The Aquitaine Progression

Okay, so I lied. My first post will be about the most recent book I've read.

The Aquitaine Progression is an espionage adventure novel that unfolds in a way very typical of Robert Ludlum. That's good, because he wrote it.

Ludlum is best known in popular culture for penning the Bourne novels, three of which were made into a action-packed motion pictures starring Matt Damon. The series was continued in that spirit after his 2001 death; I haven't read any of them yet, so it's not entirely relevant here, but he is one of my favorite authors regardless. Ludlum can spin a spy tale with the best of 'em, and often while reading his books I find myself on the edge of my seat.

Ludlum's stories often involve some sort of thrilling conspiracy, and that is very much the case in this mighty tome. The Aquitaine Progression follows Joel Converse, an American lawyer. A childhood friend mysteriously appears to give him the inside story of a rising global network of dangerous, disaffected, powerful old generals who are hatching a plan to take over the world with chaos of every form. Joel is recruited as the sole emissary to stop them.

Over the next five hundred pages, Joel hurtles through Europe. At every turn, the network of the gentlemen of Aquitaine appears. Joel has to work his way as close to these conspirators as possible so as to hopefully figure out how to stop them before they use their vast web of power to topple governments worldwide. Once the governments are toppled, these men will be readily able to step in and impose their own personal brands of authoritarian rule.

Honestly, the book took a while to get going. Ludlum takes his time developing the character of Joel. I was grateful for this, for I have a clear picture in my mind of who this man is. Nonetheless, by about 200 pages I was unsure if the action would ever pick up. It certainly did, though, and eventually I devoured page after page.

Once the generals realize that Joel is on to them, they use their many contacts around Europe to paint him as a ruthless assassin - almost entirely for crimes committed, in fact, by his enemies. A manhunt rages on the continent, and for days Joel can think of nothing other than his own survival, let alone the unraveling of this organization that is his primary goal. Every time he thinks he is safe, or has found a person he can trust, he finds more scouts of the Aquitaine generals. More than once, he encounters a friendly acquaintance from the past and feels safe, only to find that they, too, are in the clutches of this powerthirsty bunch.

His adventures, like many in Ludlum's books, were gripping, certainly. I had difficulty dealing with the hopelessness which pervaded the bulk of the book. It's the stuff of nightmares - nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nobody to trust. Almost without exception, every old friend Joel reached out to that provided him with even the slightest olive branch of help was subsequently killed by agents of Aquitaine.

Most of the book passes with our protagonist on the run in Europe, always barely one step ahead. This book was written in the 1980s, when we were still technically fighting the Cold War, and more than anything it demonstrates the insecurities present in the U.S. since its inception. Joel is an ex-POW from Vietnam, and that inextricably pervades his character's worldview.

The eleventh hour approaches. Aquitaine is in days of launching their plan for total global domination. Joel's list of friends who are alive dwindles. Throughout this ordeal, he doesn't know who in the U.S. government actually dispatched him for that, too, is kept secret. He has had sporadic contact with his ex-wife, a freelance artist living along the Massachusetts coastline; somehow, she continues to elude Aquitaine, and in fact she decides to come to Joel's aid in Europe.

Somehow, in the last few chapters of the book, everything comes together. Joel is able to thwart the world takeover and sees to it that the generals will not be in charge of any such conspiracy again. He achieves this, in large part, through recruiting agents worldwide who are willing to stand up against these terrifying powers. This filled me with hope, though I was left wondering where he found these soldiers, and why they were so impossible to find throughout the majority of the book.

Additionally, the drama concludes within a relatively short space. I felt a little bit disappointed that it was all over so quickly - after working my way through several hundred pages, the least I could ask for was a prolonged denouement. I felt that it all wrapped up just a tad too nicely in the end; however, Joel certainly suffered enough in the previous pages, so I suppose I should be happy for him that things finally worked out the way he wanted. He was a savvy and enjoyable character, so for that I'm grateful to have spent so many pages bonding with him.

This was not the first Ludlum novel I've read, nor will it be my last. I would recommend a few other works above this one, but nonetheless I would recommend it to any reader who enjoys a complicated spy novel with plenty of fighting, car chases, and disguises.

The Aquitaine Progression by Robert Ludlum - 1984

Other works by Ludlum I enjoy:
The Matarese Circle (1983)
The Matarese Countdown (1998)
The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971)