I am reviewing the novel The Cassandra Compact by Robert Ludlum et al which is an excellent thriller which I bought from a car boot sale. This book is the second book in the Covert One series and recently I reviewed the first book The Hades Factor. The series is about a fictional U S counterespionage & terrorist department a bit like a subdivision of the C I A. This book I think is a little bit better than the previous book although both are worth reading. The book was written and is set during the Cold War and is about a plot by the Russians to release a mutated form of Smallpox in America. Because it is mutated the convential treatments and vaccines won't work on it and new ones will to be developed. They smuggle it into America and quite early on Covert One realise they are looking for a Russian agent called Beria and later discover he plans on delivering the bioweapon via a space shuttle which entails leaving no witnesses on board. Obviously there is a happy ending and much of the story is edge of the seat stuff. I did really enjoy reading it and The Cassandra Compact refers to the special box the disease is stored in. At one time many people died from smallpox every year and it is a horrendous disease but I think it has been eradicated even in the third world largely by vaccinations. Finally this book is around 400 pages so like a lot of Ludlum's work is a decent length and a satisfying read.
This book is a part of the Covert one series. In this one, the members have to stop a conspiracy to unleash a stronger, unstoppable version of the smallpox. I thought that the way that the action was a nonstop thrill ride was great. This book definetly fits into the world that Ludlam created. The way that the main caratcher, Jon Smith, was a great reminder of the past heroes in this genre such as Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher. The writing itself was very standard for a ludlam novel. That is not a bad thing by any means. He wouldn’t be a major league novelist if he didn’t write great books. The fact that this book was able to capture the esscnce of a really great action thriller. It really does feel like you are in the middle of movie theatre watching a major action star running around trying to save the day. There wasnot really anything bad about this book. It played oiut the way that any real Ludlam fan would expect it to. I know that there are some of you out there that are going to get on me about me yet again adding movie related stuff to my reviews. But this book fits perfectly with that type of thing. The point is that this book is so vivid that it would make a great movie along with the great book that it already is.
I preferred this book to 'The Hades Factor' personally because it was more in depth and more gripping than the other book. I found it to be unpredictable which made it a good read for me an it had me glued to my book just to see what would happen. I liked the set-up of the book and the story line and I even thought the ending was good (I normally hate endings of books because they don't live up to my expectations) I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone over the age of around 10+ because it was an easy but interesting read.
—Britany Bracewell
The Cassandra Compact, by Robert Ludlum and Philip ShelbyJon Smith is sent to rescue Yuri Danko, who has called the secure line and asked to be extracted. Danko has a piece of terrifying news, but before he can tell Jon, he is cut down in a spray of gunfire by assassins. Smith deduces that someone is out to steal a sample of smallpox from the Russian cache of bioweapons and perhaps manipulate it to make it more virulent. This is a face-paced, exciting and scary book. Lots of action and shoot-em-up. Not exactly my thing, but I did enjoy it.
—Mary Taitt
"What they're going to do, I would never have believed it. It's insanity!" They were the last words spoken by Yuri Danko, an officer in the medical division of Russia's security service, before his body was ripped apart by a spray of assassin's bullets. Now Covert-One's Jon Smith has Danko's classified papers, and he's unearthed a terrifying global conspiracy. A Serb terrorist has been despatched from Russia to smuggle hazardous vials of a deadly bacteria into the United States. His mission: to deliver them to an unknown US government agent. Then both men are murdered, and the deadly bacteria is stolen... It's up to Lt Col Smith to find the madman who possesses it, before he holds a defenceless world hostage with the power to render the human race extinct.
—Al
