Sigma Protocol, The

Inhoud

American investment banker Ben Hartman - son of legendary Max Hartman, who built a financial empire up from next to nothing - is on holiday in Switzerland when he meets one of his oldest childhood friends - who promptly tries to murder him.

From the other side of the world, Anna Navarro, a US government agent is sent to surreptiously look into a stiring string of deaths of old men in Europe. The only thing the vitims have in common is some old OSS file, codenamed SIGMA. But as she starts to make progress, she is dragged off the case and declared rogue. Someone wants a secret kept and the futures of Hartman and Navarro become entwined, and as they get deeper and deeper into trouble, it becomes obvious that there is more at stake than they could have ever imagined...

With The Sigma Protocol, Robert Ludlum has once again delivered the high-octane twists and turns that have marked out his glittering career as one of the most successful commercial authors of all time. Combining a powerful historical narrative with an instinctive grasp of modern geo-politics, this novel will go down as one of his finest.

Bespreking

Such a shame...

While on vacation in Switzerland Ben Hartman, an American investment banker, suddenly stands face to face with his old school friend Jimmy Cavanaugh. They have hardly said hello when without any warning Jimmy pulls a gun on Ben. Thanks to his quick reflexes Ben manages to deflect the assault and kill his attacker. In the meantime, United States Department of Justice Agent Anna Navarro is on the trail of a series of seemingly unrelated deaths. When Anna and Ben's paths cross, they start to unravel a plot that has already influenced the face of our planet gravely and only promises to widen its influence even more. One thing is clear: Jimmy's death was not the last...

The Sigma Protocol was published a few months after the death of its author Robert Ludlum in 2001. After struggling through this dome of a novel, one cannot avoid to wonder if publishing this work was a good idea. All the Ludlum trademarks are obviously present: fast plot, many twists, an enormous list of kills and a mega explosive finale. But... maybe The Sigma Protocol has too much of the stuff. It become too much formula and not enough inventiveness. After a while it starts read like some sermons: run, almost getting killed, alley killed instead, run, find other alley, almost getting killed, alley dead, run and so on. A good editor would have cut the size of the novel into half and made it an exciting story. Now we remain with something that drags and drags. This should never have been allowed to be Ludlum's last...