bourneidentityreviewcrit

=Reviews of the Bourne books=

**The Bourne Identity**
RIVENDELL GAZETTE D11 SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 1980

As the book begins, an unknown man is shot in the head, and dumped off the side of a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean. Found by fisherman two days later, alive, but barely, he ends up in the care of a drunken, disgraced doctor from England. For three weeks the man lays there, comatose, while the doctor nurses him back to health. Once the amnesic man is able to speak, the two of them attempt to figure out who and what he is.

A chameleon, that's what he is. Evidence that plastic surgery has altered his face to “soften” his features, making him able to blend in with a crowd, and completely change his appearance with contact lenses, hair dye, or a bit of facial hair. French, English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese: in all of which he is completely fluent. A thin strip of microfilm, implanted beneath the flesh of his hip, leads him to a bank in Zurich armed with no name, no memory, just a bank account number and an address. By the time he leaves Zurich, he has four million dollars, a name, Jason Bourne, and hit squads attempting to end his life. Why, he does not know.

Slowly, tantalizingly, remnants of his dark past are revealed. Carlos the Jackal AKA Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the world's most dangerous professional assassin, is trying to kill him. Bizarre memories of a secretive black ops unit from the Vietnam War known only as Medusa begin to resurface, bringing out hidden emotions, feelings, and most importantly to Jason, names. Names are what he needs, for they can help him re-discover his forgotten past.

As memories of Medusa flood back to Jason, he is confronted with a new realization. Jason Bourne was the key part of a botched operation by the CIA to trap Carlos. He was a deep cover agent posing as a for-hire assassin. The plan was to lure Carlos out by giving him some competition, making him take larger risks to make kills, hopefully leading to his exposure and capture. The plan is botched when…you'll have to read the book, can't reveal too much!

As memories trigger more forgotten memories, he is confronted with a seemingly impenetrable, invincible enemy. Carlos. As Jason attempts to steel himself for a final showdown, important people out of his past reappear. Alexander Conklin, a friend, a former field agent for the CIA, now retired, enters Jason's life trying to convince him of their partnership in the past. Now Jason must decide whether to trust this supposed friend from his murky past, or to kill him, like he has done to so many others, and keep his eyes on the prize so to speak, Carlos.

As the intricate, tangled web of intrigue, espionage, and suspense begin to unfold, the reader is taken on a journey of Bourne's self-discovery and inner struggle, entering upon a world of back-stabbing, double-crossing, and betrayal.

Read on, my fellow readers, for you shant be disappointed.


 * A.J. Mandel, Resident Scholar

The Bourne Supremacy  "Jason Bourne, mystery assasin, is once again chasing someone, this time his wife, Marie St Jacques Webb, because she was kidnapped by an unknown force. He races across China and Taiwan searching for his wife. He is aided by some interesting people including an ex-member of a secret organization which Bourne was once part of. He comes to the climax of his story when he attacks the British consulate consumed by his rage against his government for not acknowledging his cries for help. He also travels to Macao to kill a Kuomintang antagonist who is planning to plunge the whole of East Asia into nuclear war." ** nick dempsey, Resident Scholar