Robert Ludlum - Aquatain Progression.txt

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by The Aquitaine Progression [lit]


  '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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  I Please send me the books I have checked above.

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  postage I I and handling). Send check or money

  order no cash or I

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