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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780312989385
ISBN number: 0312989385
Label: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 704
Printing Date: October 19, 2003
Publishing house: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Release Date: October 07, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 92608
Studio: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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Product Description:
Nobel laureate, international financier, and philanthropist Peter Novak-a billionaire who has committed his life and fortune to fostering democracy around the world through his Liberty Foundation-has been kidnapped. The terrorist known as The Caliph is holding Novak in a near-impenetrable fortress and has refused to negotiate for his release, planning instead to brutally execute his hostage in a matter of days...
Running out of time and hope, Novak's people turn to a man with a long history of defeating impossible odds: Paul Janson-a legend in the notorious U.S. covert agency Consular Operations. Janson sets in motion an ingenious rescue operation. But the operation goes horribly wrong and Janson is marked for death, the target of a 'beyond salvage' order issued from the highest level of the government. Now Janson is running for his life, pursued by Jessica Kincaid, a young agent of astonishing ability who can anticipate and counter his every move. To survive, Janson must outrace a conspiracy that has gone beyond the control of its originators. To win, he must counter it with a conspiracy of his own...
Amazon.com Review:
Even after death, Robert Ludlum remains the master of the international spy caper, and whether this posthumously published new thriller was cobbled together by a real ghost or already completed before Ludlum died doesn't matter. All the trademarked Ludlum gifts of plotting, pacing, and suspense are on full display in this engrossing mystery about a former covert operative turned private security executive who's stranded, abandoned, and marked for murder by his old colleagues when he manages to survive an unsurvivable mission. Rescuing renowned philanthropist and statesman-without-portfolio Peter Novak from the clutches of the terrorist who murdered his wife and unborn child, Paul Janson watches, unbelieving, as the plane carrying Novak back to freedom explodes before his eyes. Soon after the very first post-mission endeavor on his life, Janson begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but Ludlum keeps the reader from seeing it whole until the last thrilling chapter. A page-turner that doesn't let up, this one will leave Ludlum's fans hoping there are more unpublished manuscripts where this one came from, a not unlikely possibility. --Jane Adams
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Rated by buyers 
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This was my very first Robert Ludlum novel and probably not my last. I liked the characters Paul Janson and Jessica Kincaid and I hope there are more stories on their exciting lives. The rating of three that I gave this is all for the story line, action and suspense. I found myself skim reading a lot especially in the middle when Ludlum put to much description of the surroundings in as filler; this really slowed the action for awhile. This story really picks up at the end though with a lot of action and excitment.
If you like international intrique and world politics mixed with spies and terrorists,you'll like this one.
Rated by buyers 
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This book, like other I have read that were issued after the death of Ludlum do not do him justice. I'm surprised his estate would have agreed to using his name on these titles. While his books were over the top and at times stretched your imagination, this book does this at every turn. Additionally, the female character is totally unbelievable. I had a hard time completing this book.
Rated by buyers -
it still is very entertaining. The one and only fault that I could find is that the book contained run on which is not characteristic of Ludlum's writing. So I zipped through those parts but they were usually short. An example is how a timed bomb works. Just give me the bottom line and I am happy. All the intricate detail is way above my pay grade.
Now lets put that aside and talk about the enjoyable book. First of all this book contains quite a few twists and turns so buckle up and you will be in for a ride. Our hero, Paul Janson, is a retired operative who is lulled back for a job. A philantropist Peter Novak is kidnapped by rebels from a small country which is close to Sri Lanka. He is to be a mediate between the goverment and the rebels but instead he is captured. Novak's foundation hires Janson to rescue him but alas, everything goes wrong and Novak and Janson's men do not make it. Next thing you know is that his own agency and goverment and guns for hire are after him. It is a long chase for him to get away from the people who are after him and also to find out who and why he is being hunted.
Along the way one of the people who tries to kill him, Jessica Kincaid, eventually becomes an ally and helps to find out what is actually going on. They keep on running into stone walls and sharp turns. As we go along we meet quite an interesting collection of indiviuals with the best being the Russian, Grigori Berman, who since the fall of the Soviet Union has been trying to an Englishman. The way he goes about it is a hoot.
All in all the book is enjoyable from the very first to the last page with no stops in between. It may not have been all Ludlum's work but it still comes out as very enjoyable.
Rated by buyers -
This book is laughable and insipid. Mere suspension won't do--you'll need to expel your disbelief altogether. One wonders whether the putative author would have produced anything like it had he actually completed the work himself. I recall that the book started far better than it finished.
On the other hand, mindless pap has its place. (Recommend putting this book there.)
Rated by buyers -
Just when you think you know who the villian is, it becomes apparent that you've gotten yourself involved with an international yak milk smuggling ring. But wait, are they really interested in yak milk or is that just a front for their true aim: weasel rustling? Or even weasel wrestling?
Ludlum is truly fiendish. Even the dullest parts of the book can cause you to scream --- if you sit on a hot stove while reading it, or if you set fire to the book.
Hmmm, perhaps I'll read this sometime.
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