Ludlum,
Robert. The Prometheus Deception. St. Martin’s. Oct.
2000. c384p. ISBN 0-312-25346-X. $27.95. Fiction.
After 22 novels, Ludlum (The Hades Factor) delivers yet again
a top-notch international thriller sure to please fans of
popular entertainment. Trust no one. These are the words
that Nicholas Bryson, former deep-cover black ops specialist
for a shadowy group called the Directorate, must live by
when he learns that the covert agency he has served for much
of his life, and which has forced him out after a disastrous
mission, is not what he had always thought. Instead of being
a hero, he learns that he was used as a pawn by forces inimical
to the U.S. With his life now a massive deception, he is
driven by revenge and a need to understand the past into
a desperate search for those responsible. But what he discovers
is much worse than anything he might have imagined. This is a rousing thriller
with all the trademarks of a Ludlum bestseller—heart-pounding chase scenes,
devastating double-crosses, gut-wrenching twists, fast-paced action, fierce confrontations,
pressure that ratchets up to an explosive conclusion, and, as always, authentic
international locales, high-tech gadgetry, and sophisticated spycraft. Highly
recommended.