Copyright 1979 by Robert Ludlum. Published Bantam Books Inc, New York.
I take a break from mysteries occasionally to read popular books in other genres.. This one falls into the “epic struggle of one man against a worldwide conspiracy” category. The protagonist is Brandon Scofield – also and somewhat inexplicably called “Bray”. He is an aging and increasingly more jaded senior spook who is drawn into a web of deceit and terror by his Russian counterpart, Vasili Taleniekov, the man who engineered the murder of Scofield’s wife 10 years before. Through a series of mysterious events both become pariahs in their own organizations and are forced to work together to thwart the unseen enemy.
The plot is fast-paced and global, running through not only Moscow and Washington but also Corsica, Leningrad, France, Germany, England and ending up in Boston. The body count climbs at each stop with a big bump at the end. The plot is deep, somewhat plausible and, of course, includes a beautiful young woman.
A good read, but pretty standard stuff for Ludlum. And the plot shows its age a bit – it was written before cell phones and wide use of the internet so phone booths and snail mail are used extensively. It doesn’t spoil the plot but is a constant reminder of how old the book is.
5 out of 10.