The Bourne Shadow

May 13, 2024
The rousing fifth entry in Freeman’s reboot of the Jason Bourne series (after The Bourne Defiance) revisits the amnesiac hero’s first assignment for black ops agency Treadstone. Ten years ago, David Webb was working as a teacher in Zurich when he was recruited into Treadstone and sent to infiltrate Le Renouveau, “the most poisonous neo-Nazi cell in Europe.” When, as a final test of his loyalty, his handlers instructed him to kill his fiancée, Monika Roth, the mission went awry, and his memory of it was wiped by a traumatic brain injury. Now, he’s living as Jason Bourne in Paris, and a contentious presidential campaign pitting a right-wing extremist against an establishment candidate is in full flame. Le Renouveau has reemerged to foment protest in the extremist’s favor, and some of its members target Bourne for reasons he can’t decipher. While dining at a café, he’s approached by Monika’s sister, Johanna, who recognizes him as David Webb. Together, the pair crisscross Europe in search of Monika, digging up answers about what exactly went wrong for Bourne a decade ago along the way. Freeman keeps things brisk and punchy, generating a surprising amount of heat by finding a fresh way to revisit Bourne’s amnesia. Fans of Ludlum’s original trilogy or the film adaptations will be riveted. Agent: Deborah Gelfman, Gelfman Schneider Literary.

June 1, 2024
Freeman's fifth Jason Bourne novel is a real corker. As devoted fans know, "Jason Bourne" is a name adopted by David Webb after he joined Operation Treadstone, the top-secret agency of the U.S. government. His original identity is a closely guarded secret, known to virtually no one, and when Bourne meets someone who knows that he is really Webb, it sets off all sorts of alarms. Who is this woman? How could she possibly know his real name? And, most importantly, what other secrets from Bourne's past have been uncovered? Freeman's pacing, a key element in an action thriller, is impeccable: he knows just when he can slow things down to let the reader spend time with the characters without it ever feeling like he's shoehorning dialogue scenes into the pyrotechnics. His Bourne novels bear little resemblance to Robert Ludlum's original novels, except for the bare-bones details of Webb/Bourne's early life, but that's fine. Freeman's Bourne books are excellent thrillers in their own right, and this one is just as good as his earlier novels in the series.

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