The Bancroft Strategy:a novel by Robert Ludlum

Ludlumesque*** April 11.2007

Although Robert Ludlum has been dead for several years, the Ludlum brand lives on. This is the latest in a series of post-Ludlum novels marketed under the Ludlum brand. Some have borne the author's names. This one bears only the Ludlum name.

It has a plot that resembles the novels Ludlum authored.Maverick U.S. Intelligence agent Todd Belknap, known as the Hound for his ability to track his quarry, heads to Lebanon to try to find a fellow agent who has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Andrea Bancroft, a brainy and beautiful hedge-fund analyst stands to inherit $12 million, provided she serves on the board of the Bancroft Foundation,headed by Paul Bancroft, a relative of Andrea's. Soon after joining the board Andrea begins to suspect that behind the Bancroft Foundation's benevolent facade lie sinister conspiracies. Inevitably, these conspiracies intersect with Belknap's hunt for the sinister forces behind the disappearance of his partner. There are multiple layers of conspiracy which are slowly pealed back like pealing an onion to reveal the identity of a mysterious character known only as Genesis.

This is one of the better post-Ludlum novels. Some of the stuuf is hard to believe but, hey, it makes for an entertaining read.