The Bourne thrillers were written by Robert Ludlum and sold over 400 million books. When Ludlum died in 2001, the continuation of the Bourne series was given to Brian Freeman. Freeman has mastered Ludlum’s style and added his own twists. 

Some of those twists are predictable but you keep turning the pages anyway. You just have to! From the outset, you know Bourne is going to reunite with his ex-lover by the end of the book. You know that the evil character will survive Bourne’s many efforts to kill him. Like Darth Vader, Moriarty, Lux Luthor in Superman, Spectre in James Bond films and the Joker in the DC Comics, Bourne’s nemesis is always out there, waiting to reappear – probably in the next book. 

The story is totally unbelievable because of the many coincidences – a classic thriller technique. Beautiful women appear just at the right moment. The trusted colleague is discovered to be in league with the baddies just at the nick of time. Spies are spotted in a crowded train station despite their disguises. But you don’t care if it’s unbelievable. The writing is tight and tense. You want to spot the traitor before Bourne does. Clues are everywhere. 

THE BOURNE SACRIFICE is contemporary. The bad buys and the good guys are both using social media and deep fakes to set the political agenda, track their enemies and ultimately kill them off. Bourne is a killer, too – but only for a good cause. How many people are killed in this thriller? I lost count. The settings are Iceland, Germany, America and Paris. There is something for every reader who loves a good thriller.

Brian Freeman is the author of his own thrillers – the Jonathan Stride and the Frost Easton series. 

THE BOURNE SACRIFICE is published by Bloomsbury’s imprint, Head of Zeus, 2022

RRP : $30.00

ISBN: 9781803285870

Review by Carol Dance