The Bancroft Strategy
The latest international thriller to appear under Ludlum's name, with its by-the-numbers plot and stereotypical characters, fails to do justice to the late author, who made his mark with such taut and compelling novels asThe Scarlatti InheritanceandThe Bourne Identity. Maverick U.S. intelligence agent Todd Belknap, known as the Hound for his superior 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 who has agreed to serve on the board of her family's mysterious foundation, begins to suspect that behind the Bancroft Foundation's benevolent facade lie sinister conspiracies. Unsurprisingly, those conspiracies intersect with Belknap's search. Throw in a secret cabal controlling world events and a high body count, and you have predictable genre fare.600,000 first printing. (Oct.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.