The Bancroft Strategy

By Robert Ludlum

Book Overview

Todd Belknap, a field agent for Consular Operations, is cut loose from the agency after a job gone wrong. But when his best friend and fellow agent is abducted abroad and the government refuses to step in, Belknap decides to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Andrea Bancroft learns she's about to inherit six million dollars from a cousin she never met--with one condition: She must sit on the board of the Bancroft family foundation. Having been estranged from her father's family for most of her life, Andrea is intrigued. But what exactly is the Bancroft's involvement with "Genesis," a mysterious person working to destabilize the geopolitical balance at the risk of millions of lives? In a series of devastating coincidences, Andrea and Belknap come together to form an uneasy alliance if they are to uncover the truth behind "Genesis"--before it is too late.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312990707
• ISBN13: 9780312990701
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 708 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 4.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

A twist and turn adventure

I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my friends. I didn't see the ending coming. The minute I thought I had the plot down they twisted it. If you like this genre of 'spy action' books then I you will get your money's worth.

Not Ludlum, but who cares

I have been a Robert Ludlum fan for decades and believe I've read almost all of his work, plus the collaborative efforts in Covert-One. After reading some of the bad reviews about the Bancroft Strategy, I hesitated about reading it myself. That would have been a mistake. I found it in a "cheap book" bin at a drug store, bought it and could hardly put it down. I may not have the character development that Ludlum had, but I sometimes thought he went a little too deep into it. The hero sort of reminded me a little bit of Clive Cussler's hero Dirk Pitt (another favorite of mine) who also have the uncanny ability to extricate himself from impossible situations and save the world. Don't buy this book if you are a fanatical dyed-in-the-wool Ludlum fan. DO buy it if you like a good fast-paced yarn.

The Bancroft Strategy

This book was riveting. It commanded your attention from start to finish.

Vintage Ludlum

"The Bancroft Strategy" is one of 2 books that Robert Ludlum had not finished at the time of his death (the other being "The Ambler Warning"). It was finished by another, unnamed writer, but plotting and style are both seamless

In Spite of What Some Reviewers Say, I liked it a Lot

Robert Ludlum is easily the best and most prolific dead writer in the world. I've heard that when he died he left behind a number of unfinished book ideas. I've heard that his estate then hired an as yet unidentified author to take these ideas and put them into book format. I've also heard that this author has used up all of Ludlum's unfinished ideas and now is using his own plot lines but carefully following the Ludlum formula of how a book should be written. At any case, this is a post Ludlum novel published under his name (with a trademark symbol). How good it is depends on the reader, which is, I guess the story for any book. A lot of reviewers will say this book is absolute trash. This book follows the Ludlum formula of a super agent in trouble with his agency. Enter a young lady with no secret agent experience or training but with expertise in some allied field that will be of great help to the agent. Add in a chase through exotic locations and you have a classic Ludlum story. As for my own opinion, I think I like the new Ludlum's better than I did the originals, especially those published towards the end of his life. The new author seem to have new and refreshing ideas about how to take the familiar Ludlum situations and put them in a new light.