The plot of this novel is
well-designed and is focused on a very charismatic and credible male character,
Jonathan Smith. Jon, as his friends call him, is a doctor, but also a soldier.
He is an intelligent man and full of resources, but not the classic perfect
action man. He has faults, makes mistakes, but in the end he is also a bit
lucky (as it always happens in novels).
Even if this book
wasn’t written only by Ludlum, who would be dead the year after its publication,
his touch is evident. In fact, despite being a very long book, it reads just as
quickly, almost creating dependency, and has the right balance between action
and introspection of the characters.
The theme, that of
a pandemic caused voluntarily to obtain a financial return, makes you think.
The scenario, although extreme, is however realistic and, precisely for this
reason, gives the chills.
The scientific
part, although it is not overly developed (for the benefit of the reader, who
should not put up with any info-dump), is credible.
Among the
characters I particularly liked Marty, a nerd with Asperger’s Syndrome. It was
interesting to follow the fluctuation of his thoughts as the levels of the
drugs changed in his body.
On the other hand,
this novel is not without downsides, starting with an excessive head hopping.
It is not functional to the story, so it seems almost causal and sometimes it
makes you lose empathy with the characters.
The ending opens to
a series of books that can be read separately with limited or no real subplot,
which unfortunately sounds like a commercial operation. For this reason I do
not think I’ll read more books in this series, because the next two, to which
Ludlum participated (I cannot say to what extent) are posthumous, while all
others are completely written by other authors.
Despite the
downsides, I really enjoyed reading this book, so I still decided to give it
full marks.
The Hades Factor on Amazon.
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