Rating: 
Summary: Certainly Not Ludlum
Review: I really wonder how many people who've been writing reviews about The Janson Directive have read any other Ludlum books. This is not vintage Ludlum. It was certainly not written by him. First, the dialogue is too fresh, and that points to a younger writer. Secondly, after around page 200 or so, after the plane blows up, the story goes downhill. Up to 200, it may have been Ludlum. But after that it just goes down. The suspense of the book died then, replaced by action, too much detail on the technology of the guns or cars being driven, and the angles each shot came from. After the plane exploded, there was only one twist, at the end, that just about anyone could have seen coming. From any other author, this would be a four or a five, but if you put the name Robert Ludlum on a book, I'm expecting something better.
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)
Rating: 
Summary: wow
Review: As of late every book I have read has been mediocre. I keep waiting for something to spark my interest and make me feel my time has not been wasted. Finally!!! This book has been the very best book I have read in the past few years. I am ready for another. I truly hope Ludlum has other notes and manuscripts to be unveiled.
Rating:
Summary: Another classic from Ludlum!
Review: The Jansen Directive is the second novel published since Ludlum's death. (With each passing book, one is left to wonder if there are any more finished or nearly finished transcripts in the pipeline or even to what degree the last two works were ghost written, at least in part.) Having read almost all of Ludlum's work, the Jansen Directive certainly felt like "a Ludlum." This was a great book....very hard to put down.
This book grabs the reader early and does not let go, leading on more than one occasion to fits of yawning in the morning because I had stayed up too late reading the night before. All in all, the Jansen Directive provides all of the action, suspense, frequent plot twists, and unexpected events that Ludlum aficionados have come to love in the conspiracy-thriller genre. This is clearly among Ludlum's best.
Rating:
Summary: one of his best
Review: this book is legend Ludlum.
Rating:
Summary: Janson's not a hero
Review: This book could have really been great!
Great storyline.
For the most part, well-developed characters.
But, the writing is NOT vintage Ludlum.
I do not have any insight into the history of this particular writing. However, I do know that the author of this story (or at least the final chapters) must have written steamy romance novels in a past life.The protagonist, Paul Janson, is all man for 2/3's of this story. Then, without warning, he becomes a melodramatic sap. For instance, in a closing chapter, he rants and shouts at the remaining members of a secret US power-sect [a group that includes the President of the US] like a forsaken lover in a sappy love-novel. There are hints of a slowly-weakening character change throughout the story. As I venture further into the plot I hope I'm proven wrong in my assessments .
Instead, I end up disappointed. What of our Protagonist? Not only is Paul Janson weak; he's a raving, feminized fool. He stares down the bad guy in what should be a mind-shattering climactic explosion of student vs. mentor. Instead, Janson blanks out and goes shopping for yesterday's memories. It sunk to the point where I started to reach for a tissue to hand to the dear boy.
Sorry, but I don't like my spy-heroes sounding like refugees from a pulp love novel. As stated earlier, Great story with nice plotting. Lukewarm character development of Paul Janson. This guy goes from ruthless protector of the USA to a whiny fool towards the latter stage of the story.
I couldn't wait to finish it. **Want vintage Ludlum (with help from Gayle Linds)? Read 'The Paris Option'. Now, that's great writing in the Ludlum style!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Finale
Review: As Anderson and another reviewer have already commented, this Ludlum novel did have distracting passages that almost read like essays, and since we don't know where Ludlum left off before he died and someone else took over for him, I would like to suggest another possibility to this departure from his usual treatment. Authors who want to lend authenticity to their stories do far more research than they can actually use in a story. Often, in the first draft, they include everything -- its called overwriting -- until they are ready to revise. And then they edit back unwieldy descriptions in favor of keeping the story and pace moving forward. Ludlum may have died before he could do this, but in leaving his research in, the editor has left us with another Ludlum legacy. If we were to separate these passages from the main story line, we would have an extraordinary thesis on today's terrorists--he described their warped mindset--what motivates them, their history, their homelands, their grievances, their hopes and dreams. Ludlum provides needed insight into today's enemy, and that's always been his greatest power--his books have not only thrilled us, they have educated us about so many things--government structures we never experience, about people we never meet in our daily lives, and now at the end, he helps us see America the way terrorists see us--from the oppressed to those deluded with power, whether on the side of the enemy or within our own ranks of government and commerce. He has created characters we want to meet again, and for his last work, what a memory to leave with us if that is not the case. Paul Janson and Jessica Kincaid--today's hero and heroine--the kind our world needs in a time when trust is threatened. Ludlum did not disappoint his fans. This is an amazing book that reveals nothing until the last chapter and even then the suspense does not let up until the last page. If Ludlum has succeeded in training a few authors to complete outlines of novels he created before he died, we can only welcome their continuing contributions in his memory, and more power to their own works, but it would be nice to give these writers the recognition they so richly deserve. On that, I agree whole heartedly with a few other reviewers here.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage Ludlum
Review: It seems that Robert Ludlum's best work has been left for publication after his death. This is a classic Ludlum thriller, with all the usual elements: a hero caught in a game where the rules are unknown to him, a beautiful woman with whom he eventually bonds, an evil villain intent on taking over the work, and also the usual travelogue of many and varied scenic cities and places around the world. Ludlum's heros are always like James Bond: you know that they will eventually surmount the challenges around them and triumph, but you're with them every step of the way. So its hackneyed, but we true Ludlum fans love it! I can only hope that there are more of these works around somewhere, so that we won't have to go into "Ludlum Withdrawal"!
Rating: 
Summary: The ghost writer surprised me ...
Review: I went into this one with a bit of apprehension, and didn't quite know why. Thinking about it, a few questions surfaced: knowing that this one was merely outlined - and not written by - Ludlum, would it be a waste of time? Reading the flap I thought, "Will I get lost and confused in the plot?" For surely, this has happened in the past with Ludlum books. My fears were allayed when I began to read and immediately became caught up in the story. It reads almost like a compendium of up-to-the-minute knowledge, wrapped around a classic Ludlum plot. Whoever the author is, he/she has a brilliant mind and the ability to write prose with the same or perhaps greater ability than Robert Ludlum himself.
Rating:
Summary: Addendum to Tucker Anderson's review
Review: Mr. Tucker's review encapsulated my opinions very well. I also agree there there are other writers at work in this novel. First, the trade name for the neuroparalytic that was used on the limo driver was used instead of the generic which he has always used in the past. In addition, there are extraneous ad nauseum descriptions of places, people, etc. that far exceed the detail he typically provided in previous novels. Either that, or he he made it more interesting and brief. His prior novels impressed me as story driven but also managed to provide sufficient detail to keep the reality there and it was always obvious he did his research about events and places in his novels. The details provided in this novel are incredibly well done, but to an extent that I never noticed before. Especially information related to medical information. (I'm an RN, so I was well impressed). I question the use of a cholinergic to decrease sweating since it in fact increases secretions. I don't care, however, I'll take Ludlam anyway I can get him. Even if he left summaries that someone else is filling in, I can live with that. It's just taking me a little longer to force myself to read through all the unnecessary detail provided in this story. I find myself skipping paragraphs that have nothing to do with the story itself just to get to the real story. I like the way there are some flashbacks about Jansen provided about his Vietnam experience as a POW. As horrifying as they are, these things in fact happened. Not enough is said about what vietnam vets suffered whether they were POW's or not. Thanks for the great review Mr. Anderson.
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