Rating: 
Summary: A new James Bond knock-off
Review: Very disappointing after some of the fine work Ludlum has done. It reads like a poor James Bond with the hero able to always succeed at every impossible task and unbelievable bad guys who always screw up. The Bond girl kills the pilot and machine gunner in a helocopter with two rifle shots while driving a speedboat at top speed on Chesapeake Bay, for example. It's more like a parody of Ludlum.
Rating: 
Summary: Still the Master as a Ghost(writer)...
Review: Well, we have two gentlemen to thank for this piece of work, Mr. Ludlum's long time agent, Henry Morrison and his editor, Keith Kahla. With a reported 90% of the manuscript completed, Messrs. Morrison and Kahla rounded out a gem in THE JANSON DIRECTIVE; this book rings true to the REAL Ludlum as opposed to the "Covert One" series carrying his name. This storyline has the same content, feel, flair, and panache as Ludlum's classics (PARSIFAL MOSAIC, THE MATARESE CIRCLE, The BOURNE series...), which makes sense in that he wrote the vast majority of THE JANSON DIRECTIVE. I guess true Ludlumites will be hoping Mr. Ludlum left behind several more uncompleted manuscripts to quench our endless thirst for his works. Regardless, THE JANSON DIRECTIVE certainly was a nice surprise.For those unfamiliar with Ludlum, the basic premise of most of his thrillers is to create an arguable hero, a villanous cabal or individual, and place our hero against impossible odds. The price of failure? The fate of the world. Our hero in THE JANSON DIRECTIVE is Paul Janson, a legendary superspook retired from the clandestine covert agency where he made his career. His taste for brutality and violence bitter, the loss of his wife and the desire to live a solitary existence, Janson joins the ranks of the entrepreneur and hires himself out as an industrial consultant. The peaceful life takes a turn south when he is contacted by a representative of the Liberty Foundation, a private organization devoted to peace and democracy throughout the world. The Foundation's founder and nobel prize-winning laureate, Peter Novak, has been kidnapped and is scheduled to be publicly executed...by the same terrorist group responsible for his wife's death. Janson has another reason to consider reactivation; Novak was personally resonsible for saving Janson's life many years ago and Janson is not one to forget a debt owed. Without hesitation, Janson assembles a team of star operatives to rescue Novak. The mission, against incredible and overwhelming odds, is a success until, moments after Janson bids farewell to his team and Novak, the escape helicopter explodes into a fiery ball of flames as Janson watches. His team, his friend and star pupil, and Novak-gone in a flash. As Janson tries to piece together WHY?, he finds himself marked for death in nearly every city he passes through. Janson believes it must be operatives of the terrorist group seeking revenge for his part in the daring rescue of Novak. However, Janson soon realizes his would-be assassins are American! As the storyline builds, Janson saves one of his latent assassins from rape and certain death. This act creates doubt in the assassin, Jessica Kincaid. As soon as Janson realizes that Kincaid works for the same agency from which he retired, his peerless instincts kick in, making Jason an inexorable opponent for his former agency. As with most TRUE Ludlum novels, the plot devinely twists and turns keeping the reader absorbed in the storyline until the final twist at climax. While the Covert One series maintains the broad brush "ideas" of Ludlum, these books are not true Ludlum books. Do not be mistaken, the Covert One authors, Gayle Lynds and Philip Shelby, are fine writers and understand the mechanics of the spy/mystery genre. However, those of us who grew up reading Ludlum know the Covert One books are a mere shadow of what was. Lynds and Shelby lack the characterization and panache of the master; we can only hope they continue to aspire to his literary summit. Kudos again to Messrs. Morrison and Kahla for briefly quenching an insatiable deire for more of Ludlum's gems. Here's hoping there are more.
Rating: 
Summary: ANTONDV
Review: What's to say! He may be in his box, but RL has never failed to produce a fascinating plot. He was among the top writers of the world and let's hope (like Catherine Cookson) he's left a few more good plots to perpetuate his memory. On entry I stabbed the first button by mistake. This one (No. 5) is the correct one.
Rating:
Summary: A VeryGood Ludlum(like) Book!
Review: While it's probably not a surprise that Ludlum didn't write this book (at least not in its entirety), The Janson Directive is a fast-paced international thriller that -- in typical Ludlum fashion --will keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. It's very fast-paced and loaded with action and suspense. Further, based on writing style and characterization, "this" Ludlum often surpasses the "real" Ludlum. The Janson Directive is a big book (547 pages) and lots of fun to read (although I think it might have been even better if it been 50-100 pages shorter,which kept me from giving it a 5-star rating). Hopefully, there will be more books by "this" Ludlum. I think you'll find that once you start The Janson Directive you'll agree that your in for an exciting reading experience that will allow you to escape far from reality. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Action Packed
Review: While this is far from being Ludlum's best is is a very entertaining and action packed. With Robert Ludlum you don't need spy movies cause his novels are a lot better. The character's are a little dry cause either thy are too good or to bad, but Ludlum makes up for it with a lot of action. There is a lot of twist and surprises in this novel and that just what we expect from a Ludlum novel. It is sad that he has died, but he has left us a lot of good books to remember him by.
Rating:
Summary: An enhanced Ludlum
Review: Whoever wrote this has done a good job. I was a bit concerned at first that it was almost a 'by the numbers' Ludlum story: Intelligence expert/ everyone trying to kill him / a secret organisation / everyone he talks to gets killed and so on. At one stage the lead character breaks into a secret HQ set in the middle of no-where and I thought I was re-reading an old book by mistake, but....
There are enough tweaks and diversions to retain the Ludlum tradition but also bring in some new elements and the writing is good and the story works well.
There was also a message in here about how much of the world regards America which I thought was handled in an interesting and thought provoking way.
Enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: still a good read
Review: you can't miss with his first 10 books, then the stories become recipe / predictable. Janson had a fun plot, the regular twists and a fun heroine, and the trademark of ludlum: everybody is after him and he can trust no one, done very well again in this book. better than his past few books. i'll miss mr. ludlum, and recommend the bourne identity and the matarese circle (and the genre's first star, mr.alistair mclean's books)
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