Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Initiative

The prize at the center of Lustbader’s outlandish 11th entry in the late Robert Ludlum’s Bourne franchise (after 2016’s The Bourne Enigma) is a weaponized computer program developed by the late Gen. Boris Karpov, of the Russian FSB, to penetrate American defenses and gain access to the U.S. president’s nuclear codes. Since Jason Bourne, who was Karpov’s best friend, is believed to hold the key to that program, he’s sought by many powerful, dangerous people, including Somali overlord Keyre; Mala Ilves (aka the Angelmaker), a deadly killer trained by Keyre; and Gora Maslov, the head of the Russian mafia family that rules Moscow. Many characters are maimed, tortured, and killed, but Bourne, though beaten and battered by his foes, is not bested as he’s led and misled on a journey that takes him from the Aegean to Russia, Africa, the U.S., and back to Russia. No one is what they seem, and the endless deceptions reliably lead to the extravagant action scenes that are Lustbader’s hallmark. Series fans will eagerly await Bourne’s next adventure. [em]Agent: Henry Morrison, Henry Morrison Inc. (June) [/em]