Defiance: The Latest in The Bourne Series
BOOK REVIEW: Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Defiance
By Brian Freeman / G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Reviewed by Elizabeth C. MacKenzie Biedell
The Reviewer: Elizabeth MacKenzie Biedell writes about democracy, national security, and intelligence reform. Previously she served nearly a decade in the CIA and State Department.
REVIEW — Like the designation ‘beach read,’ Robert Ludlum’s books frequently are labeled ‘airport fiction’ likely referring to the books’ jet-setting and larger-than-life action, a pure escapism that a reader off to a destination can purchase and then disappear into while they too travel. The Bourne Defiance, Brian Freeman’s latest novel in the successful Jason Bourne series originated by Robert Ludlum, meets these criteria and more. The book features near constant global locale changes, shootouts, and a love triangle. You are free to move about the cabin, but maybe you won’t want to.
Freeman is the second writer to stand in for Ludlum in the Bourne series and all signs point to this being another blockbuster book in the series. In this latest iteration, Jason Bourne continues to be tangled up in Treadstone activities, only this time Treadstone agents are the victims. Several agents assigned to a long ago mission named Defiance are being targeted and killed by unknown assassins. Bourne takes it as his mission to uncover the purpose of the Defiance mission and who wants it covered up. Helped by an old girlfriend, who is also a trained agent, the book spends considerable time on Bourne’s love interests as he tries to remain true to his feelings for his current girlfriend who, not inconsequentially, is writing a novel with a former Secretary of State.
The plot centers around the disappearance of an airliner, and the cause and villains remain elusive until the very end of the book. To keep the tension Freeman pits Bourne again and again against a fellow Treadstone assassin, Abel, who has turned out to be a mole for the Russians, now named Lennon. The book also features several minor characters who work for US intelligence that try to help Bourne. But because they have accepted they can never ask questions of their superiors, who all seem useless and robotic. That was something that initially seemed unnecessarily implausible, but it actually ups the escapist factor to have Bourne as the only good person, a true hero.
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Freeman does a great job with dialogue and pacing. Like the latest Jack Ryan series or Mission Impossible movie, this book is entertainment first and foremost. This lacks the more complex themes of a David Ignatius book or the rich locale detail of a Daniel Silva, but it moves quickly and maintains some tension. At times, I found Bourne’s journey to solve the mystery hard to follow, as blame is cast in many different directions, clearly intending to lead the reader astray. I started to lose interest in the machinations of the cover up and was just eager to see the mastermind revealed. I was a little underwhelmed. The guilty party is not that believable as a villain and the conspiracy is far-fetched. But I suppose that is the point. Under-developing the characters leaves plenty of space to break down the dynamics of the half dozen or more gunfights. Like a video game, there are so many dead people, but because the dust never really settles, we can be on to the next chase.
Overall, I enjoyed the continuation of Bourne’s adventures and his continued attempts to recapture his memory. But at the end of the day, I prefer espionage fiction that is moored to reality. And because this book takes as its premise the existence of conspiracies by American political figures that involves murdering several fellow government employees, Bourne books will remain for me always ‘airport fiction’– nothing more, but perhaps more importantly, nothing less.
The Bourne Defiance earns a solid three out of four trench coats.
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