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Summary
Summary
In the tradition of such Ludlum classics as The Chancellor Manuscript and The Icarus Agenda , The Bancroft Strategy is a compelling novel of intrigue, where two figures find themselves facing a shadowy organization working to twist global politics to their own unsavory ends.
When Todd Belknap - a legendary field agent for Consular Operations with a reputation as something of a cowboy - is cut loose from the agency after an operation goes wrong, his best friend and fellow agent is abducted in Lebanon by a militia group with a vicious reputation. When the government refuses to either rescue him or negotiate for his release, Belknap decides to take matters into his own hands.
Meanwhile, hedge fund analyst Andrea Bancroft gets a surprising call - she is to receive an unexpected bequest of six million dollars from a cousin she never met. With one condition -- she must agree to sit on the board of the Bancroft family foundation, a charitable organization that is run by the family patriarch, Paul Newton. Having never been involved with, or even met, the family - her mother was briefly married to an Bancroft and cut off all contact many years ago - Andrea is intrigued. But the foundation, which is dedicated to doing strategic good deeds, appears less and less benign the more deeply involved she gets. What exactly is their involvement with the "Genesis" - a mysterious group working to destabilize the geopolitical balance at the risk of millions of lives? As events escalate, Todd Belknap and Andrea Bancroft come together and must form an uneasy alliance if they are to uncover the truth behind "Genesis" -- before it is too late.
Author Notes
Robert Ludlum was born May 25, 1927 in New York City. He enlisted in the Marines at the age of eighteen and received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1951.
He began acting professionally at the age of sixteen in the 1943 Broadway production of Junior Miss. He also had roles in summer stock and appeared in over 200 television dramas for such live programs as Studio One and Kraft Television Theater. He then tried producing with the 1956 Broadway production of The Owl and the Pussycat. He took the play, four years later, to his creation of Shopping-Center Theater at Playhouse-on-the-Mall in Paramus, New Jersey.
His first novel, The Scarlatti Inheritance, was published in 1971. His other works include The Matlock Paper, The Chancellor Manuscript, The Bourne Identity, The Scorpio Illusion, The Matarese Countdown, and The Bancroft Strategy. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd. He died on March 12, 2001 at the age of 74.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The latest international thriller to appear under Ludlum's name, with its by-the-numbers plot and stereotypical characters, fails to do justice to the late author, who made his mark with such taut and compelling novels as The Scarlatti Inheritance and The Bourne Identity. Maverick U.S. intelligence agent Todd Belknap, known as the Hound for his superior ability to track his quarry, heads to Lebanon to try to find a fellow agent who has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Andrea Bancroft, a brainy and beautiful hedge-fund analyst who has agreed to serve on the board of her family's mysterious foundation, begins to suspect that behind the Bancroft Foundation's benevolent facade lie sinister conspiracies. Unsurprisingly, those conspiracies intersect with Belknap's search. Throw in a secret cabal controlling world events and a high body count, and you have predictable genre fare. 600,000 first printing. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
More from the supernaturally prolific Ludlum, who died in 2001 but continues to produce books from beyond the grave (with the help of ghostwriters and uncredited manuscript polishers). This one's about a former intelligence agent who goes out on his own to rescue a colleague being held by mercenaries. Meanwhile, a banker is poised to inherit a big pile of cash, except that to get the money, she has to serve on the board of a shady family foundation. All the ingredients of overripe Ludlum are here: stodgy dialogue, overwritten exposition, and characters who seem waiting for an actor to bring them to life. For die-hard fans only. --David Pitt Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Even as ousted agent Todd Belknap hunts for a friend kidnapped in Lebanon, Andrea Bancroft discovers that she will inherit millions if she joins a family foundation that turns out to be suspect. You bet their paths cross. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.