Master of action

AS a teenager in 1980, I remember reading this tale of suspense and international intrigue with rounded eyes. Robert Ludlum, master of the spy thriller, kept me up at night completely engrossed in his heart-pounding chase scenes, devastating double crosses, amazing action, all spiced up with satire. His were stories involving devious corporate strategies, cool techno- gadgetry and sophisticated yet sexy women of the world.

Ludlum, who passed away on March 12, 2001, wrote over 20 novels. His books have been translated into 32 languages, made into 2 TV movies and 2 big screen features (with one more due this year, The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.)

Robert Ludlum was born in New York City. At the age of 14, he left home to go on stage. Though his parents fetched him back and made him go to school, he never forgot his love for acting and resumed his acting career after he graduated. After a few years he turned to producing plays and was successful at this but not content. In 1971 he turned to writing and the rest is thriller history.

His first novel was The Scarlatti Inheritance, a story of international terror and intrigue, revolving around a file whose contents could destroy many of the Western world's greatest reputations if they were made known. He went on to write several other novels, dealing with plots as varied as Hitler's quest to preserve the Master Race (The Holcroft Covenant) and an amnesiac trying to find his identity before he gets killed (The Bourne Identity). He also wrote four novels under the pseudonyms "Michael Shepherd" and "Jonathan Ryder". After his other novels turned out to be blockbusters, these were reissued under his own name.

Robert Ludlum's novels have been compared to James Bond movies - fast-paced, slick action, sophisticated weapons, sexy blond women and international locales. His plots often involved secret manuscripts and corporate shenanigans but it was the thrilling action that kept millions of readers clamouring for more. Unlike John Le Carre and Tom Clancy, who write complicated, well researched but slow spy novels, Robert Ludlum wrote eminently readable page-turners. His books plunged the reader into an exciting and intriguing world with a minimum of effort on the latter's part. His heavy-handed use of italics was reminiscent of writing from an earlier era, but there was nothing Victorian about the steamy bedroom scenes and the violent yet sophisticated exploits of his heroes.

As he himself once wrote - "I am an entertainer, albeit one with the temerity to deal frequently with serious ideas, or concepts... simple things like the abuse of power, the conspiracies of manipulators, the sanctimonious screamers hell- bent on transforming their personal morality into everyone else's legality, the bastards of social contract who corrupt the agreement between the governing and the governed."

He recently began a new series entitled the Covert One Series, featuring a top-secret team of political and technical experts who fight corruption and conspiracy at the highest and most dangerous levels of society. The first book in the series was The Hades Factor, a collaboration between Ludlum and best-selling thriller writer Gayle Lynds. The book received excellent reviews. His readers will deeply regret the fact that they will never know what happens next to Ludlum's most exciting character since the Jason Bourne series, Lt. Col. Jonathan Smith, a former combat doctor now attached to the United States Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Is it possible that he left behind plots for future novels stashed away in some secret lair?

Robert Ludlum is no more, but his gripping novels of wit, intrigue and suspense, with their high pressure situations and explosive conclusions, will continue to entertain many more lovers of adventure fiction.

VIDYA PRADHAN

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