I have to admit now: Robert Ludlum is my guilty pleasure.His books are addictive. I don't mind having him as my most-read author. His stories give me cheap thrills. Cheap in both literal and figurative senses. Literal because his books are being sold for about $1 or $2 and they flood the second-hand bookshops. Figurative because whenever I mention to my literary friends that I love Robert Ludlum, I do not get thumbs up unlike when I say that my favorite author is Leo Tolstoy or Alan Hollinghurst.Robert Ludlum is so commercial that it is almost expected that any thirtyish or fortyish man like me would at some point in his life, read all the Ludlum books available in the marketplace. Nobody pays attention if a man (or even a woman) reads or even professes his admiration to his works. It is like John Grisham or Dan Brown for the current generation. Or maybe my non-literary reader-friends would still be in awe if they hear somebody reading Dan Brown since it's been only a decade ago when the duo bestsellers, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons hit the market.The Hades Factor started the Covert One series so it was here where Sgt. Jon Smith was introduced. It was in this book where his girlfriend and fellow scientist, Sarah Russell died because of viral epidemic. I thought I felt that the event in the book was similar to the SARS that started in Hong Kong in 2003. I thought that maybe Ludlum was inspired by that event. Then I noticed that this book was first published in 2000, a year before Ludlum died. So, Ludlum actually sort of predicted that some kind of disease from monkey would spread throughout the world 3 years before it actually happened.So, if Aldous Huxley predicted the use of hallucinatory drugs for brainwashing or cloning of babies, Robert Ludlum predicted the spread of monkey (or fowl) virus worldwide. It's quite creepy thinking about all these good novelists being able to predict some catastrophic events in the near future.A film shooting of another movie of the Bourne series is being shot here in Manila. That's one reason why I also picked this book. I wanted to go to the shooting to watch until I realized that it is Robert Ludlum who I admire and not some kind of crappy second-rate actor. Sorry, I just miss Matt Damon. Why the hell they decided to let go of him?I have to complete this series. One of the best book series that I've read.
The Hades factor is a fast paced book with many different stories from all sides of the book. Once you get into it you can't stop reading. When you think it's over, an entirely new variable comes in. You also can never really over think it. In fact, it helps a ton if you do. Overall, I think this book is amazingly well written and couldn't be better. Initially, the Hades Factor starts with the mysterious deaths of three people from a disease. Jon Smith and Sophia Russel are on the case. They are also a couple too. Sophia finally thought of a disease and called up a doctor. His name was Victor Tremont and just so happened to be the bad guy. Soon, he found that she was on her trail and sent a man named al-Hassen to eliminate her. He got the job done and injected her with the virus. Jon finds this out and starts to try to find out who did it. That's when he leaves and the army, CIA, and the enemy are all on his tail. Now it's a detective mission and he has to find the killer that made this virus and put a stop to him before he kills tons of people and makes a fortune on it by making an antidote. Smith is joined by an S.A.S. agent, a computer genius, and Sophia's sister. They all follow the trails to Tremont where they finally get the proof of the virus killing the thousands of people and that Tremont is behind it. They bring out the evidence right before he gets a medal for making the serum and the money. This book actually reminds me a little bit about the Giver. In the Giver, the civilians think that everything is right and perfect. There's nothing wrong with the way everything is done. That's when Jonas comes in and finds out that the government really kills people when they release them.
What do You think about The Hades Factor (2001)?
COVERT-ONE One of the leading suspense novelists, there are over 200 million copies of Robert Ludlum's books in print. The first entry in Covert-One, a bold new series of intrigue, espionage, and modern warfare, featuring three brave men who risk their lives to uncover the truth behind today's most deadly power plays... ROBERT LUDLUM'STHE HADES FACTOR "Ludlum pulls out all the stops and dazzles his readers."--"Chicago Tribune" A baffling virus has claimed the lives of four people across the country--including Dr. Sophia Russell, a research scientist working to understand the disease. Bitter and broken-hearted over the death of his beautiful fianc e, Jon Smith is determined to uncover the cause of the virus that killed her--and prevent it from turning into a pandemic of epic proportions. He'll travel across the globe and into the darkest corridors of murder and greed, to find a killer who would sacrifice millions of lives for his own success Visit the Covert-One website: www.CovertOne.com
—Al
I am reviewing the novel The Hades Factor by Robert Ludlum et al which is a very good thriller which I bought from a carboot sale. Ludlum prior to his death was the world's biggest selling author. I think he's most famous for the Matthew Bourne series. This book is the first book in the Covert One series and at the end of the book this organisation is set up. The plot is someone has released a deadly virus on to an unsuspecting public. It starts off with a vagrant going in a pharmacists to buy some painkillers in desperation for his acute headache even though he doesn't have enough money and ends up damaging the shop and assaulting one of the staff. The police are called but before he can be taken in to custody he is taken to a hospital where he subsequently dies of an unknown virus. Many other people start dropping like flies from this virus that appears similiar to hantavirus. A company claims they have developed a cure for this illness that apparently infects apes. They are charging millions of dollars and look set to become quite wealthy. Jonathan Smith who is an officer in the army and worked at the laboratory facility his life is in danger from the pharmaceutical company and in addition his fiancee has died of the virus. He survives lots of attempts made on his life and is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on. Smith assembles his own team which presumably will become Covert One and they head to Baghdad in an Iraq that is still governed by Saddam Hussein. There is a happy ending and this book is a decent length and quite an enjoyable read.
—David Roberts
Standard covert-one novel. As usual the plot is good, like other novels of the series. A deliberately engineered lethal virus is spread to cause a pandemic, for financial profits and it kills the fiancee of Smith, the protagonist. He starts an investigation which leads to capture of the powerful nexus. The story is decently paced, but at times paused by emotional ramblings. My favorite character is Marty, the computer geek. I could spot some minor flaws in the story line. If I got the chronology correct, Smith was attacked before Sophia got involved in the case, which has not reason. Attack on Smith should have been preceded by Sophia's involvement. Next the murder of Director of NHI, who deleted phone/lab records and was subsequently run over, was never investigated, while it should have given important clues. Even if the author wanted to highlight it as a humanly mistake of the protagonist, it should have mentioned in third person. Overall a good book.
—Somnath Banerjee
