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The Ambler Warning
The Ambler Warning, like many of Robert Ludlum's thrillers, gets much of its sense from our knowledge that intelligence agencies cannot be trusted to play fair even by their own. Hal Ambler is held in a facility for insane agents and is himself being drugged to a point where he cannot trust his own crumbling sanity. Even when he escapes, he is unable to be sure of his own past and identity--his very face is not as he remembers, let alone his fishing cabin and the friends of his youth. Something has been made from the wreckage of his mind, and he is not sure whether every step he takes may not be a part of someone else's plan. By contrast, Caston is the sort of intelligence agent who despises the Hal Amblers of this world--he is an accountant who follows the money of assassination and terror round the world while sitting in front of a monitor. Yet he too starts to get a sense that he is being used.
Part of the originality and strength of Ludlum's new thriller is that he always knows when to pull surprises like the eventual alliance of Caston and Ambler--two dangerously flawed and partial men in search of knowledge and also of wholeness. The glimpses of the great world of political innovation, and the theories that inform them, also give this rather more thoughtfulness than we saw in, say, Ludlum's recent Bourne books. ---Roz Kaveney
Hardcover
First published October 18, 2005
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About the author
Robert Ludlum
630 books5,277 followersRobert Ludlum was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 210 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. He is the author of The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Chancellor Manuscript, and the Jason Bourne series--The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum--among others. Mr. Ludlum passed away in March, 2001. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.
Some of Ludlum's novels have been made into films and mini-series, including The Osterman Weekend, The Holcroft Covenant, The Apocalypse Watch, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. A non-Ludlum book supposedly inspired by his unused notes, Covert One: The Hades Factor, has also been made into a mini-series. The Bourne movies, starring Matt Damon in the title role, have been commercially and critically successful (The Bourne Ultimatum won three Academy Awards in 2008), although the story lines depart significantly from the source material.
Some of Ludlum's novels have been made into films and mini-series, including The Osterman Weekend, The Holcroft Covenant, The Apocalypse Watch, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. A non-Ludlum book supposedly inspired by his unused notes, Covert One: The Hades Factor, has also been made into a mini-series. The Bourne movies, starring Matt Damon in the title role, have been commercially and critically successful (The Bourne Ultimatum won three Academy Awards in 2008), although the story lines depart significantly from the source material.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 527 reviews
February 22, 2024
Maybe maybe not..not the best yet, the audio book made it work.
June 23, 2011
This is one of the four novels that Robert Ludlum (1927-2001) left unfinished when he died. This is my second attempt to read a novel written by him. My first attempt was in the late 80's when I tried reading The Bourne Identity after watching its movie adaptation starring then still young Matt Damon. I did not finish the book because it was not as good as the film.
But this one, The Ambler Warning is different. Not completely different though because Hal Ambler here is also a man who doesn't know who he is: his past life, his relatives, his plans for the future. You see, he escaped from an institution for loonies who used to work in a highly-sensitive government intelligence units and since they lost their minds, there is a possibility that they will talk about those secrets. However, Ambler is not a loony and he has to escape before he turns into one (this premise reminds me of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and he has to find out who brought him to the institution and recommended his incarceration there.
So, this is about a conspiracy theory and Ambler has to find out everything about it. This is also about the US-China imagined conflict over supremacy in economy and military. This part of the novel reminded me of the brewing issue regarding the Philippine's claim over Spratly Islands near our Palawan island. China is also claiming those islands as they are in China Sea so those islands must be theirs and not ours. If Ludlum is alive now, I thought that this could be a good plot fo him.
Anyway, this is an excellent pulsating edge-of-your-seat kind of mystery espionage thriller. No boring moment but I thought that the title is not as eye-catching as The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, etc. I know that Hal is taken from another dead mystery thriller. But Ambler? And the warning: it's about the plot (conspiracy theory) to kill the Chinese President.
Overall, this is a nice break from reading hardcore classic books like Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. But still, I prefer Tolstoy over Ludlum so Anna Karenina will get more stars from me.
But this is a must read for all Ludlum's fans. I actually learned only while reading this book that Ludlum is already dead. The Ludlum Estate says that they really hired good writers and editors to finish those manuscripts that Ludlum was not able to complete.
Well, better late than never. Nice reading a book by him before I die myself. Don't tell me that I did not warn you. Aha! That seems to be a good title for a book: The K.D. Warning. Hmmm.
But this one, The Ambler Warning is different. Not completely different though because Hal Ambler here is also a man who doesn't know who he is: his past life, his relatives, his plans for the future. You see, he escaped from an institution for loonies who used to work in a highly-sensitive government intelligence units and since they lost their minds, there is a possibility that they will talk about those secrets. However, Ambler is not a loony and he has to escape before he turns into one (this premise reminds me of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and he has to find out who brought him to the institution and recommended his incarceration there.
So, this is about a conspiracy theory and Ambler has to find out everything about it. This is also about the US-China imagined conflict over supremacy in economy and military. This part of the novel reminded me of the brewing issue regarding the Philippine's claim over Spratly Islands near our Palawan island. China is also claiming those islands as they are in China Sea so those islands must be theirs and not ours. If Ludlum is alive now, I thought that this could be a good plot fo him.
Anyway, this is an excellent pulsating edge-of-your-seat kind of mystery espionage thriller. No boring moment but I thought that the title is not as eye-catching as The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, etc. I know that Hal is taken from another dead mystery thriller. But Ambler? And the warning: it's about the plot (conspiracy theory) to kill the Chinese President.
Overall, this is a nice break from reading hardcore classic books like Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. But still, I prefer Tolstoy over Ludlum so Anna Karenina will get more stars from me.
But this is a must read for all Ludlum's fans. I actually learned only while reading this book that Ludlum is already dead. The Ludlum Estate says that they really hired good writers and editors to finish those manuscripts that Ludlum was not able to complete.
Well, better late than never. Nice reading a book by him before I die myself. Don't tell me that I did not warn you. Aha! That seems to be a good title for a book: The K.D. Warning. Hmmm.
March 28, 2017
Why, oh why, is this book averaging almost four stars?
I have to admit, I do enjoy reading a brain-dead thriller every once in a while. Robert Ludlum, a deceased thriller writer, wrote almost 30 novels and had over 200 million copies of his books in print. Needless to say, while his critics savaged him, he certainly managed to find what appealed to many readers. (And I realize only in retrospect how terrible the "brain-dead thriller" line sounds in this context).
Unfortunately for his fans, the late Ludlum is still churning out novels. You see, he carelessly left several manuscripts unpublished and summaries unfinished at the time of his death. His estate, working with a "carefully selected author", is publishing Ludlum's remaining works. Regrettably, the author appears to have been carefully selected based on price.
His posthumous novel, The Ambler Warning, once again feature's Ludlum rich ideas, intricate plots, and a lone individual up against shadowy, unknown forces capable of harming the entire world. The basic premise is solid: what does the government do with spies who go crazy? Assuming our government doesn't kill its own people, it can't just put them in a regular psychiatric facility lest they spill dangerous secrets so the book posits a top secret, heavily guarded hospital where they can be safely looked after. The problem is that Hal Ambler, one patient held there, is not crazy and has been involuntarily incarcerated by forces who want to keep him quiet. Naturally he escapes.
The devil, of course, is in the details and the ghostwriter — what an appropriate term — doesn't seem terribly interested in said details. Major plot points are glossed over, ridiculously unbelievable things routinely take place and the entire story seems held together by Post-It Notes rather than Super Glue.
In one scene, the hero must escape a building and he heads to the roof, hoping to escape to another roof and avoid his pursuers. Does he? Who knows? All we know is that he heads to the roof and in his next scene, he's made his getaway.
In another scene, Parisian police are yelling at him to stop as he speeds away from a murder in a stolen ambulance with a dead body in the back. His new girlfriend doesn't bat an eyelash and later that evening they make love like nothing's happened. Naturally, there's no mention of how he avoids the police or what happened to the ambulance or the body.
What is frustrating, though, is that the author clearly can write. While we're certainly not talking Faulkner, neither is this writing on par with pulp fiction. There are moments where you can see the author's potential, but they're few and far between. Instead, the book feels rushed. I doubt there were many drafts here. Perhaps, given more time, this could have matured into a solid thriller. Not a great one — Ludlum was rarely accused of greatness — but a solid one that could have been pleasant beach material.
I know how books like this get published. Publishing houses see a guaranteed income from a solid name and are willing to hold their noses. There is no way an editor could have read this story and not cringed at how terribly it's been crafted.
I have to admit, I do enjoy reading a brain-dead thriller every once in a while. Robert Ludlum, a deceased thriller writer, wrote almost 30 novels and had over 200 million copies of his books in print. Needless to say, while his critics savaged him, he certainly managed to find what appealed to many readers. (And I realize only in retrospect how terrible the "brain-dead thriller" line sounds in this context).
Unfortunately for his fans, the late Ludlum is still churning out novels. You see, he carelessly left several manuscripts unpublished and summaries unfinished at the time of his death. His estate, working with a "carefully selected author", is publishing Ludlum's remaining works. Regrettably, the author appears to have been carefully selected based on price.
His posthumous novel, The Ambler Warning, once again feature's Ludlum rich ideas, intricate plots, and a lone individual up against shadowy, unknown forces capable of harming the entire world. The basic premise is solid: what does the government do with spies who go crazy? Assuming our government doesn't kill its own people, it can't just put them in a regular psychiatric facility lest they spill dangerous secrets so the book posits a top secret, heavily guarded hospital where they can be safely looked after. The problem is that Hal Ambler, one patient held there, is not crazy and has been involuntarily incarcerated by forces who want to keep him quiet. Naturally he escapes.
The devil, of course, is in the details and the ghostwriter — what an appropriate term — doesn't seem terribly interested in said details. Major plot points are glossed over, ridiculously unbelievable things routinely take place and the entire story seems held together by Post-It Notes rather than Super Glue.
In one scene, the hero must escape a building and he heads to the roof, hoping to escape to another roof and avoid his pursuers. Does he? Who knows? All we know is that he heads to the roof and in his next scene, he's made his getaway.
In another scene, Parisian police are yelling at him to stop as he speeds away from a murder in a stolen ambulance with a dead body in the back. His new girlfriend doesn't bat an eyelash and later that evening they make love like nothing's happened. Naturally, there's no mention of how he avoids the police or what happened to the ambulance or the body.
What is frustrating, though, is that the author clearly can write. While we're certainly not talking Faulkner, neither is this writing on par with pulp fiction. There are moments where you can see the author's potential, but they're few and far between. Instead, the book feels rushed. I doubt there were many drafts here. Perhaps, given more time, this could have matured into a solid thriller. Not a great one — Ludlum was rarely accused of greatness — but a solid one that could have been pleasant beach material.
I know how books like this get published. Publishing houses see a guaranteed income from a solid name and are willing to hold their noses. There is no way an editor could have read this story and not cringed at how terribly it's been crafted.
November 16, 2012
Ambler Warning, by Robert Ludlum (11-13-12, 5 stars)
I do not normally give a 5-star rating to fiction novels, but this is probably the best novel of its type that I have read. I see by glancing at the other reviews that most everyone else was less enchanted than I was, but Hey--different strokes for different folks. It certainly is the best book by Robert Ludlum that I have read so far, even better than The Bourne Identity … which is interesting, as this book was produced four years after Ludlum died. According to the frontispiece, Ludlum’s estate hired a carefully selected writer and editor to complete the unfinished manuscript. I’ve just lightly scanned the Internet to see if this carefully selected author is known, but I found no reference; somehow, I do not believe it is Eric Van Lustbader, who continued the Bourne series after Ludlum passed away, and I would love to know who it is, because I definitely would go looking for other things he/she had written.
If you are that sort of reader who likes to suspend disbelief and enjoy an intricately plotted novel about a Bond-type assassin employed by the government to protect us all, do yourself a favor and go find this book, but make sure you have a lot of time available, because it is very hard to put this one down. One of the Web sites I just looked at said this would make a great movie, and it surely would, except that there are a multitude of characters and a lot of it is very cerebral, in that a great deal of it involves what two of the characters are thinking, and it is damnably hard for film to show that. But there is action enough and excitement enough in the book to match or equal most of what I see in action-type thriller films. Actually, to say that it is cerebral makes me smile, as part of the fascination for me was the interplay between two main characters. The main protagonist, who finds himself suddenly being hunted down by the agency to which he has devoted his life is successful for the very reason that he does not think about things but reacts to them, succeeding largely because he has an incredibly developed ability to “read” other people by recognizing micro-level details of their facial expressions and gestures; hiss friends learned very early never to play poker with him. The counterpart to this swashbuckling hero, however, is a chubby and aging accountant who disdains “feelings” and thinks all decisions should be made only on the basis of careful analysis of facts transposed into spreadsheets.
When the novel starts, our swash-buckling hero finds himself a virtual prisoner in a secret asylum on an island of the coast of Virginia, designed for government employees who have lost their minds but know too much to be allowed to run free. He manages to befriend a nurse, who switches Tylenol for the drugs that have been keeping him in a stupor for two years, and he manages to escape from the island prison … only to find when he looks in a mirror that he does not recognize himself and to find when he looks in computers that he does not exist. His only recourse, then, is to start looking for his past, to find out what happened to him and why. Meanwhile, his escape initiates some thinking on the part of the dry-as-dust accountant, who has never done any field work, but starts tracking down the fugitive through his spreadsheet data. Midway through the book the two finally meet, but by now they have discovered they have a common enemy, even though they have not yet figured out who it is, and they combine forces to hunt down their enemies and save the world.
I’m not going to spoil the story by telling you how it works out (Warning: don’t go read the Wikipedia article about the book, which is a real spoiler), but the twists and turns are great, with startling plot twists and often amusing dialog, along with excellent wordsmithing that caused me to write down several words I do not recall having seen in print before. I am happy (I guess) to report that I began to suspect what the ending would be when I was just slightly more than halfway through the 481 pages, but that did not become a certainty until the last paragraph of the next to-last chapter (not counting the epilogue, which gave the whole story another twist).
If Hollywood does make a movie from this, I definitely will want to go see it.
I do not normally give a 5-star rating to fiction novels, but this is probably the best novel of its type that I have read. I see by glancing at the other reviews that most everyone else was less enchanted than I was, but Hey--different strokes for different folks. It certainly is the best book by Robert Ludlum that I have read so far, even better than The Bourne Identity … which is interesting, as this book was produced four years after Ludlum died. According to the frontispiece, Ludlum’s estate hired a carefully selected writer and editor to complete the unfinished manuscript. I’ve just lightly scanned the Internet to see if this carefully selected author is known, but I found no reference; somehow, I do not believe it is Eric Van Lustbader, who continued the Bourne series after Ludlum passed away, and I would love to know who it is, because I definitely would go looking for other things he/she had written.
If you are that sort of reader who likes to suspend disbelief and enjoy an intricately plotted novel about a Bond-type assassin employed by the government to protect us all, do yourself a favor and go find this book, but make sure you have a lot of time available, because it is very hard to put this one down. One of the Web sites I just looked at said this would make a great movie, and it surely would, except that there are a multitude of characters and a lot of it is very cerebral, in that a great deal of it involves what two of the characters are thinking, and it is damnably hard for film to show that. But there is action enough and excitement enough in the book to match or equal most of what I see in action-type thriller films. Actually, to say that it is cerebral makes me smile, as part of the fascination for me was the interplay between two main characters. The main protagonist, who finds himself suddenly being hunted down by the agency to which he has devoted his life is successful for the very reason that he does not think about things but reacts to them, succeeding largely because he has an incredibly developed ability to “read” other people by recognizing micro-level details of their facial expressions and gestures; hiss friends learned very early never to play poker with him. The counterpart to this swashbuckling hero, however, is a chubby and aging accountant who disdains “feelings” and thinks all decisions should be made only on the basis of careful analysis of facts transposed into spreadsheets.
When the novel starts, our swash-buckling hero finds himself a virtual prisoner in a secret asylum on an island of the coast of Virginia, designed for government employees who have lost their minds but know too much to be allowed to run free. He manages to befriend a nurse, who switches Tylenol for the drugs that have been keeping him in a stupor for two years, and he manages to escape from the island prison … only to find when he looks in a mirror that he does not recognize himself and to find when he looks in computers that he does not exist. His only recourse, then, is to start looking for his past, to find out what happened to him and why. Meanwhile, his escape initiates some thinking on the part of the dry-as-dust accountant, who has never done any field work, but starts tracking down the fugitive through his spreadsheet data. Midway through the book the two finally meet, but by now they have discovered they have a common enemy, even though they have not yet figured out who it is, and they combine forces to hunt down their enemies and save the world.
I’m not going to spoil the story by telling you how it works out (Warning: don’t go read the Wikipedia article about the book, which is a real spoiler), but the twists and turns are great, with startling plot twists and often amusing dialog, along with excellent wordsmithing that caused me to write down several words I do not recall having seen in print before. I am happy (I guess) to report that I began to suspect what the ending would be when I was just slightly more than halfway through the 481 pages, but that did not become a certainty until the last paragraph of the next to-last chapter (not counting the epilogue, which gave the whole story another twist).
If Hollywood does make a movie from this, I definitely will want to go see it.
December 31, 2017
Ambler has a unique talent that has aided him to be an effective CIA assassin. He can read people. After the government locks him away in away in a psychiatric prison, he tries to maintain his sanity and escapes to discover his true identity. But he becomes a pawn on the chessboard of international intrigue.
November 25, 2019
Intriguing, action filled, page-turner, would make a good action movie.
This book has a gripping story, which was very well written, by the end of the book everything is neatly tied up and explained. The story keeps moving forward there aren’t many breaks from the action. The character development for both Ambler and Carston was pretty good. In the later half where they get together it gets better. The climax was predictable unfortunately.
Overall a good entertainer.
This book has a gripping story, which was very well written, by the end of the book everything is neatly tied up and explained. The story keeps moving forward there aren’t many breaks from the action. The character development for both Ambler and Carston was pretty good. In the later half where they get together it gets better. The climax was predictable unfortunately.
Overall a good entertainer.
December 26, 2021
Αρκετά καλό, βαδίζει σε γνωστά και σίγουρα μονοπάτια.
September 8, 2023
The Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum is a good read and excellent story.
There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the story that is typical of a Ludlum book. Harrison Ambler has been kept prisoner in a private government facility on an island off the eastern coast of the US. It is for past government workers who maybe know too much and the powers that be do not want to take the chance that these people could get out and spread that information to our enemies. Ambler makes a connection with a young nurse in the facility who helps him escape. She then is helping him on the outside. Someone is trying to eliminate him and make every trace of him disappear as if he was never born.
Again, a lot of twists and turns as Ambler tries to track and find people and information that would help him establish his identity and find out what is going on. He has a way of retaining information and figuring out if someone is lying. This has always served him well in his role within the government and around the world. But, why is someone doing this to him? What information could he have that is so valuable he cannot be permitted to walk freely?
Again, it is a good story. A bit long- 600 pages, which is typical of a Ludlum book. He is a good writer and knows how to spin a good story.
There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the story that is typical of a Ludlum book. Harrison Ambler has been kept prisoner in a private government facility on an island off the eastern coast of the US. It is for past government workers who maybe know too much and the powers that be do not want to take the chance that these people could get out and spread that information to our enemies. Ambler makes a connection with a young nurse in the facility who helps him escape. She then is helping him on the outside. Someone is trying to eliminate him and make every trace of him disappear as if he was never born.
Again, a lot of twists and turns as Ambler tries to track and find people and information that would help him establish his identity and find out what is going on. He has a way of retaining information and figuring out if someone is lying. This has always served him well in his role within the government and around the world. But, why is someone doing this to him? What information could he have that is so valuable he cannot be permitted to walk freely?
Again, it is a good story. A bit long- 600 pages, which is typical of a Ludlum book. He is a good writer and knows how to spin a good story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2020
Good and worth a listen, just not great. Action good, characters quite enjoyable.
March 9, 2017
I have read many Ludlum novels over the years but not lately. I picked this book up at a book exchange on a cruise and although it sufficed to entertain while on vacation it seemed to be a tired rerun. The main character is struggling to find out where he came from. He starts remembering snippets of his past. Kind of sounds like The Bourne Identity doesn't it?
August 8, 2013
Firstly this book was a roller coaster, there were parts of the book where I was enjoying the narrative and than the long unnecessary descriptions made me fall asleep.
The Ambler Warning is a little different - Hal Ambler escaped from an institution for loonies however he is not a loony. He doesn't know who he is: his past life, his relatives, his plans for the future. He use to work in a highly-sensitive government intelligence units but than some powerful people in the government put him away to cover up a murder. When he escaped (which was planned already by powerful government people) to find out who and why he had been placed in the institution. He was set up again to be framed for another assassination of a very high placed person in the Chinese government. There is also a bit of love story that does not end well.
This author use to write great stories however I stopped reading his books since ghost writers do not write as good. I thought of giving it a shot but it turned out that I am really not into reading ghost written books.
September 19, 2011
Not pure Ludlum - "Since his death, the Estate of ... worked with a carefully selected author ... to prepare and edit this work for publication." No mention if it's Lustbader Eric Van.
The novel itself sees Hal Ambler in a fairly similar premise to The Bourne Identity. That is, he's lost his memory and must fight to work out who and what he is. The differences are that instead of being rescued by some fishermen he's in an, 'off-the-books', psychiatric facility. The patients are all kept medicated to keep them under control and to keep the secrets they know out of the public eye. Ambler doesn't belong though, he's been hidden there without good reason and must escape and find out why.
The novel itself sees Hal Ambler in a fairly similar premise to The Bourne Identity. That is, he's lost his memory and must fight to work out who and what he is. The differences are that instead of being rescued by some fishermen he's in an, 'off-the-books', psychiatric facility. The patients are all kept medicated to keep them under control and to keep the secrets they know out of the public eye. Ambler doesn't belong though, he's been hidden there without good reason and must escape and find out why.
August 21, 2012
This thriller novel involves many twists and turns in the plot but it really did not hold my interest. The ending is quite a contrast between one who sees hidden intentions and another who is a skilled actor who can hide intentions.
March 4, 2017
Not bad as books of this genre go. The ending was a bit quick and abrupt, but I enjoyed the author's powers of description with people and things.
June 3, 2018
This book was completed after RL’s death. No matter how talented an author put to finish the work of the original author the voice is not the same; my opinion.
November 28, 2023
eponymous sentence:
p366: Ambler's nerves shrieked at him, now in reproach rather than in warning.
le mot juste:
p21: He finally pushed his way onto a hard cement floor, and he was--where?--in a hot, low-ceilinged basement space, loud with the rumble and din of laundry machines.
spelling:
p53: How long had the man with the trank gun been studying him before he squeezed the trigger?
p60: "So I took the trank gun just in case."
p75: "...If it's someone at Fort Meade, Ford Meade gets billed..."
spaces:
p127: Fourteen feet ofit at the deep end.
p134: Osiris's discussion of mnemonic overlay--of the armamentarium of mind-control techniques--had been profoundly harrowing: it was as ifthe ground beneath his feet had vanished.
p148: When they parted--he had arranged for a taxicab to wait by an intersection near Laurel's destination--she almost flinched, as ifa bandage was being ripped from a wound.
p200: There was a small green-floral patterened sof a beneath the window, with a seat cushion above its curved ball-and-claw legs.
That ending caught me off guard, as I was busily contemplating how this was another spiritual successor to the Bourne books.
This ghostwriter is such a wordsmith.
p366: Ambler's nerves shrieked at him, now in reproach rather than in warning.
le mot juste:
p21: He finally pushed his way onto a hard cement floor, and he was--where?--in a hot, low-ceilinged basement space, loud with the rumble and din of laundry machines.
spelling:
p53: How long had the man with the trank gun been studying him before he squeezed the trigger?
p60: "So I took the trank gun just in case."
p75: "...If it's someone at Fort Meade, Ford Meade gets billed..."
spaces:
p127: Fourteen feet ofit at the deep end.
p134: Osiris's discussion of mnemonic overlay--of the armamentarium of mind-control techniques--had been profoundly harrowing: it was as ifthe ground beneath his feet had vanished.
p148: When they parted--he had arranged for a taxicab to wait by an intersection near Laurel's destination--she almost flinched, as ifa bandage was being ripped from a wound.
p200: There was a small green-floral patterened sof a beneath the window, with a seat cushion above its curved ball-and-claw legs.
That ending caught me off guard, as I was busily contemplating how this was another spiritual successor to the Bourne books.
This ghostwriter is such a wordsmith.
January 8, 2018
Reminded me why I love Ludlum!
February 12, 2023
Great overall. My first Ludlum, found it to be a little tedious at times but he paints with a very fine brush. Plenty of twists and surprises.
March 4, 2023
3.5 🌟
December 22, 2008
Up until this week the only things I'd ever read by Robert Ludlum were the first two Jason Bourne books, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, primarily on the recommendation of LJ user mamishka. I remember thinking at the time that Ludlum had an annoying way of using way too many exclamation marks and way too much italics in his prose, but he was certainly capable of putting together a decently intriguing plot. Certainly not a stellar writer, but solid enough if what you're looking for is a diverting thriller.
I was in the mood, so I picked up The Ambler Warning. I started the book off thinking, "I liked this story better when it was called The Bourne Identity"--'cause certainly, the overall idea of "agent who's had his past wiped out is out to try to figure out what the hell happened to him and who's trying to kill him and oh yeah he has to stop the big evil mastermind while he's at it" was the same overall idea in the older book. However, as I got further into it I decided that reaction was unjust. There's that superficial similarity, yes, but the world Ambler's operating in is certainly a different one than Bourne's. It's over twenty years later, and modern politics certainly do give a different flavor in general to what's going on.
Plus, whatever ghost writer is working under the name of Robert Ludlum these days actually has a bit cleaner prose than the actual Ludlum. Way fewer exclamation marks, and I didn't spot any italics at all. ;) This prose is not without its flaws--more than once you get smacked upside the head with huge infodumps, and the main interesting line of action keeps getting interrupted with short side scenes involving the minor characters. But to the ghost writer's credit, I'll also note that I eventually found myself quite drawn into the plot and anxious to find out how it was going to resolve, so well done there!
And! I never ever noticed the Bourne books sending me to the dictionary, but this book did it three times with factotum, seriatim, and velleity. Half of me appreciated the use of words I didn't recognize, though it didn't quite work for me completely--I mean, let's face it, who actually uses words like factotum and seriatim and velleity in actual everyday usage? Still, though, given a choice between an overly pretentious vocabulary and badly spelled and badly edited crap, I'll take the pretentious vocabulary any day of the week. ;)
Here are some random reactions to events in the book, in no particular order.
I kept giggling that the hero's name was Harrison Ambler. Ambler seemed an awfully laid-back sort of name for the hero of a thriller novel, the sort of guy you expect to generally be running like hell and shooting things, not ambling around. Also, of course, the only prior mental connection I have for "Harrison" is Mr. Ford. My brain kept trying to imagine Ambler as played by him, even though the description of him wasn't quite a proper match.
I was slightly put out that we didn't get to see Ambler meet his love interest on camera--we're told about the meeting between him and Laurel in the hospital where he's being hold, not shown it. That vaguely irritated my writer brain, and vaguely disappointed me as a reader since I pegged her for the love interest pretty much out of the gate, and felt cheated that I didn't actually get to see the initial reactions between her and Ambler. Also, though, I must say that while I often found her relationship with Ambler a little too easy, a little too facile, it of course turns out that there's a reason for that--she's the assassin he has to stop. Which I have to admit I totally didn't expect and probably should have. Hee. Part of me kind of liked that she turned out to be the assassin, and part of me went "sniff" since it meant he'd gone and fallen in love with this chick and wound up having to take her down.
It rather amused me that the big conspiracy of this plot involved certain fanatical factions who were dead set on preventing China from becoming a more sociable and more democratic nation, on the theory that if this happened, China would become the preeminent superpower of the 21st century--so of course the bad guys have to arrange to assassinate the Chinese president. I was all, "yep, that's batshit", and waiting to see exactly how this was going to all play out.
I liked the CIA analyst who turned out to be Ambler's other main sidekick, even though the theme of his cold hard facts clashing with Ambler's instincts and intuition got hammered on a little too hard in the prose. Still, they actually managed to achieve a decent camaraderie, and I buy that Ambler winds up hanging out with the guy's family when he's recovering in the epilogue--which helps take the sting out of the poor guy having to take down the girl he'd fallen for.
All in all, a solid and entertaining read. I'd give it four stars, but the shaky bits in the writing make me pull it down to three and a half.
I was in the mood, so I picked up The Ambler Warning. I started the book off thinking, "I liked this story better when it was called The Bourne Identity"--'cause certainly, the overall idea of "agent who's had his past wiped out is out to try to figure out what the hell happened to him and who's trying to kill him and oh yeah he has to stop the big evil mastermind while he's at it" was the same overall idea in the older book. However, as I got further into it I decided that reaction was unjust. There's that superficial similarity, yes, but the world Ambler's operating in is certainly a different one than Bourne's. It's over twenty years later, and modern politics certainly do give a different flavor in general to what's going on.
Plus, whatever ghost writer is working under the name of Robert Ludlum these days actually has a bit cleaner prose than the actual Ludlum. Way fewer exclamation marks, and I didn't spot any italics at all. ;) This prose is not without its flaws--more than once you get smacked upside the head with huge infodumps, and the main interesting line of action keeps getting interrupted with short side scenes involving the minor characters. But to the ghost writer's credit, I'll also note that I eventually found myself quite drawn into the plot and anxious to find out how it was going to resolve, so well done there!
And! I never ever noticed the Bourne books sending me to the dictionary, but this book did it three times with factotum, seriatim, and velleity. Half of me appreciated the use of words I didn't recognize, though it didn't quite work for me completely--I mean, let's face it, who actually uses words like factotum and seriatim and velleity in actual everyday usage? Still, though, given a choice between an overly pretentious vocabulary and badly spelled and badly edited crap, I'll take the pretentious vocabulary any day of the week. ;)
Here are some random reactions to events in the book, in no particular order.
I kept giggling that the hero's name was Harrison Ambler. Ambler seemed an awfully laid-back sort of name for the hero of a thriller novel, the sort of guy you expect to generally be running like hell and shooting things, not ambling around. Also, of course, the only prior mental connection I have for "Harrison" is Mr. Ford. My brain kept trying to imagine Ambler as played by him, even though the description of him wasn't quite a proper match.
I was slightly put out that we didn't get to see Ambler meet his love interest on camera--we're told about the meeting between him and Laurel in the hospital where he's being hold, not shown it. That vaguely irritated my writer brain, and vaguely disappointed me as a reader since I pegged her for the love interest pretty much out of the gate, and felt cheated that I didn't actually get to see the initial reactions between her and Ambler. Also, though, I must say that while I often found her relationship with Ambler a little too easy, a little too facile, it of course turns out that there's a reason for that--she's the assassin he has to stop. Which I have to admit I totally didn't expect and probably should have. Hee. Part of me kind of liked that she turned out to be the assassin, and part of me went "sniff" since it meant he'd gone and fallen in love with this chick and wound up having to take her down.
It rather amused me that the big conspiracy of this plot involved certain fanatical factions who were dead set on preventing China from becoming a more sociable and more democratic nation, on the theory that if this happened, China would become the preeminent superpower of the 21st century--so of course the bad guys have to arrange to assassinate the Chinese president. I was all, "yep, that's batshit", and waiting to see exactly how this was going to all play out.
I liked the CIA analyst who turned out to be Ambler's other main sidekick, even though the theme of his cold hard facts clashing with Ambler's instincts and intuition got hammered on a little too hard in the prose. Still, they actually managed to achieve a decent camaraderie, and I buy that Ambler winds up hanging out with the guy's family when he's recovering in the epilogue--which helps take the sting out of the poor guy having to take down the girl he'd fallen for.
All in all, a solid and entertaining read. I'd give it four stars, but the shaky bits in the writing make me pull it down to three and a half.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2023
Amazing how accurate this is regarding the international politics considering how long ago it was written.
October 29, 2016
There is a lot to be said for finding out about the background of a book before you read it. Having bought more books than I care to think about and having reached what would, on the face of it, appear to be an age where wisdom should be replacing good looks (to be fair good looks were never my strong point, I was waiting for wisdom and a grizzled maturity to take over) I should really have known better. I didn’t and found myself reading a book where I was thinking 'this isn’t up to his usual standards'
I've read and loved Ludlum books in my time. Here is a man who really knew how to do the whole lone wolf agent going it alone trope. These were books you always enjoyed but probably were not ones to read one after the other in quick succession. So when I saw the Ambler Warning I thought that I had found one I had not read before and thought I would give it a go. At that point I hadn't noticed the book had been finished by another author after he had died, it soon dawned on my that it was and in fact you can see why it was unfinished.
It starts off really well if a little reminiscent of Bourne. Good exciting escape and lots of mystery and threat but then it fizzles out. As I read it felt like the ideas ran out, and the book got sillier and sillier. There is a massive jump in the tale and a sudden rush for the finish at some point that did not make sense to me and undermined the pace of the book a little. It was almost like they were mid-build up and then suddenly decided to cut to the finale without knowing quite how the 2 actually linked.
The twist in the tale was foreshadowed a little too hard as well and so lost a bit of its impact. You will note I have not said what the twist was. Its only fair. So this was not an awful book, I read it too the end without a problem but perhaps the reason Robert Ludlum himself had given up on the idea was because he could see that there was a whole act missing and it was a hint too much of a Bourne light.
Finally the title is awful and I'm not sure if the name was made for the title or the title came after but the pun does not work that well and cheapens the book I thought.
Having said that I am not an author or a publisher. This is just a readers opinion and I am aware that my view is only my own. I am in constant awe at anyone who has actually WRITTEN a book. More power to them.
I've read and loved Ludlum books in my time. Here is a man who really knew how to do the whole lone wolf agent going it alone trope. These were books you always enjoyed but probably were not ones to read one after the other in quick succession. So when I saw the Ambler Warning I thought that I had found one I had not read before and thought I would give it a go. At that point I hadn't noticed the book had been finished by another author after he had died, it soon dawned on my that it was and in fact you can see why it was unfinished.
It starts off really well if a little reminiscent of Bourne. Good exciting escape and lots of mystery and threat but then it fizzles out. As I read it felt like the ideas ran out, and the book got sillier and sillier. There is a massive jump in the tale and a sudden rush for the finish at some point that did not make sense to me and undermined the pace of the book a little. It was almost like they were mid-build up and then suddenly decided to cut to the finale without knowing quite how the 2 actually linked.
The twist in the tale was foreshadowed a little too hard as well and so lost a bit of its impact. You will note I have not said what the twist was. Its only fair. So this was not an awful book, I read it too the end without a problem but perhaps the reason Robert Ludlum himself had given up on the idea was because he could see that there was a whole act missing and it was a hint too much of a Bourne light.
Finally the title is awful and I'm not sure if the name was made for the title or the title came after but the pun does not work that well and cheapens the book I thought.
Having said that I am not an author or a publisher. This is just a readers opinion and I am aware that my view is only my own. I am in constant awe at anyone who has actually WRITTEN a book. More power to them.
March 21, 2012
Let me say that I like Robert Ludlum books. Thrillers that keep me turning the pages late in the night are really a joy to read. I read "The Bourne Identity" ages ago. Although it was the one rare case where the movie was actually better than the book. Ludlum's books are entertaining in a kind of good made for TV movie way. A little drama, a little soap, lots of action, cliches and bad stereotypes. The "Ambler Warning" is a sort of Bourne Identity variation, left unfinished after Ludlum's death, with a very similar story line.
Hal Ambler a CIA agent, somehow unknowingly pisses someone off so much that he ends up in Parrish Island a psychiatric hospital for CIA agents with his identity erased. Of course he escapes with the help of a pretty sympathetic nurse. Ambler is chased. A wanted man with many wanting to use him or kill him. He tries to figure out his true identity and figure out what memories are real and which ones are planted in his mind. And he picks up a girlfriend on the way, the love of his life. One of the reasons Ambler has survived so long is that he has a special ability, kind of a Spidey sense to tell if someone is lying. And he can profile a person just by looking at them. A "peephole to the brain" of others.
There are many subplots and many bad guys. Several shoot outs and near misses as Ambler seems to always duck or fall just in time to miss a bullet to the head. Phases get repeated a bit too much. "I know that you know that you know I know." The Chinese speak in parables and proverbs and I half expected a subordinate to be named Grasshopper. An assassination is plotted and Ambler is caught in the center. More corn than Iowa, well just put some butter on top and wolf it down.
Hal Ambler a CIA agent, somehow unknowingly pisses someone off so much that he ends up in Parrish Island a psychiatric hospital for CIA agents with his identity erased. Of course he escapes with the help of a pretty sympathetic nurse. Ambler is chased. A wanted man with many wanting to use him or kill him. He tries to figure out his true identity and figure out what memories are real and which ones are planted in his mind. And he picks up a girlfriend on the way, the love of his life. One of the reasons Ambler has survived so long is that he has a special ability, kind of a Spidey sense to tell if someone is lying. And he can profile a person just by looking at them. A "peephole to the brain" of others.
There are many subplots and many bad guys. Several shoot outs and near misses as Ambler seems to always duck or fall just in time to miss a bullet to the head. Phases get repeated a bit too much. "I know that you know that you know I know." The Chinese speak in parables and proverbs and I half expected a subordinate to be named Grasshopper. An assassination is plotted and Ambler is caught in the center. More corn than Iowa, well just put some butter on top and wolf it down.
June 11, 2017
When I tried to read the Bourne novels, this was what I was hoping for. So I (ignorantly) assumed that because this was written in 2005, he'd had a chance to watch the movie version of his story, found that he liked Hollywood's premise BUT wanted another stab at it, himself (I even thought the word 'Stab' was ironic, throughout the book!), and wrote this.
I liked my fantasized idea of what [I believed] happened. And it made me LOVE this book. Okay, there were holes in the plot - there were in the Bourne books, too. But this character was far more like the 'man with no identity' that I was hoping for than Ludlum's [and then Eric von Lustbader's] Bourne ever was.
Downside: It was predictable. I knew who the killer was a mere quarter of the way through the book. But the way it was written, I kept *DOUBTING* myself, which made things fun, too. Or maybe I'm just easy to please? This is also a possibility.
But the characters in this one - Osiris, Castor, Adrian, even the Chinese leader... they were all well-written and likeable, unlike Ludlum's more dry approach to things. I thought he'd 'grown' from seeing the movies, and made *his* characters more likeable. I had no idea that Ludlum died before this was finished, and it was partially written by another person.
That kind of ruined my fantasy... but only after I'd held it a deliciously long time, and come to a satisfying conclusion. After that conclusion? It didn't matter. Because I still *liked* the book. It was what the Bourne Trilogy *should've* been. It's what people who've seen the movie go to the library to read. THIS. And that makes it worthwhile.
I liked my fantasized idea of what [I believed] happened. And it made me LOVE this book. Okay, there were holes in the plot - there were in the Bourne books, too. But this character was far more like the 'man with no identity' that I was hoping for than Ludlum's [and then Eric von Lustbader's] Bourne ever was.
Downside: It was predictable. I knew who the killer was a mere quarter of the way through the book. But the way it was written, I kept *DOUBTING* myself, which made things fun, too. Or maybe I'm just easy to please? This is also a possibility.
But the characters in this one - Osiris, Castor, Adrian, even the Chinese leader... they were all well-written and likeable, unlike Ludlum's more dry approach to things. I thought he'd 'grown' from seeing the movies, and made *his* characters more likeable. I had no idea that Ludlum died before this was finished, and it was partially written by another person.
That kind of ruined my fantasy... but only after I'd held it a deliciously long time, and come to a satisfying conclusion. After that conclusion? It didn't matter. Because I still *liked* the book. It was what the Bourne Trilogy *should've* been. It's what people who've seen the movie go to the library to read. THIS. And that makes it worthwhile.
March 12, 2016
Excitement plus in this thriller from Robert Ludlum. I've said previously that action thriller is not my genre, but if they were all like this then it would be.
Although not an original idea: that of a man, a rogue special ops secret agent, losing his identity or having it stolen and attempting to find out about himself and expose a plot to kill someone important - rarely, perhaps never in my experience has it been done so well.
There is a lot of jargon in The Ambler Warning, but I never felt swamped by it, nor did I feel overwhelmed by all the technical descriptions of equipment which is where many other novels lose me. Most importantly, the characters were terrific. Hal Ambler? I cheered for him all the way, wanting him to succeed, to find the truth to save the day, to win the girl. Special mention to CIA accountant, Clay Caston, who becomes an unlikely ally to Ambler. Caston was great. He made me laugh.
The other thing I really loved about The Ambler Warning was the writing. Such beautiful language and broad vocabulary, even the use of foreign languages which usually annoys me, worked. The twist at the end? Wow. I did not see that coming.
This is one of the best, if not best thrillers I have ever read. I must read more of Robert Ludlum.
Although not an original idea: that of a man, a rogue special ops secret agent, losing his identity or having it stolen and attempting to find out about himself and expose a plot to kill someone important - rarely, perhaps never in my experience has it been done so well.
There is a lot of jargon in The Ambler Warning, but I never felt swamped by it, nor did I feel overwhelmed by all the technical descriptions of equipment which is where many other novels lose me. Most importantly, the characters were terrific. Hal Ambler? I cheered for him all the way, wanting him to succeed, to find the truth to save the day, to win the girl. Special mention to CIA accountant, Clay Caston, who becomes an unlikely ally to Ambler. Caston was great. He made me laugh.
The other thing I really loved about The Ambler Warning was the writing. Such beautiful language and broad vocabulary, even the use of foreign languages which usually annoys me, worked. The twist at the end? Wow. I did not see that coming.
This is one of the best, if not best thrillers I have ever read. I must read more of Robert Ludlum.
August 5, 2011
Long book and relatively predictable (guessed it about 1/3 of the way through). However, it was still a very good, exciting book. If you are a fan of the Jason Bourne series, this has a lot of the same elements. If you tired of the Jason Bourne series, then you'll most likely get about 2/3 of the way through this book and struggle to stay focused on completing it. This has a lot of the same elements of the Jason Bourne idea... man without a clear memory of the past, trying to find himself and who's trying to kill him, and turning to a beautiful woman for support. The end is very different, and is worth sticking around for (even though it is pretty predictable, I thought). Also, the introduction of a CIA auditor with a dry, humorless, "logical" personality provides for great comic relief at points through out the book.
February 6, 2013
Robert Ludlum presents the life of a man named Ambler who has lost his identity. He is someone whose life has been completely changed and all records of his existence have been removed. The way he sees it, the world is against him.
The book starts with him in a high security mental asylum where he eventually escapes from because of the help of a nurse who had fallen in love with him. He knew he had been put in there by his government but he had no idea why or who he was. He did not remember his face, and all his childhood records seemed to have been broken. They were gone.
This book is an amazing story about a man who has lost it all and proceeds to take it all back. Robert Ludlum poses many questions in this book and makes sure the reader is very reluctant to put the book down. An incredible read, highly recommended!
The book starts with him in a high security mental asylum where he eventually escapes from because of the help of a nurse who had fallen in love with him. He knew he had been put in there by his government but he had no idea why or who he was. He did not remember his face, and all his childhood records seemed to have been broken. They were gone.
This book is an amazing story about a man who has lost it all and proceeds to take it all back. Robert Ludlum poses many questions in this book and makes sure the reader is very reluctant to put the book down. An incredible read, highly recommended!
June 15, 2013
Although this work has Robert Ludlum's fingerprints on it, the novel was published after his death by his estate, which chose an author and an editor to bring the work to publication. One who is a fan and long-time reader of Ludlum, will notice the differences in writing style. That said, this is a great work set firmly in the Ludlum tradition.
March 1, 2009
At first I really liked the book, but then there were too many questiongs that seemed to get in the way of me enjoying the plot. And by the time they tied it up I felt the ending was really rushed and not as fulfilling as it could have been. Not my favorite by him.
November 6, 2018
This was a fun read, one that kept me guessing till the very end. There is lots of action and intrigue and you finally figure it out in the last few pages. Maybe you are faster than me at it. Read it and see.
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