The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum

Author	Robert Ludlum
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Jason Bourne, Bourne Trilogy
Genre(s)	Thriller, Spy novel
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	1990
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	672 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-553-28773-7
Preceded by	The Bourne Supremacy
Followed by	The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Ultimatum is the third Jason Bourne novel written by Robert Ludlum and a sequel to The Bourne Supremacy (1986). First published in 1990, it was the last Bourne novel to be written by Ludlum himself. Eric Van Lustbader wrote a sequel titled The Bourne Legacy fourteen years later. The Bourne Ultimatum was adapted into a film of the same name starring Matt Damon and was released in the U.S. on August 3, 2007. As in the 2004 film, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum has a completely different plot from the novel.

Plot summary

The novel follows David Webb, alias Jason Bourne, as he works to find his old enemy, Carlos the Jackal, who is trying to kill him. As the Jackal enters old age and his infamy fades, he decides that he will do two things before he dies: kill Webb/Bourne, and destroy the KGB facility of Novgorod, where the Jackal was trained and later turned away. Carlos the Jackal uses a diverse collective of aged men devoted to his handiwork known as "The Old Men of Paris." Webb sends his wife and children to live with his wife's brother, John St. Jacques, in the Caribbean for protection while Webb himself works with old friend and CIA agent Alexander Conklin, and to a limited degree, the CIA, to hunt down and kill the Jackal first. Webb poses as an important member of Medusa (a newer version than the original he was associated with during the Vietnam era) (see Jason Bourne), now a nearly omnipotent economic force that controls the head of NATO, leading figures in the Defense Department, portions of the American and Sicilian mafia, and large NYSE firms. The plan is to use Medusa's resources to contact the Jackal. Webb just misses the Jackal several times, including when the Jackal locates Webb's family in the Caribbean, before Webb stages his own death and convinces the Jackal that he has succeeded. In a final confrontation, the Jackal is finally killed and Webb returns to his family.

Sequels

After Ludlum's death, Eric Van Lustbader continued the story of Jason Bourne in a sequel titled The Bourne Legacy. He also wrote the fifth novel in the series entitled The Bourne Betrayal.