By Robert Ludlum. Grade: B+Robert Ludlum is pitted as one of the best and is known as one the bestselling authors of all time. The Sigma Protocol is credited to Robert Ludlum posthumously and is the last novel written entirely by him.Ben Hartman is on holiday in Switzerland when he meets one of his oldest childhood friends – who promptly tries to murder him. Hartman has no choice but to kill his attacker in self-defence, and barely survives the ordeal. But when he wakes up, he discovers that the body and all evidence of the fight have disappeared.Anna Navarro, a US government agent, is sent to look into a string of deaths in Europe. The only thing that the victims have in common is an old SS file, codenamed SIGMA. But as she starts to make progress, she is dragged off the case, attacked, and declared rogue.Someone wants a secret kept and as the futures of Hartman and Navarro become entwined, it becomes obvious that there is more at stake than they could ever have imagined,The plot begins with Benjamin Hartman, the protagonist, returning from his routine business in Switzerland, where he unexpectedly meets his very old friend. But instead of the wonted pleasantries, he points his gun at Ben. In an attempt to save himself from this attack while trying to comprehend this bizarre turn of events, Ben kills the attacker (his childhood friend). But when he is summoned by the police for an explanation in this regard, he comes to know that there exists no such person whom he claims to be his childhood friend. Moreover, evidence indicates that he was the one involved in the killing of several civilians in the skirmish.On the other hand, Agent Anna Navarro of the US DOJ is sent on a classified assignment to investigate a series of deaths of old Nazi war criminals, seemingly having nothing substantial in common. She starts making headways into this matter when she realizes that this is not a simple matter of a string of deaths. What connects these deaths is a myth, a legend which runs deeper than the comprehensibility of the common man – a connection known only to the knowledgeable. A legend known as SIGMA. But when she starts getting close to the core of the matter, she is asked to back off (courtesy some very powerful people behind the curtain) and make no further inquiry into the matter. She, however, decides to take matters into her own hands and follow the leads. Little did she know that she was venturing into a realm which was way beyond her grasp.During this ordeal, the paths of Anna and Ben cross in a way unlike that a hero and his lady. From then on, together, they travel through Europe in order to uncover the secret behind this underlying legend and the truth behind it.The Sigma Protocol is atypical of Robert Ludlum style of writing – sudden turn of events to mark the beginning of the plot, the unlikeliest of turn of events, a not-so-willing hero, an unexpected ally in the lady love and an underlying conspiracy of gigantic proportions involving people from the power corridors of the world, all of this entwined in a well-told plot at a breakneck pace. The SECRET ploy which forms the core of the plot, in this case, is brilliant in its form. Add to that, Ludlum’s inimitable flair in writing, you get a perfectly bred story.A special mention must go to the argument which is made by the antagonist, which makes him just the anti-hero and not the conventional antagonist. The sense of rationality presented, even though it is evident that what he is saying is-at-the-end-of-the-day wrong, is really admirable. The characters of Ben Hartman and Agent Anna Navarro are really well sketched.The only possible drawback could be that it takes the author a long time to make the reader understand the gravity and the magnitude of the underlying scheme. Overall, if you have put in 300 bucks (INR) into this novel, rest assured that The Sigma Protocol is a really sound investment and you, the reader, are in for a treat.Originally reviewed at : www.the-vault.co.cc
Downloaded from Audible.comNarrator: Paul MichaelPublisher: Audio Renaissance, 2001Length: 20 hoursPublisher's SummaryDo you think you know what really happened after World War II? You don't. Sigma made sure of that.American investment banker Ben Hartman arrives in Zurich, the first time he's been back to Switzerland since his twin brother died there in a tragic accident four years ago. But when Ben chances upon Jimmy Cavanaugh, an old college friend, Cavanaugh draws a gun and tries to kill him. In minutes, several innocent bystanders are dead, as well as Cavanaugh, and Ben is on the run, plunged into an unspeakable nightmare.U.S. Department of Justice field agent Anna Navarro is being stalked by a relentless killer, managing to survive only by a combination of luck, skill, and her own quick wits. The attacks on her are somehow related to her current assignment: investigating the sudden, seemingly unrelated deaths of a number of very old men around the world. The only thing that connects them is an ancient CIA file bearing the code word Sigma.Brought together by accident, Ben and Anna realize that their only hope of survival lies with each other. Together they race to uncover the long-hidden diabolical secrets of Sigma - secrets that threaten everything they think they know, everything they believed about their friends and families, everything they were taught about history itself. For behind Sigma lies a vast deception that is finally coming to fruition - and the fate of the world is in their hands.
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My usual ranking disclaimer: I rank most books as 3 stars on a bell-shaped curve, because I cannot differentiate between 3.00 and 3.99 – and 4 & 5-star ratings are reserved for books that people ought to read and books that people must read, respectively, and most books are pretty good. Despite all that, this is perhaps the best Ludlow novel I have read so far.This novel starts out as two different stories, one featuring an American investment banker, Ben Hartman, who returns to Switzerland on a skiing vacation four years after his twin brother dies in a questionable airplane accident, and suddenly finds himself being chased through a mall by an old college friend, who is trying to kill him--and then discovers that his father, a holocaust survivor, apparently was involved with a strange organization that was established at the end of World War II. The other story pertains to DOJ field agent Anna Navarro, who is having problems with her supervisor but suddenly gets called to a different agency to do a special job of finding the current location of some retired old-timers, but soon discovers (1) everyone she finds dies under questionable circumstances as soon as she locates them and (2) a very strange assassin is pursuing her wherever she goes. Over the course of time, predictably, the two stories come together, as do Ben and Anna, but neither of them has any idea what strange group awaits them in a converted factory called the Clockworks.
—JBradford
A fast-paced, enjoyable, but cookie-cutter and simplistic thriller novel by the author of the "Bourne" series. Two plotlines intertwine, that of Ben Hartman (a handsome, tall, sophisticated, rich financial manager) and Anna Navarro (a smart, beautiful, independent-minded federal agent). Intrigue piles on intrigue. Surprise piles on surprise. Sympathetic supporting characters get killed. The two main characters are very often nearly, but never actually, killed. Etc., etc., etc.... The central conspiracy surrounds a secret corporation, composed of rich, powerful people, founded after WWII to promote capitalism, which now may or may not have fallen into nefarious hands, and which is now trying to kill Ben and Anna (who, incidentally, naturally eventually fall for one another about 2/3 of the way through the book). Believe me, that's no spoiler, you'll see it coming. You'll see a lot coming. Good airplane reading though.
—Kenyon Harbison
I didn't care for this Ludlum book as much as other ones. I originally got hooked on Ludlum by reading his Covert-One novels. The Sigma Protocol started out good, grabbing my attention and pulling me in, but I don't think the characters were realistic or compelling. I also found the whole thing to be a bit of a stretch. The biggest conspiracy in the history of the world is just a bit too much for me to swallow.I will keep reading Ludlum, my next book is the Bourne Identity, I love the movies! I will enjoy reading about a character who can handle himself in any situation!
—Anna
