Unless Scofield and Taleniekov can stop them, the Matarese will soon, through assassination and through democratic election, control the superpowers completely.

Violent groups remain unaware, however, that they are mere pawns of the Matarese. The Matarese foster chaos in governments through financial control and political upheaval, like a puppeteer. This is a lightning-paced spy thriller with more globe-trotting action than any ten others in the genre combined, yet on some level, it comes off as eerily plausible. Brandon Scofield and Vasili Taleniekov have been on a collision course for decades, but now the Russian will secretly reach out to his deadliest enemy in order to prevent the Matarese from controlling the world. Two men on opposite sides, both the best in their field, are on the receiving end of one order: unsalvageable.

It began in the hills of Corsica decades before, and now moves covertly in the shadows. Two high level executions are mere tests of controlled reactions by a group whose name is not even whispered within the hallowed corridors of power in Washington or Russia. It is the perfect word to describe the narrative between the covers of this terrific thriller. Riveting is a word too often used by publishers attempting to hype their book and generate sales. A spy thriller this wildly entertaining isn't supposed to give you such pause afterward, as you look around the globe, yet it does. Written decades ago, the story-line of Matarese Circle seems almost prophetic despite it being dated, the world finally catching up to the plot. What it lacks in literary aspirations it more than makes up for in sheer excitement and fun. Some spy novels get better and more relevant with age, and Robert Ludlum's fabulous The Matarese Circle falls into that category. 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. A non-Ludlum book supposedly inspired by his unused notes, Covert One: The Hades Factor, has also been made into a mini-series. 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.

Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd. 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. There are more than 210 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. Robert Ludlum was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller.

The matarese