Robert Ludlum's The Lazarus Vendetta: A Covert-One Novel

it's book 5... no i didn't read books 1-4 but i got it for free so here we are.<br />shit just kept going, it wouldn't end... maybe it's shit or maybe it's not for me ??‍♀️

I really enjoy Ludlum's books, but I’ve noticed he tends to repeat the same themes in most books. The following is a list of things I’ve learned about the world by reading Robert Ludlum:<br /><br />1. Everything that happens in the world is linked to either a fringe lunatic who plans to kill three quarters of the world’s population so he can rule over the rest like some ancient emperor; or someone who wants to “improve” national security by reinstating the cold war.<br /><br />2. If you retire from a job as an intelligence operative: <br /> a. You will be framed for treasonous acts by your mentor; <br /> b. Your mentor will be part of the President’s inner circle;<br /> c. The President and the rest of his cronies will place you “beyond salvage” and order you assassinated;<br /> d. Eventually, the President will realize you were framed and say “Oops! My Bad! Sorry about that whole assassination thing. By the way, if you don’t help us stop your mentor, we’ll keep trying to kill you.”<br /><br />3. Finally, if you subscribe to any economic, religious, or political ideology you should get either a false tooth, or a secret pocket in your shirt collar which contains cyanide pills to be used if you are ever abducted.<br />

I Love the Covert-One series (not all evaluated the same). This one kept you on edge and wondering what and where and who...I enjoyed the Audio version by Rick Bell. He's really good and makes the story really interesting.

Lt. Col. Jon Smith is once again called into action as a member of the super secret spy agency known as Covert One. His cover is his military rank and the fact that he is a medical doctor attached to USAMRIID. In the Lazarus Vendetta is there are attacks made on labs that are working on nanotechnology. The Lazarus Movement has devised nano that destroy human. It is a race to save humanity my Jon and his sometime partners from other agencies ... Peter (M16) and Randi (CIA).

When Ludlum died or as ideas developed by him were developed further and written as novels by a stable of authors it seemed that Ludlum's style changed for the better. It became streamlined, more action-oriented, less prone to lengthy passages of chatter recapping what had occurred, explaining again what had been explained and outlining what was to come (the unexpected 'twists' I'd actually been conditioned to expect). Or so I thought: then I slam into this mess like a race car into a tar pit. I have just completed a 60-page passage of this Patrick Larkin (turning pages that lift like roof shingles) which was nothing but chatter, explanation and re-explanation, animated by a narrow-eyed glare or finger point. Patrick, if your premise is so outrageous, if your plot is so utterly ridiculous that it needs constant shoring up with boring, repetitive and ultimately pointless dialogue--stamp it a fail and drop it. I am certainly tempted to do that. A thriller must thrill. It relies on action and momentum. Quit your day job, Patrick, and turn your hand to painting. Might I suggest--as your first canvas-- something a gallery might label "Extremely Still Life With Sigh and Glare." Too, the story progresses (progresses? slogs toward the end, shall we say, like tourists in the Winchester House) through a series of brief vignettes set in various (random?) places around the globe. While these vignettes are presumably intended to cement the novel, they do the opposite. They're more an inventory of incidents than cohesive units of plot. They are merely stakes supporting that teetering premise. They break concentration, they break momentum and when one finally returns to our hero's exploits what's he doing? Chatting over coffee. Seriously? Seriously. Oh, I'm sure there's suspense if one thinks about it: Will the coffee go cold before it's drunk? Will Smith spill the coffee? Are those jeans stain-guarded? What if they're not??? What if they're not!!! I shudder to think...

The Lazarus Vendetta is the fifth book in The Covert One Series created by Robert Ludlum and written in conjunction with other authors. This is the first of the stories written by Patrick Larkin, and the results while acceptable, are not overtly impressive. My main complaint is that the story itself is too far-fetched and unbelievable. As a result, the reader remains an observer of the action rather than a participant in the action. Good stories, I would argue, so envelope the reader that she no longer feels as if she is reading at all. Obviously, believability in every detail is not the essential element to make a story work, but it is fairly important in the thriller/spy genre, especially if said story is set in modern times. Despite how well the other elements of the story may be developed, ultimately the book falls flat if the reader can't imagine the events actually happening in real life. And The Lazarus Vendetta is just a bit too far gone to be fully enjoyed. Longtime readers of The Covert One series will also note that Larkin's style is a bit different than other authors. Most notably he's more graphic (gory), and some of the traits of main characters are portrayed differently. For instance, Fred Klein was addicted to his pipe in the last novel, but his obsession is hardly mentioned at all in this story. In one scene, Jon Smith suddenly develops a conscious towards a would-be attacker and nearly dies as a result. I don't dislike the book, but it falls a bit short when compared to the stories Gayle Lynds has written in the series. As it goes, Gayle Lynds is the best author in the Covert One Series so far, with Patrick Larkin and Phillip Shelby a distant second and third.<br /><br />2 of 5 cups of black coffee.

Maybe it was just where my head was at when I started this book a few months ago. It became one of those books you pick up, read a chapter or two, then set down and forget about for a while. In any event, this books turned out to have enough twists and turns to keep me interested to the end but not enough character development to give it much depth. I'd recommend it for a good diversionary book to occupy time for a few hours by getting lost in the world of super spies and nefarious techno-sociopaths.<br /><br />The Lazarus Vendetta was actually written by Patrick Larkin rather than Robert Ludlum, so is not part of the original Lazarus series by the original author. I find it interested that the one thing the cover hypes is "New York Times Bestselling Series." It is rare to get much better than that in the world of book derivatives. Despite my so-so review, I'd like to read a few more of Patrick Larkin's takes on Ludlum's work before deciding on them one way or the other.

An adventure of outdated style and aesthetics by the late Robert Ludlum. Forty years ago it would have been top notch, but written (or published) after 2000 it looks as fresh as Tutankhamun's body.<br />Agents, spies and bigoted madmen who want to make the world an orchard ... for a few, get involved in a life-and-death struggle, where death strikes silently with nanomachines, while CIA and FBI have their own problems caused by corrupt agents rendering the two services ineffective. The solution is given by Landlam's favorite UNIT (one man show, superman in kevlar vest, Phd owner with extra platinum marine training plus). Or, at least, three cooperating units, which against all odds are fighting to save humanity from the dream of a madman and at the same time stay alive.<br />WILL THEY DO IT? WILL THEY DO IT IN TIME? (oh, c'mon stop chewing your fingernails, you already know the answer).<br /><br />Read it, but only if you have nothing else to do.

Sâmbătă, 25 septembrie<br />Undeva în Zimbabwe, în apropierea văii râului Tuli<br /><br />Ultimele raze ale soarelui dispăruseră şi stelele începuseră să pâlpâie slab pe cerul negru care se boltea deasupra terenului arid. O regiune din Zimbabwe extrem de săracă, chiar şi după standardele extrem de modeste ale acestei ţări cu probleme. Nu se vedeau prea multe lumini care să înfrunte întunericul, iar drumurile pavate care să facă legătura dintre satele izolate din sudul regiunii Matabeleland şi restul lumii erau şi mai rare.<br /><br />  Două faruri apărură brusc în întuneric făcând să iasă la iveală, pentru câteva secunde, copacii uscaţi şi tufişurile ţepoase. O furgonetă Toyota rablagită se chinuia să păstreze direcţia de-a lungul unui drum din pământ bătătorit plin de gropi. Atrase de fasciculul mişcător al farurilor, roiuri de insecte zburau în jurul maşinii, cele mai multe dintre micile vieţuitoare sfârşind zdrobite de parbrizul plin de praf al furgonetei.<br /><br />  — Merde! înjură printre dinţi Gilles Ferrand, luptându-se din greu să stăpânească volanul. Încruntat, francezul înalt, cu barbă, se aplecă peste volan, încercând să vadă drumul prin norul de praf şi de insecte din faţă. Ochelarii cu lentile groase îi alunecaseră în jos pe nas. Îşi luă o mână de pe volan ca să şi-i pună la loc şi imediat trase o nouă înjurătură fiindcă maşina aproape că ieşise de pe drum la o curbă apărută pe neaşteptate.<br /><br />  — Ar fi trebuit să fi plecat mai repede de la Bulawayo, mârâi el în direcţia femeii suple, cu păr cărunt, care şedea în dreapta lui. Această aşa-zisă şosea e groaznică chiar şi pe timp de zi. Acum, noaptea, e un adevărat coşmar. Ar fi fost bine ca avionul să nu fi ajuns aşa de târziu.<br /><br />  Susan Kendall ridică din umeri.<br /><br />  — Dacă dorinţele noastre ar fi peşti, Gilles, atunci am fi cu toţii morţi din cauza intoxicării cu mercur. Proiectul nostru are nevoie de seminţele şi de uneltele care ne-au fost trimise şi atunci când te afli în slujba Mamei, trebuie să accepţi şi anumite inconveniente.<br /><br />  Ferrand se strâmbă, sătul până peste cap să o audă pe colega lui americancă dându-i lecţii. Erau amândoi veterani în Mişcarea Lazarus, luptând pentru salvarea planetei în faţa lăcomiei nesăbuite a capitalismului global. Nu-i plăcea deloc să fie tratat ca un şcolar neinstruit.

What if the worldwide eco-conscious anti-nanotechnology movement you believed so much in was led by a man who had a secret and evil agenda to destroy the world as we know it, using Lazarus followers as disposable pawns? Fearful that The Movement was preparing for a violent attack on science labs worldwide, the FBI and CIA run undercover surveillance on the group. But can they be trusted? The US president isn’t so sure. Enter Lt Col (and doctor/scientist) Jon Smith who is part of Covert-One, a highly secretive spy and investigative program known only to the President. <br />In the opening scene, deadly nanobots are inexplicably released into the atmosphere just as Lazarus followers attack the lab in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thousands of the believers are killed in a horribly gruesome fashion. Who is responsible and why?<br />The Lazarus Vendetta is one is a series of Covert-one books. It’s graphically violent so was sometimes difficult for me to handle. But Larkin’s descriptive talents are also used in setting scenes. Each chapter opens with a detailed and sensory picture of where the reader is now. These read a little slowly sometimes as the mind tries to see where it is, but it’s worth it. Another thing I appreciated was that the number of characters isn’t too many so it’s easy to keep everyone straight even during the most complicated of twists and turns. I don’t usually read this kind of novel so it was a little hard to get into, but by the end I was riveted. <br />It will take me a while to recover from the gruesomeness, but I’ll definitely try another in the series. There is a lot in the novel that made me think about what is going on today in 2020. Can we trust our leaders.... of movements, politics, religion? Are they really who they say they are or are we just blindly following?