The Altman Code by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds

"Well done . . . "

"Ludlum has picked a winner in his collaborator Lynds."

". . . fast-paced plots within plots, multi-faceted twists and convoluted events . . ."

What superlative is yet unsaid to describe a Ludlum book? This latest wide-angle view of the hidden political agendas ruling the world Ludlum created compares favorably with several of his previous adventure tales. Ludlum has picked a winner in his collaborator Lynds.

As always, there are fast-paced plots within plots, multi-faceted twists and convoluted events somehow woven together, keeping the reader engrossed for over 400 pages and reaching the end with a sigh of relief that the world is again safe, for a while at least.

Often in spy thrillers one needs a scorecard to keep up with the long list of characters and various threads leading from divergent points until finally meeting at the climax. Not true in this one. True to its genre, the locale jumps from continent to continent as it moves from scene to scene. However, transitions are skillfully done; use of three-dimensional characters (no cardboard cut-outs here) and frequency of revisiting these same players in subsequent chapters, each unique enough to remember since your last encounter, make it easier to follow the various paths explored along the way to resolution.

Well done, Ludlum and Lynds.

Reviewer: Doris Lakey