ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BOURNE SHADOW

5 stars out of 5

Wow! I've always enjoyed books in this series, but this one is a real barn-burner! Besides that, the story clears up a good bit of previously murky background on main character Jason Bourne, who has been treading water, so to speak, after running from the spy-laden Treadstone organization and trying to revive deeply buried memories of who, and what, he once was.

For none of which, alas, I can reveal specifics; you'll just have to read the book for yourself. I can, however, provide something of an outline of events that officially begin as Jason is in Paris for the summer amid riots surrounding a major government election and a dangerous neo-Nazi organizers. Months earlier, he'd reluctantly left his latest love, Abbey Laurent, in Quebec City under a cloud; in Paris, he's hoping she'll contact him so they can reconnect once again. Instead, he gets a message from a Treadstone colleague that someone is hunting the man known as Cain - the person the original David Webb, a.k.a. Cain, a.k.a. Jason Bourne. 

Eventually, he's found by a woman who claims to be related to Monika Roth, the woman at one time he was going to marry (insert backstory here). Monika, it seems, had disappeared supposedly for good with Jason's help; now, her sister insists that finding her is urgent. Jason, who desperately wants to remember details from his complicated past, agrees to help.

From there, it's the thrill of the chase; as clues turn up as to Monika's whereabouts, Jason and Joanna find themselves chased by baddies intent on taking them out - or find said baddies are ready and waiting for them at their next destination. Along the way, Jason has to rely on people who may or may not be on his side - and hope some of his long-lost memories will return to help him figure out if there's anyone he can trust. It all leads to a bang-up (and surprising) ending and hints of a new direction with a too-familiar ring.

All told, this is one I had trouble putting down and one of the best I've read of the post-Ludlum installments. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Shadow by Brian Freeman (G.P. Putnam's Sons, July 2024); 400 pp.