The Bourne Treachery

May 24, 2021
Thriller Award winner Freeman’s worthy sequel to 2020’s The Bourne Evolution finds Bourne, “the man with no memory and no past,” and love interest Nova, his partner in the Treadstone spy organization, in Tallinn, Estonia, on a doomed mission to rescue a U.S. double agent, Grigori Kotov. As they escort Kotov through the streets of Tallinn, Bourne hears a Beatles song from a distant radio. During a subsequent clash with FSB agents, Bourne hears one of the Russians say the name Lenin. In fact, he was referring to Lennon, as in John Lennon. Three years later, Nova has died in a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nev., and Bourne is in London, where he’s trying to prevent a mysterious world-class assassin known as Lennon, who has a lethal girlfriend code-named Yoko, from killing a Russian ecoterrorist out to strike a blow against Russian oligarchs. Freeman supplies plenty of exciting fight scenes and plot twists, but his convincing use of Bourne’s fraught backstory is what distinguishes this entry. Series fans will look forward to more contributions to the Bourne franchise from this talented author. Agent: Sloan Harris, ICM Partners.

June 1, 2021
Nothing is ever as it seems when deadly enemies clash in the latest entry in the long-running Ludlum series continued by Freeman. As his many fans already know, Jason Bourne has neither memory nor past because of a gunshot that nearly killed him. His secretive employer, Treadstone, has him protecting Grigori Kotov, a Russian ex-double agent and former KGB killer who is plotting to overthrow Putin. Throughout Bourne's adventures, he leaves a trail of beautiful women behind, casualties of his complicated, messy world. The latest is the heavily tattooed and unbelievably sexy spy Nova, thought to have been killed in an Estonian harbor explosion three years ago. Bourne's frightful and worthy foe is Lennon, whom the CIA wants him to kill and who thinks his frequent Beatles references are amusing. There's also the Gaia Crusade, a group of hyperenvironmentalists who believe that world leaders are raping Mother Earth and who will kill to protect her. "Praise Gaia," their members say. The past, or lack thereof, is the recurring theme threading through the whole series and plaguing the hero. The past either didn't exist or was never over, but the apparently contradictory thoughts come to the same thing. Anyway, Bourne had better deal with the present, which is filled with bloody violence and the prospect of great sex. All those tattoos, oh my. But as the title says, there's treachery. And Lennon has surprises for Bourne and for the reader. This is a tightly plotted, complex yarn with the fast pace that will keep readers flipping the pages. Never mind that it's formulaic; readers won't care. Of course Bourne will never recall his past. Of course he'll face mortal combat with an evil equal. And of course a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman will enter his life, but she won't change it. The man's a good guy, but he's also a killer. This may wind up on the big screen, but don't wait for the movie. It's a fun read.

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June 1, 2021
In The Bourne Evolution (2020), Freeman rebooted Robert Ludlum's durable hero, Jason Bourne, essentially retconning Eric Van Lustbader's previous books in the series out of existence. Freeman also updated the character, setting that novel and its new sequel in the present day and resetting the events of the first book, The Bourne Identity, published in 1980, to "a few years ago." Now you're up to speed. Here Bourne learns that a previous Treadstone mission was not what it seemed, and that a double agent still lurks within the highest levels of the Russian government. Bourne is determined to find the double agent, and to correct the mistakes of his past (which include the murder of the woman he loved). Freeman, who's perhaps best known for his mystery series about homicide cop Jonathan Stride, is an excellent storyteller, and a fine writer. His two Bourne novels--and we hope there will be more--take a much-loved character and breathe new life into him, giving him new energy and a renewed purpose. Fans of Ludlum's iconic character will definitely want to read this.

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