school friend approaches him. Instead of a handshake, his friend pulls out a gun intending to kill him. This highly illogical beginning plunges Ben into a world of intrigue involving his own family's secret history. His search for answers takes him all over Europe and North America as assassins chase him.
Parallel to Ben's escapades, Department of Justice field agent, Anna Navarro is given the assignment of looking into the deaths of elderly men all over the world. There appears to be a connection between them through an organization known as Sigma. As the old men continue to die, Anna's investigations take her on a collision course with Ben. They soon realize they have a common foe and join together to attempt to fight this covert organization, which could place the civilized world at stake.
Robert Ludlum has done it again. The plot is highly complex yet vastly exciting. All the classic Ludlum elements are here. The world is at risk by an enemy who adequately represents a timely threat reflecting our current events. The hero and heroine are gorgeous globetrotters full of physical stamina and military skills. Much explanation is required to get through the very long plot, which is interspersed with action sequences that justly made Robert Ludlum famous. The solution might be a bit of a stretch, however, Robert Ludlum considered himself primarily an entertainer and with that goal he succeeds again.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining read
Review: I've never met a Robert Ludlum book I didn't like, and this was no exception. It followed the usual Ludlum format: handsome athletic protagonist who is great in bed and can do almost anything, love interest who is intelligent and capable, and a plot only Ludlum could conceive.
Since this is FICTION, I don't expect reality. However, in previous Ludlum books, like the Bourne trilogy, I find the characters more believable. In this story, Ben is a banker, so his uncanny ability to get himself out of trouble and elude the bad guys is a bit of a stretch. But rather than making me want to snort and throw the book down, I think he must be a pretty smart guy, maybe somebody I might even know. As with all Ludlum books, it called me from the coffee table, giving me the perfect excuse to skip housework until it was finished.
If you like books in this genre, you will enjoy this one. Probably not my favorite Ludlum book, but entertaining.
p.s. I am saddened to hear of Ludlum's death, but think it is a good thing he isn't around to see Matt Damon cast as Jason Bourne.

Rating:
Summary: Fitting Closeout to a Wonderful Career
Review: Many of the other reviewers are right. This is Ludlum's best book in years, but I can't place it on par with the best in recent fiction. I have been a Ludlum fan since day one. And perhaps like you, I was disappointed in his later efforts, but few were as adept at weaving a story. That is taking a thread here, a thread here, a thread here and building a tapestry. Unfortunately THE SIGMA PROTOCOL turned out to be less of a tapestry and more of an afghan (no pun here). You feel the tugging of a great concept, but are led from the prospect of an enormous, implausible worldwide conspiracy to an implausible conculsion. Many questions are left unanswered. Along with Stephen King's BLACK HOUSE, this is the second book in as many months which has used the theme of world-wide missing children to bolster the story. Both results belong closer to the science fiction aisle than the horror or mystery section. In the end, a good read. Buy the paperback for a rainy weekend.

Rating:
Summary: Grand Slam Thriller
Review: This book was very long and descriptive. However, it is action-packed with many plot twists and turns.

Anna Navarro is a Justice Department agent who is given the assignment of finding out why a group of elderly men around the world are getting killed. These men belonged to a highly secretive organization known as Sigma. In the interim, Ben Hartman is a thirty-ish banker on a ski trip and as he is about to depart, an old college "friend" notices him in a hotel lobby and makes an attempt on his life but fails.

Anna and Ben accidentally meet each other about a third way through the novel and discover that they both have a lot in common which is the desire to learn more about Sigma and some of its past and present members.

This was a great novel with lots of good history on the many doctors who performed human experiments during (...) Germany. Of course, some of it is fiction but much of it is not after I had done my own research on the topics in this book. If you do not read any other Ludlum novel, please find time to read the Sigma Protocol.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Ludlum: The Sigma Protocol
Review: It is fitting that the late Robert Ludlum in quite possibly his last novel (depending on which rumor you believe) penned a work that reads so well and reminds one of his early work, such as the Bourne series. There was and has been simply no one better when he was on at crafting a complex conspiracy and the fate of the world hanging in the balance. When it was assumed that there would be an ending to the spy thrillers after the cold war ended, Ludlum just changed them slightly and weaved stories of demonic corporations ruled by greedy power moguls manipulating world governments. With his novels firmly rooted in reality, one always wonders just how much is real and how much is fiction. Simply put, he has done it again in fine form.

As the novel opens, Ben Hartman is walking the streets of Zurich, Switzerland. After the death of his brother, Peter, Ben was forced into the family business and to take up the legacy of his father's company, Hartman Capital Management. Ben hates investment banking and is bored out of his mind.

His boredom is shattered when he sees his old friend Jimmy Cavanaugh whom, he has known since his sophomore year at Princeton. Ben hasn't seen him in years, but there is no mistake and Jimmy also recognizes him, offering a big smile of his own. At the same time, Jimmy pulls out a weapon and opens fire on Ben, narrowly missing him. The chase is on through the cold streets as Ben tries to flee an old friend, who while trying to kill him is indiscriminately shooting innocent people on the streets.

At the same time, half a world away, Agent Anna Navarro of the Justice Department is having her own problems. She works in the office of Special Investigations under the incompetent supervision of Arliss Dupree. Like petty bureaucrats everywhere, he wields the little authority he has in an attempt to get even with some of the staff. He surrounds himself with toadies and since Anna isn't part of the "in" crowd, he singles her out for cheap shots. The fact that she is extremely good at what she does, in addition to refusing to sleep with him or go out drinking with the boys, just bugs him all the more. It also brings her to the attention of Alan Bartlett of the Internal Compliance Unite. This is a super secret group that handles internal governmental investigations that individual departments can't, for whatever reason. Bartlett wants her and this annoys Dupree even further.

Anna reports to Bartlett and gets an extremely murky assignment. Bartlett wants her to investigate eleven suspicious deaths. The eleven are all elderly and died of what appears to be natural causes. The only link that has been discovered is that each man had the word "Sigma" reference in his files but there is no record of what Sigma was supposed to be. The files date back to the 40's under the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. The men were investigated and cleared for some operation, but what?

The eleven men have all died in an incredibly short period of time and Bartlett wants to know why as well as what Sigma was. Anna is aware that she is not getting the full story and Bartlett knows more than he is letting on, but she has been assigned to him and this case and she has no choice in the matter.

Ludlum weaves these two separate storylines together in a complex and fascinating thriller. The characters are deep and intriguing and the premise becomes increasingly more complicated with tentacles that stretch from the 40's until present day. Once again, Ludlum blurs the line between fiction and fact and it makes for a very enjoyable read. At 535 pages, it will not be a very fast read, but it is well worth the time and effort to read this one. This reads like vintage Ludlum, before the Covert One series and his more recent shallow books. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: I started reading this book when my dad brought it home a while ago from a trip to, guess where? switzerland! yeah. so i read the first few chapters and was totally hooked, but didnt get time to read the rest. now the time has arose that i can read it for my english class and i jumped at the chance to finish it. yes it is long, and a bit confusing but it is one of the best books i've read. i highly reccomend it, especially if you have free time and your mind is wandering. This is a good place to put a bored brain to work.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Out Slow, Speeds Up, and Ends Ubruptly
Review: I had never read a Ludlum book before, but after seeing "The Bourne Identity", I thought I'd give him a try.

It took me some time to get into the book. I think I started it two or three times and would love the first chapter and then get bored after about 30 pages into it and put it down. By the time I picked it up again, I had to start over.

After finally getting into it, I really started to love it. I couldn't put it down. It was a super page turner, lots of action and not too much boring detail.

By the end, it just ended so ubruptly, it made me wonder why all of the characters in the book were introduced when very few of them were significant enough to remember by the end.

Read with a notepad to keep track of the characters and their purpose + other important facts that return to the plot 400 pages after being introduced.

Good read all together. I can see how maybe his earlier books would be better though. 3 Stars ***

Rating:
Summary: All The Usual Ingredients
Review: THE SIGMA PROTOCOL has the usual elements readers have come to expect from Robert Ludlum over the years. It's an action-packed, intricately plotted thrill-ride of a book. At his best, Ludlum is the five-star standard in this genre. So why only four stars here? Primarily because, in a genre characterized by over-the-top conspiracies of truly credibility-stretching proportions, the evil conspiracy in this book goes so much further that it became laughable for me. I just couldn't take it seriously by the time I got to the finish. These guys aren't just out to reinstate the thousand-year reich or anything as mundane as that. These nasties have been firmly in control of events world-wide since the end of World War II. They've managed to manipulate things from behind the scenes for over fifty years. There's more, too, but I don't want to give it all away. Suffice it to say that a pretty good overall read went a little south by the end because it was just a bit too much to swallow. Further, the end was rather predictable and, consequently, something of a letdown on that score, as well.

I've read a lot of Ludlum books over the years and very much enjoyed most of them. I think he did his best work earlier in his writing career with books like THE RHINEMANN EXCHANGE, THE OSYERMAN WEEKEND, THE MATARESE CIRCLE and THE BOURNE IDENTITY. It has seemed to me that in his more recent books he has reached further for complex plots and lost some of the edge from the intense and compelling action and drama that were his greatest strengths. Don't get me wrong, though. THE SIGMA PROTOCOL is definitely a page-turner and fun to read. Four stars is still a pretty good rating. I just feel that it's a step beneath Ludlum's best.