Robert Ludlum

The Scarlatti Inheritance,
Ludlum's first book, published 1971.

Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 New York City – March 12, 2001 Naples, Florida) was an American author of 29 thriller novels. There are more than 210 million copies of his books in print, and translated into 32 languages. He died in 2001, reportedly leaving behind several unpublished manuscripts and rough outlines, which continue to be dusted off and published with the help of ghostwriters. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd[1].

Ludlum was once a theatrical actor and producer. His theatrical experience may have contributed to his understanding of the energy, escapism and action that the public wanted to see in a novel. He once remarked: "I equate suspense and good theater in a very similar way. I think it's all suspense and what-happens-next. From that point of view, yes, I guess, I am theatrical."

His stories typically feature one man or a small group of individuals up against powerful adversaries capable of using political and economic machinery in frightening ways. His vision of the world is one where global corporations, shadowy military forces and government organizations conspire to preserve or undermine the status quo. With the exception of occasional gaps in his knowledge of firearms, his novels are meticulously researched, replete with technical, physical and biological details, including research on amnesia for The Bourne Identity which was a grand success.

Ludlum's novels were often inspired by Conspiracy theories, both historical and contemporary. He wrote that The Matarese Circle was inspired by rumors about the Trilateral Commission, and it was published only a few years after the commission was founded. His portrayal of terrorism in books such as The Holcroft Covenant and The Matarese Circle reflects the theory that terrorists are pawns of governments or private organizations that wish to use terror as a pretext for establishing authoritarian rule.

Despite his success, Ludlum never received the acclaim received by other writers of the genre, such as John Le Carré. Critics dislike his use of italics, short sentences, exclamation marks, dashes and other techniques, and found fault with his abundant melodrama, simplistic characters and limited psychological development. However, the extreme opposite case is true in regards to his character Jason Bourne. Throughout the series we virtually view the step by step reconstruction of the character in a detailed way that has not been emulated since.

However, it was Ludlum who some consider first wrote the thriller in the modern style, setting the stage for writers such as David Morrell, Gayle Lynds and Daniel Silva. He popularized the notion of American and Soviet intelligence operatives working together, and the CIA conducting illegal operations on American soil.

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, The Hades Factor, has also been made into a mini-series. The Bourne series, with protagonist Matt Damon, has been very successful commercially and critically, although the story lines depart significantly from the source material.

Selected bibliography

By Ludlum, published during the author's lifetime († March 2001)

The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971)
The Osterman Weekend (1972)
The Matlock Paper (1973)
Trevayne (1973, writing under the pen-name Jonathan Ryder)
The Cry of the Halidon (1974, writing under the pen-name Jonathan Ryder)
The Rhinemann Exchange (1974)
The Road to Gandolfo (1975, writing under the pen-name Michael Shephard)
The Gemini Contenders (1976)
The Chancellor Manuscript (1977)
The Holcroft Covenant (1978)
The Matarese Circle (1979)
The Bourne Identity (1980)
The Parsifal Mosaic (1982)
The Aquitaine Progression (1984)
The Bourne Supremacy (1986)
The Icarus Agenda (1988)
The Bourne Ultimatum (1990)
The Road to Omaha (1992)
The Scorpio Illusion (1993)
The Apocalypse Watch (1995)
The Matarese Countdown (1997)
The Prometheus Deception (2000)

Credited To Ludlum, published posthumously

Most, if not all, of these are written by a so far unknown ghostwriter who has been faithful to Robert Ludlum's style of writing. [2][3][4]

Covert-One series

Written by other authors, supposedly based on unpublished material by Robert Ludlum.

The Hades Factor (by Gayle Lynds) (2000)
The Cassandra Compact (by Phillip Shelby) (2001)
The Paris Option (by Gayle Lynds) (2002)
The Altman Code (by Gayle Lynds) (2003)
The Lazarus Vendetta (by Patrick Larkin) (2004)
The Moscow Vector (by Patrick Larkin) (2005)
The Arctic Event (by James Cobb) (Not Yet Published - September 2007 or August 1, 2008)

Sequels to Ludlum Books

The Bourne Legacy (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2004)
The Bourne Betrayal (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2007)

Filmography

Some of Ludlum's novels have been made into films and mini-series, although the story lines might depart significantly from the source material. In general, a miniseries is more faithful to the original novel it is based on.

1977 - The Rhinemann Exchange — miniseries — Stephen Collins as David Spaulding, Lauren Hutton as Leslie Jenner Hawkewood
1983 - The Osterman Weekend — film — Rutger Hauer as John Tanner
1985 - The Holcroft Covenant — film — Michael Caine as Noel Holcroft
1988 - The Bourne Identity — miniseries — Richard Chamberlain as Jason Bourne, Jaclyn Smith as Marie St. Jacques
1997 - The Apocalypse Watch — miniseries — Patrick Bergin as Drew Latham
2002 - The Bourne Identity — film — Matt Damon as Jason Bourne and Franka Potente as Marie St. Jacques
2004 - The Bourne Supremacy — film — Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
2006 - Covert One: The Hades Factor — miniseries — Stephen Dorff as Jon Smith
2007 - The Bourne Ultimatum — film — Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
2008 - The Chancellor Manuscript — film — Leonardo DiCaprio as Peter Chancellor ²

¹ pre-production, ² announced/in development

Trivia

According to various sources, in 1993 Ludlum adopted four monkeys from a local zoo and brought them to a wildlife shelter in Northern Africa.^{[citation needed]}.

According to The Midday Quiz at Wisconsin Public Radio, the author's publishers "insisted on titles limited to an article, a colorful adjective and a noun" (see question asked on 03/05/07) - all of Robert Ludlum's novels begin with a "The ..." with the exception of Trevayne.

External links