'About Chaim Abrahms and Derek Belamy They
haven't been found they're still out there, and I
wonder if they will ever be found. I hope so, because
until they are, it really islet over.
"Its over, Joel, you've got to believe it. But thats
not what I meant. I meant you. How do you feel?"
"I'm not sure. I only knew I had to come here
and find out." He looked into her eyes, and at the
cascading dark hair
698 ROBERT LUDLUM
that fell to her shoulders, framing the face he loved
so much. "Empty, I think. Except for you."
"No anger? No resentment?"
"Not against Avery, or Stone or any of the
others. That s past. They did what they had to do;
there wasn't any other way."
"You re far more generous than I am, my darling.
'
"I'm more realistic, that's all. The evidence had
to be gotten by penetrating the outside by an
outsider wandng to get inside. The core was too
tight, too lethal."
"I think they were bastards. And cowards."
"I don't. I think they should all be canonized,
immortalized, bronzed and with poems written
about them for the ages."
"That's absolute rubbish! How can you possibly
say such a thing?"
Joel again looked into his wife's eyes. "Because
you're here. I'm here. And you're painting
lakescapes, not seascapes. And I'm not in New
York and you're not in Cape Ann. And I don't have
to worry about you, hoping that you're worrying
about me."
"If only there'd been another woman or another
man. It would have been so much easier, so much
more logical, darling. '
"There was always you. Only you."
"Try to get away from me again, Converse."
"No way, Converse."
Their hands gripped, unashamed tears were in
their eyes. The nightmare was over.
LUDLUM ON LUDLUM
Few writers have skyrocketed to popularity with the
speed of Row ERT LUDLUM, with each
succeeding thriller becoming a bigger bestseHer.
The key to his success may lie in John Leonard s
comment in The New York Times, "Mr. Ludlum
stuffs more surprises into his nov els than any other
six-pack of thriller writers combined.'
- Some people claim Ludlum has secret sources for
information found in his stories. In one, an early
book, a key theme was CIA involvement in domestic
surveillance. At that hme the subject shocked many
people. Later, of course, this fact proved to be
correct. Other people suspect Ludlum was an agent
himself during the years prior to his career as a
novelist. Not true. For close to twenty years he was
in show business as an actor, producer, and as the
' voice' of dozens of television commercials for
products ranging from TipariHos to Tuna Helper.
During his `voice period, Ludlum's wife crowned
him King of the Toilet Bowls. As he tells it, "there
was this product caned Plunge. All I had to do was
read three words: Plunge works fast. In spite of my
off-hand delivery, they used my three words in over
one hundred different commercials. The money
from this put one of my children through two years
of college.
Although none of Ludlum's novels draws on his
show business background for subject matter, they
all reflect techniques he learned in the "heater.
Ludlum says, 'the theater man knows that he must
involve the audience. He understands structure
more than anyone else the logical evolving of one
event into another event without losing the audience
s attention. Because if you lose their interest, you're
closing Saturday night.'" ,
Ludlum admits, 1 write primarily as an
entertainer. But I find that whether you re writing
comically or dramatically,you write from a point of
view of something that disturbs or outrages you.
And that's what l do. I admit to being
outraged mostly by the abuse of power by the
fanatics. The extremes bother me, right or left. ' Yet
he adds, "I disapprove of violence, that's why I show
pain for what it is. When my characters get hit, they
hurt. They don't jump back into action like John
Wayne."
All of this and more can be found in the
published work of Robert Ludlum. Since his first
novel, The Scarlatti Inheritance, he has amassed an
enviable record of success: The Osterman Weekend,
The Matlock Papers, The Rhinemann Exchange, The
Cemini Contenders, more recently, The Chancellor
Manuscript, The Holoroft Covenant The Matarese
Circle, The Bourne Identity, The Parsifal Mosaic, and
now, The Aquitaine Progression.
ROBERT LUDLUM
These hammering bestselling superthr~llers by
Robert Ludlum prove why he reigns as the world's
master of intrigue, conspiracy and suspense.
24900 THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION$4.50
O 23021THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC $4.50
0 24296BOURNE IDENTllY $4.50
C! 24902CHANCELLOR MANUSCRIPT $4.50
~ 24640HOLCROFT COVENANT $4.50
0 24157THE MATARESE CIRCLE $4.50
0 24605OSTERMAN WEEKEND $3.95
0 11427SCARI,ATTI INHERITANCE $3.95
O 23232ROAD TO GANDOLFO $3.95
Prices and availability subject to change without
notke.
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Robert Ludlum - Aquatain Progression.txt Page 109
