- Title:
- The Bourne Ultimatum (Jason Bourne, #3)
- By:
- Robert Ludlum
- Pages:
- 725
- Rating:
- 5
The world’s two deadliest spies in the ultimate showdown.
At a small-town carnival two men, each mysteriously summoned by telegram, witness a bizarre killing. The telegrams are signed Jason Bourne. Only they know Bourne’s true identity and understand the telegram is really a message from Bourne’s mortal enemy, Carlos, known also as the Jackal, the world’s deadliest and most elusive terrorist. And furthermore, they know that the Jackal wants: a final confrontation with Bourne.
Now David Webb, professor of Oriental studies, husband, and father, must do what he hoped he would never have to do again: assume the terrible identity of Jason Bourne. His plan is simple: to infiltrate the politically and economically Medusan group and use himself as bait to lure the cunning Jackal into a deadly trap, a trap from which only one of them will escape.
My rating is perhaps a little unusual for me,as it’s not really based on literary merit. Indeed, I found myself, upon this reread, a little shocked at how often Bourne makes mistakes and is mentioned to be getting old. Still, it’s one of the first adult novels I really read and got into, and for that, it has a special place in my heart. William Dufris’s narration of this work so enthralled me at the time that I played the tapes several times over – no small thing considering they ran for over twenty-five hours, and even reading it myself now, I find I hear his voice and his characters.
I especially liked the way Ultimatum made homage to Identity, the section back in France was very nicely done, if a little rushed. And again, I can only further iterate that the way Bourne’s age is brought up time and again makes the subsequent novels even more pointless than many have intimated. The final sentence of the novel ends the trilogy perfectly and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s how the series should have remained.