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Robert Ludlum's books used to keep me up at night. When I began one, I felt compelled to read it from cover to cover in one sitting, so I usually saved new titles for a Friday night. Of course, this was back in the 1980s ... when my eyes and my brain could go without sleep.

It's not that Ludlum's hero, Jason Bourne, has lost any of his charm. In fact, the guy hasn't aged a day. I'm still a fan ... only now, I'm a fan that needs a good night's rest so I can function the next day.

The book begins with Bourne and a ladyfriend on vacation in Bali. Bourne gets shot and dies before page 30.

Now before you get your knickers in a knot because I spoiled the story, think about it. Bourne can't really die on page 30 of a 423 page Jason Bourne book, now can he? 

What happens between pages 31 and 423 is classic Jason Bourne, even though his creator, Robert Ludlum, died in 2001.(A deal was struck between Ludlum's publisher and writer Eric Van Lustbader to keep the successful series going. Ludlum wrote the three original Jason Bourne books, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum. Van Lustbader has written four, The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Betrayal and The Bourne Sanction. Matt Damon turned the series into a string of successful movies with a world-wide following.)

This time around, it seems that someone in America's intelligence community is itching to start a war with Iran. How Bourne fits into the plot, why the war mongers want him dead, and how he is able to stay one step ahead of his would-be assasins is why I keep turning the pages, even if I have to stop every now and again to sleep.

Read my review of The Bourne Deception in an upcoming edition of the News-Telegram.

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