The Prologue is set 10 years before the present action. A young man is racing in a motor car through treacherous, winding roads to his destination --- a Swiss-style A-frame house somewhere in the mountains. Upon arrival, he is met by another gentleman, Gunther, who vets him and does a weapons check. Gunther then passes him off to Mario, who leads him inside the secluded mountain home.

We learn that our protagonist is David Webb, but he also goes by the codename “Cain.” His fiancée, Monika, is missing, and now he is being escorted inside the lion’s den on a highly confidential and dangerous assignment for the Treadstone organization. Cain has been recruited for Treadstone by his handler, Nash Rollins. While inside, Mario eventually takes him into a room filled with armed men, where Cain decides that the safest thing to do is to pledge his allegiance and go deep cover. That is, until they ask him to seal his loyalty by killing the woman who is tied to a chain. Upon closer inspection, Cain can clearly see that she is none other than Monika. The last thing he remembers is grabbing her head in his two hands, preparing to snap her neck.

"THE BOURNE SHADOW is another winner. It’s an absolute pleasure to read, and it allows us the high honor of continuing to spend time with the imminently complex and troubled Jason Bourne."

Thus begins ROBERT LUDLUM’S THE BOURNE SHADOW, the latest Jason Bourne thriller and the fifth to be penned by Brian Freeman. Longtime readers will be well aware that David Webb literally lost himself 10 years ago and now operates under the Jason Bourne moniker. He still cannot fully recall what became of Monika and only has loose details about his past and how he became affiliated with Treadstone. In the present day, Bourne is returning to one of his favorite places in the world: Zurich, Switzerland.

Gabriel Wildhaber, whom Bourne has worked with before, nearly dies trying to pass on a note to him at his Paris apartment. It involves a woman he doesn’t know who had been looking for David Webb. Once Bourne lands in Zurich, he heads directly to his regular eating spot, the Drei Alpenhauser. There, a heavyset man who refers to him as Cain indicates that he wants no trouble but was told to text a certain woman upon his arrival.

Bourne does not recognize the mystery lady when she appears, yet she has a familiar look. Her name is Johanna Roth, and she calls him David. Bourne learns that she last saw him 10 years ago in Zurich when he was with her half-sister, Monika. She has never heard from or seen Monika again and wants to know if Bourne has any leads. He tells her in no uncertain terms that he has little to no memory of those times and does not know anything about Monika. Johanna then brings up the men who have been after her just moments before they met. He tells her to escape quickly through the kitchen and gives her a location where they will meet in an hour as he subdues their enemies.

Like every great Bourne novel, the action moves at breakneck speed. Once Bourne reconnects with Johanna, memories slowly permeate his dark wall of thought, and everything begins to change. Nash informs him that he is now going to learn all the rules that will govern and run the rest of his life, essentially wiping out his entire past. What Bourne does remember is that the decade-old mission for Treadstone had gone terribly wrong and people paid the ultimate price. He also recalls being told to kill the love of his life.

With Johanna’s guidance, Bourne once again must face the shadows of his past and his own darkened memory to figure out what happened and what needs to be done to obtain those answers. The result is another astonishing thriller from Freeman that jumps around physical locations and between the present and the past to face Bourne’s biggest enemy of all --- his own mind.

I still have a difficult time wrapping my brain around the fact that the late, great Robert Ludlum only penned three Bourne novels before passing away and essentially handing the reigns over to Eric Van Lustbader. Now, following in those footsteps, Brian Freeman has taken control of Bourne and steered him into territories he has never gone before. Freeman is the ideal candidate to be continuing this world-renowned series since he already has proven himself to be a master of dark thrillers. That darkness is definitely needed to present a Bourne for the modern age and the highly volatile world we currently inhabit.

THE BOURNE SHADOW is another winner. It’s an absolute pleasure to read, and it allows us the high honor of continuing to spend time with the imminently complex and troubled Jason Bourne.