THE AUTHOR

Robert Ludlum was born on 25 May, 1927 in New York City and is known for his large collection of thriller novels. Before becoming a writer, he worked in production as well as a theatrical actor. He had approximately 25 stories published and, today, there are around 290 million copies in print. They have also been translated into around 30 different languages, demonstrating the popularity of his work. Some people may know him by his pseudonyms - Michael Shepherd and Jonathan Ryder - as well as by his most famous writings - the Bourne collection!

The Bourne books - Supremacy, Identity, and Ultimatum - have all been turned into films, as you probably already know :) For all of his books, Ludlum carried out extensive research in technology, military forces, and much more, all of which are displayed in the likes of the Bourne series. Another interesting fact that many may not know, is that he chose to use the same pattern for all of his book titles - in other words, "The [Proper Noun, i.e. Bourne] [Noun, i.e. Ultimatum]".

Ludlum died at the age of 73, on 12 March 2001 in Naples, Florida.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

The Janson Directive was published in October 2002, a year or so after Ludlum's death.

The story concerns Paul Janson who is an ex-employee of the Navy SEALs (the US Navy Sea, Air and Land Forces) and former member of an undercover government agency referred to as Consular Operations. He is constantly reminded of - and caused distress by - the Vietnam War, in which he was involved. Janson's emotions are worsened by the fact that his commander (and good friend) Alan Demarest arranged for him to be captured and tortured by the Viet Cong - the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam. Demarest was highly psychopathic and enjoyed risking lives. However, Janson gave evidence of war crimes after he managed to escape, which resulted in Demarest's execution.

Now, Janson is a corporate security consultant who is in high demand, allowing him to choose more desirable jobs. One day, a woman asks him to rescue her boss Peter Novak; he is a billionaire amongst other things and has been taken hostage by a militant group which has the intention of killing him.

All seems fine, of course until the rescure operation goes drastically wrong, resulting in Janson becoming the target of a "beyond salvage termination directive", given by those at the highest level of the US government. This directive is, in fact, the directive as stated in the book title. Whilst all of this is going on, a number of US government officials are assassinated. Now, Janson has to figure out who attempted to - or at least wanted to - frame him for Novak's death. As if that weren't enough, he is being hunted down by former conrades at Consular Operations.

PLOT

*Type of novel*
The Janson Directive is a Crime Thriller revolving around spying, espionage, and terrorism.
In this novel, the enemy group is known from, pretty much, the outset.

*Time/Era*
The Janson Directive is set in the present day, that is, the 2000 - 2010 period.

*Composition of book*
With regard to the description of violence and 'chases', there is approximately 30% included in the novel.

Being a detective/private-eye story, there is a lot of detail concentrating on planning and preparing his evidence, figuring out events that may have occurred, discussing puzzles and motives; all in all, there is around 30% of such description in the entire book.
The development of characters and their 'biographies', feelings/emotions, in addition to relationships, is covered by perhaps 20% of the novel.

The physical description of people, places and objects along with how society operates in general, is covered by 20% of the book.

*The Enemy*
The enemy here in a terrorist, specifically an "evil" sub-group in the home/own government of the country concerned.

*Plotlets / mini plots*
There are some "Cloak and Dagger" plotlets in this novel. They are based upon the government committing secret crimes in other countries. Another plotlet example is with regard to kidnap and rescue.

*Tone of story*
The tone of The Janson Directive is extremely suspenseful and feelings such as "sophisticated fear" are demonstrated for quite a large amount of the novel. Sophisticated fear is a long-term fear or worry rather than sheer panic that would come on all of a sudden.

*Target age group*
Definitely an adult book, potentially suitable for the older and/or "more mature" teenagers.

MAIN CHARACTER

*Gender*
Male

*Age*
40s - 50s

*Profession/status*
Infantry soldier / private investigator

*Ethnicity/Nationality*
White/American

*Intelligence*
Extremely intelligent, much more intelligent than the majority - if not all - of the other characters.

*Physique*
Very athletic.

*Sense of humour*
Quite a serious attitude though does demonstrate occasional humour.

*Emotions*
Sometimes he is very sensitive to others' feelings whilst, at other times, he is unaffected.

*Violence used*
This character displays a significant amount of violence throught the novel.

MAIN ADVERSARY / OPPOSING CHARACTER

*Gender*
Male, and more specifically an organisation.

*Age*
40s-50s

*Profession/status*
Politician/member of government and an elected ruler.

*Intelligence*
Intelligent, smarter than most of the other characters.

*Physique*
Very athletic.

*Sense of humour*
Quite a cynical sense of humour.

*Emotions*
This character is much more hard-edged than the main character in the novel.

*The antagonists*
In The Janson Directive the antagonists are politicians with evil and criminal intentions. As the main antagonists, their motive is revenge. They are present in a substantial amount of the novel.

SETTING

The surroundings are described quite a lot in The Janson Directive and, if I had to rate on a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the story a 7 for descriptions. A good explanantion of the setting and scenery despite not being featured in the book a great deal.

There are a number of countries used in The Janson Directive: the United States of America is predominantly mentioned. The other areas included are Europe, in addition to Asia/Pacific. Whilst Germany and Italy are the European countries of choice, Southeast Asia is the place of choice for Asia/Pacific element. The city and countryside are both involved.

STYLE

The Janson Directive is not part of a series by Ludlum, though his books are very similar to each other.

He primarily uses the 3rd person in this book and with regards to dialogue, there is significantly more of it than there is description. However, it should be noted that in parts of the book, there is an equal amount of dialogue as there is description.

There is quite an unusual form of death - perforation by swords and knives. There are at least eight deaths in total throughout the novel; the actual number is not stated though references are made so as to let the reader know that more deaths have been occurring "in the background". With regard to the accounts of torture and death, there are extremely gorey references to death, punishment and torture - for example, details of dead bodies and what they looked like, are noted in the storyline. Sometimes, there are moderately detailed references to death.

Jargon is often used in the book primarily technological and military jargon and terms/phrases.