Prometheus Deception, The

Inhoud

Robert Ludlum is the acknowledged master of suspense and international intrigue. For over thirty years, in over twenty international bestsellers, he has a set a standard that has never been equaled. Now, with the Prometheus Deception, he proves that he is at the very pinnacle of his craft.

Nicholas Bryson spent years as a deep cover operative for the American secret intelligence group, the Directorate. After critical undercover mission went horribly wrong, Bryson was retired to a new identity. Years later, his closely held cover is cracked and Bryson learns that the Directorate was not what it claimed - that he was a pawn in a complex scheme against his own country's interests.

Now, it has become increasingly clear that the shadowy Directorate is headed for some dangerous endgame - but no one knows precisely who they are and what they are planning. With Bryson their only possible asset, the director of the CIA recruits Bryson to find, reinfiltrate, and stop the Directorate. But after years on the sidelines, Bryson's field skills are rusty, his contacts unreliable, and his instincts suspect.

With everything he thought he knew about his own life in question, Bryson is all alone in a wilderness of mirrors - unsure what is and isn't true and who, if anyone, he can trust - with the future of millions in the balance.

Bespreking

Story did not survive attack of the twists

Nicholas Bryson spent years as a secret member of the Directorate, an undercover organization that does the things that go beyond the scope of CIA or MI-5. When one mission goes horribly wrong, Bryson decides to retire and become a professor at a renowned University. Years later, he gets violently in contact with some old enemies and knows that his cover is gone. Quick investigations bring him to the conclusion that something went horribly wrong within the Directorate. Now he has to fight of his enemies, but the years have been asking their toll: Bryson's field skills are rusty. Even worse, where he before could get much support from his agency, he now has to fend for himself. Even his memories seem to be not as trustworthy as they once were.

It could be that Ludlum, in his final years, started to experiment with a few theories. If so, then surely one of them must have been: the more twists to a story, the higher the suspense. Well, to prove that he was completely wrong, he must have written The Prometheus Deception. I do not exaggerate when I say that at the end of almost each chapter the story gets a twist. It becomes so bad that you stop caring, because you know that whatever you are reading, it will change completely after a few pages. Is this bad enough? No. The plot is so utterly thick with unbelievable action, that the average reader must get annoyed as hell by being continuously being called an utter moron. One example -many more to choose from, sadly enough- to prove my statement: our hero escapes from a container ship filled with weaponry. Because he foresees trouble, he takes what he can from the ship: weapons, decoys, some handy tools,... Forget how much an average person can carry and stay unnoticed. Forget about the gigantic choice of useful things to choose from. Our hero chooses exactly those things that will be of use later on. And indeed, every time there is trouble, he rummages in his bag, and voila: there is the solution. Hurray, again saved from another precarious situation. I will not mention the number of times our hero gets saved by someone who accidentally happens to be there at the right time and place, but it is more that I can stand. While reading this 500-pages counting bundle of paper, I often had to check the author's name on the cover, because I could not believe that the author of The Ostermann Weekend and The Bourne Identity managed to write this kind of rubbish.

So, if you are not hampered by the irresistible urge to prove that I am indeed right about this book, do not read it! It is worse than I can convey!