What do You think about The Apocalypse Watch (1996)?
Ludlum’s nineteenth, and another New York Times Bestseller. I’ve read and enjoyed all the others. The story: Agent H. Latham has penetrated a neo-Nazi organization called the Brotherhood Of The Watch. BOTW is actively planning the Fourth Reich with a new Fuhrer and a high-tech brain implant and much infiltration, undercover work, and Lebensraum. Latham returns to France from the neo-Nazi camp deep in totally protected German mountain ranges with a list of neo-Nazi collaborators from around the world. Apparently the list contains hundreds if not thousands of names, many of whom are top leaders in every significant country in the world.Latham is killed by the BOTW elite exterminator squad in Paris, and his brother, an agent for a different branch of the US government, swears to complete the mission and find his brother’s killers. He does. Along the way he involves a cast of scores from many nations and enough derringdo, explosions, citadel assaults and a murky romantic sub-plot to satisfy almost anyone.But it’s too bad the printing industry invented italic type. Ludlum uses a lot of it. Sometimes it signifies internal thought, usually in turmoil. Sometimes italics are used for emphasis. There’s a lot of that. In fact, it is rare to find anyone in this book, except perhaps an occasional waiter, who doesn’t cry, scream, explode (verbally) yell, sob, insist, demand. Characters rarely walk, instead they run, jump, fly, crash, fling themselves, pivot, agonize, plunge, etc., etc. To suggest this novel is neither well-written nor well edited isperhaps, an overstatement. If you like this sort of stuff, here’s a whiz-banger for you. The plot is up-to-date for 1996, drawn from current real-life thought and action. It’s just too bad Ludlum didn’t do a better job of exploring this truly frightening world movement.
—Carl Brookins
Ugh. We can all agree that Ludlum's dialogue is a really easy target, right? Like everyone else, there are some books that just aren't my cup of tea, but this book has been the first in which I really enjoyed the turns of events and liked the characters well enough, but would literally get angry with Ludlum that he was soaking those great factors in such obnoxious dialogue. There seems to be a 1:1:1 ratio of action description, character development, and dialogue so unnecessary, so inauthentic, and so self-indulgent as to give up on reading the book all the way through. The worst.
—Chris
I liked it for the fast pace and the use of foreshadowing. However, I was disappointed by a few of the twists. Overall, it's just another thriller with the Nazis. Description:Ludlum delivers another fast-paced, action-filled, cinematic story in The Apocalypse Watch. Drew Latham is a Special Officer for the American Consular Operations in Paris while his older brother, Harry, is in a deep undercover operation in Germany, penetrating the Neo-Nazi Brotherhood of the Watch. Harry disappears suddenly, leaving everyone uncertain about the state of the operation. When Harry resurfaces, there are only more questions and complications. The information he smuggled out of Germany seems incredible and awful and no one knows what to believe. Drew has to take on his brother's identity and decide who to trust in this frantic race to prevent the Fourth Reich.Similar books: Tom Clancy
—Mary-Elizabeth
