|
Robert Ludlum lives on, at least in spirit. The latest work to be issued under his name, THE AMBLER WARNING, is a ghostwritten homage not only for Ludlum but also for Eric Ambler, a departed author who arguably is the father of 20th century espionage fiction. The Ambler of the novel, however, refers to a very confused man named Hal Ambler, who is in the middle of a major identity crisis.
THE AMBLER WARNING opens at a clandestine psychiatric facility on a restricted-access island just off the coast of Virginia, within spitting distance of Langley. The facility ostensibly treats intelligence agents who may know too much or who are too dangerous to leave wandering among the general populace. One of these patients is Hal Ambler, who is kept heavily medicated and guarded at all times. When a hospital worker helps him escape, Ambler doesn't think twice before jumping, and almost immediately reverts to form in utilizing the training and skills that ultimately got him hospitalized in the first place.
Ambler's immediate goal is to determine who caused him to be hospitalized, and why. There's one problem, however: Ambler does not exist. There is no record of him anywhere. Worse, when he looks in the mirror, he doesn't recognize the man he sees looking back. What Ambler does uncover, though, is that someone is attempting to frame him for the murders of foreign heads of state, with a most significant one being ready to occur within a rather short period of time. Ambler, with the might and majesty of the U.S. intelligence service hunting him, finds a couple of unlikely allies, including an agency number-cruncher who is able to extrapolate conclusions from raw data with extremely accurate results.
Ambler himself has an amazing ability as well, one that permits him to read an individual's facial expressions and body language with unerring accuracy and thus determine their true intent and motivation; Ambler is, in other words, a veritable truth detector. But as he races to prevent an assassination that will have worldwide repercussions, Ambler discovers that everything he has come to believe may be wrong after all --- and the stakes are too high for error.
THE AMBLER WARNING is reminiscent of the works of both its namesake and of Ludlum, though it is not quite the equal of either. It does, however, serve as a fine introduction for those unfamiliar with those works actually written by Ludlum during his lifetime. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is its conclusion. Those of a particular geopolitical bent could argue, quite correctly, that the good guys lost; for readers who keep abreast of world politics and economics, the ending will provide a number of elements for discussion.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
Click here to get the audiobook from Audible.com.
© Copyright 1996-2010, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
