I jumped right into the middle of The Jason Bourne series when I read, in a moment of desperation, The Bourne Sanction by Eric Van Lustbader over the Christmas break. My desperation arose because I found myself in need of something to read (I am a junkie that way) and borrowed this one off a mate. There have been nine books so far in the series, the first three written by Robert Ludlum, all of which have since been translated into top grossing movies - The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. The movies were my introduction to Jason Bourne. Ludlum passed away in 2001 but Jason Bourne didn't die with him. Bourne's adventures continued with six more books in the series, The Bourne Legacy, Betrayal, Sanction (this one being reviewed), Deception, Objective and Dominion, all written by Eric Van Lustbader a top-notch mystery, suspense, thriller writer in his own right.

This is not a novel (and what I'm about to say I suggest would probably apply to the whole series) that taxes you cerebrally but it will get the adrenalin pumping as it jumps from scene to scene of high powered energy. Jason Bourne comes across as someone Superman would aspire to be as he bounces, like the steel ball in a pin-ball machine, from near-death to saviour in just about each chapter. How does he do it?

In a nutshell, the story continues the struggle between Bourne's two personalities, David Webb the mild mannered master linguist and Jason Bourne the super spy and assassin. In The Bourne Sanction Jason finds himself working to foil a plot by a previously unknown terrorist cell called the Black Legion whose objective it is to destroy civilisation as we know it. Bourne's job is made more difficult as master assassin, mercenary and mad man Leonid Arkadin tries to stop him completing his task by any means. And, concurrently, Bourne's arch nemesis the NSA is also trying to eliminate him.

The Bourne Sanction was a lot of fun, as I suspect the whole series would be, and I was caught up in The Bourne Sanction from go to woe and couldn't put it down. If all you've had of Jason Bourne is through the movies then maybe you should try the books. I will be going back to book one, The Bourne Identity, and working my way through the whole series. It will be interesting to see whether the Jason Bourne of Ludlum is the same Jason Bourne of Van Lustbader. They both may have won a new fan.