Interestingly, Ludlum may have created Bourne, but he only wrote the first three adventures. In the 1980s. Eric Van Lustbader was roped in to write the subsequent novels after Ludlum’s death in 2001.
Van Lustbader’s style is based more on the action and style than Ludlum’s, who was more concerned with characterisation and depth of story. Consequently, whilst a gripping ride, Van Lustbader’s novels are more Hollywood glam and non-stop action, rather than the intriguing stories of the earlier books.
Bourne rarely falters throughout The Bourne Initiative, despite being hacked at by a machete, shot, and poisoned in his mission to stop the eponymous Initiative – a cyber weapon created by his late friend General Boris Karpov of the Russian FSB to steal vast amounts of money. It’s then stolen by nefarious forces after Karpov's murder to get access to US nuclear launch codes.
Both the NSA and Meme LLC, a black off-site cyber operation - where General MacQuerrie is chief of the Dreadnaught Section of the NSA - believe Bourne, a close friend of Karpov, has taken over the initiative, and a kill team is sent to terminate him for committing treason against the US.
Flushed from cover, hunted by assassins, wounded and nearly killed, Bourne is forced to join forces with his bitter enemy, a Somali named Keyre, whose terrorist organisation Bourne once decimated.
From the Greek island of Skyros to Somalia and the underbelly of Moscow, Bourne works endlessly to unravel the mystery of Boris Karpov’s last legacy, a weaponised code that could result in a violent end for America.
At the same time, Bourne finds himself being pursued by both the US and Russian secret agents. Apparently, these people are always looking for him, and he will always be haunted by his Treadstone past as he searches for answers to his own identity and his memories.
Then, in Initiative, as the plot and characters swirl around Bourne, no one is who they say they are, and no one is who they seem – except Bourne. His stability comes in part from love. Love for Sarah, the Israeli Mossad agent, who may not be an ideal choice for him, but in this story, she's the anchor for Bourne’s world.
The Bourne Initiative takes the readers on a thrilling journey where Bourne, with the help of his friend Soraya Moore and her agent, Morgana Broussard, takes on not only the Russians but also the greedy Americans and the evil forces unleashed by Keyre.
Morgana is a tech genius who started out working for Meme LLC before she found herself involved with the Russians in the hunt for the secret code to unravel the mystery of Karpov’s cyber weapon. There are, of course, the expected double-crossings and twists that are enough to keep the readers on their toes at all times. Absolutely gripping.
