Bourne Legacy

Bourne Legacy by Eric Van Lustbader, 453 pages

After reading Bourne Legacy I am concerned with where the series is headed. Not only does Lustbader kill of two main characters in the first chapter, he also introduces one by the name of Khan. Khan is an assassin that wants to kill Bourne for abandoning him in Cambodia. He also claims to be his son Joshua who Bourne was led to believe was killed along with his wife and daughter. This leads to all kinds of flashbacks that help fill in some of the back story in Jason’s life. The rest of the plot, terrorist trying to kill everyone at an antiterrorist summit seems rushed and secondary to the Jason and Khan fight.

There is also a distinctive loss of David Webb, Jason Bourne’s true identity. While all of the Ludlum books have his mind in a battle between the two, David’s presence is absent throughout most of the novel. This is especially odd given the fact that so many of the memories he is rediscovering are from when he was David Webb. It also makes the character seem more one dimensional as now he is only a super-agent, and not the professor he pretends to be. Sort of like Indian Jones, boring professor by day, awesome kick-ass guy who saves the world by night.

Bourne Identity also only mentions David's wife in passing until the end. There is no concern for her thoughout the novel, not even a passing thought about what she might be going through when he is "killed" and none of her trying to help him. This trying to help was also a main part of the Ludlum series. Marie was always there for David, and was trying to make sure that the part that made him David was not lost to Jason Bourne. I know that Lustbader wrote her off to a safe house somewhere, but with Ludlum that wouldn't have stopped her.

While it seems that Lustbader is missing some of the key elements that made the Bourne novels a step above the rest, Bourne Legacy was still a good book. It will be interesting to see if this continues into just another spy novel series, or if the next book can bring back some of the qualities that elevated it above the rest.