I remember vividly the first time I read one of Robert Ludlum's novels. I was in high school and had stumbled upon The Bourne Identity. The book oscillated between a plot moving at a frenetic pace and a series of flashbacks allowing you to slow down and get a deeper sense of who Bourne was, and why he did what he did. I came to appreciate the flashbacks almost more than the forward plot. The Bourne Identity wasn't the only one of Ludlum's novel to employ this technique. It was something that kept me coming back to him throughout my teenage years.So it was with a sense of nostalgia and optimism that I recently started one of his later works, The Scorpio Illusion. At first, the plot is pure Ludlum. Our hero, Tyrell Hawthorne, is a former intelligence officer whose wife was murdered, a victim of "the games spies play." Now he has been called out of retirement as supposedly the only man alive who can track down a deadly terrorist. Amaya Bajaratt is beautiful (of course) and deadly; worse still she has set in motion a horrifying conspiracy that no one can seem to stop. The life of the U.S. president and various world leaders hang in the balance as Hawthorne follows Amaya's trail to uncover the secret group, The Scorpios, that exists to help her. Sounds like a great spy-thriller-beach-read, right? Unfortunately, Ludlum seems to have rushed through this book. Gone are all of the character building flashbacks and carefully revealed details that allow the reader to lose himself in the world of espionage. He fell victim to one a genre writer's worst enemies. He expected his readers to fill in the blanks themselves.One of the joys of reading genre fiction is allowing yourself to fall into the world the author creates. Yes, it is usually a very familiar place, especially if you have read much of a particular author. But an escape into that well crafted world is exactly what the reader is looking for. The Scorpio Illusion is simply not one of Ludlum's best. While the plot moved along at his usual breakneck speed, the characters were so utterly flat I had a hard time getting invested in any of it. Most of the dialogue sounded like it was taken from a 1970's cop show, complete with all the requisite stereotypes these shows made famous. While I still think most of Ludlam's work sets the standard for the spy/thriller genre, I would not recommend reading this book if you are new to Ludlam. His earlier work was much better.
Ho letto questo libro nell'interezza delle sue 484 pagine... Qualche difficoltà all'inizio ma superato circa 1/4 del libro il resto l'ho letto in meno di 24 ore! Letteralmente divorato in due pomeriggi dello scorso weekend! E' un libro che prende se si ha la costanza di superare il "punto critico". Bel libro, sicuramente attuale, con un finale che lascia intravedere un lieto fine ma che si rivela comunque intelligente e non bello e dorato come poi la vita reale quasi mai è...Citazione:"Le illusioni dello scorpione spiega il meccanismo di certi atroci enigmi che ci sgomentano; Ludlum sa molte cose dell'intrigo terroristico internazionale" (Alberto Bevilacqua, Corriere della Sera)La trama riportata sul retro della copertina:Citazione:Temeraria e spietata, l'abilissima terrorista internazionale Amaya Bajaratt prepara un piano per colpire i leader delle grandi potenze mondiali, primo fra tutti il Presidente degli Stati Uniti. A nulla valgono le misure di sicurezza messe in atto dai servizi segreti contro l'abilità della protagonista. Solo una persona, il suo ex-amante Tyrell Hawtorne, è in grado di darle del filo da torcere. Tra i due inizia un implacabile duello dall'esito imprevedibile.Citazione:La complicata rete di storie e intrighi messa a punto da Ludlum affascina e ha un effetto ipnotizzante... Basta iniziare a leggere.
What do You think about The Scorpio Illusion (2015)?
I don't usually subscribe to books about espionage, war, or politics, but somehow the father of my friend coerced me into reading it telling me to take it with me on a long roadtrip for entertainment purposes. Well, I was very much entertained by Amaya Bajarat and the intensity of her passions, her fierceness, her fearlessness, her complexities...I wanted to be her. So, really, I cannot say much about the plot or how significant it is to me, or what I think of Ludlum, I only love this book because of Amaya.
—Meg Sanchez
Well, this is action so even if it sounds too much of a far-fetched spy-thriller, you cannot just leave it there and need to finish the story. Lots of espionage there, thrilling conspiracies over and over, but here again, I would´ve cut it down a bit.
—Frank Cardenas
I thought it was horrible. The plot was decent, though far-fetched. The dialogue & narrative were trite, verbose & irritating. The book could easily have been condensed to 400 pages, rather than the 664 pages it was. When I started it, I thought, 'OK, this is bad, but I'll give it 100 pages to improve.' It didn't, but by then I was hooked on the plot itself. That's the reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, which I would have if I'd put it away when the thought first hit me. I'll never pick up another Robert Ludlum book. I give myself 1 star for wasting the time reading it.
—Jess
